Carolina Politics Online

Following her narrow loss in the First District Congressional race, Linda Ketner announced Tuesday she’s forming a new nonpartisan, nonprofit group to make the coastal district a better place to live.

She also wouldn’t rule out running again in 2010.

The final tally showed Ketner, a Democrat, beat incumbent Republican Rep. Henry Brown by 54-46 in Charleston County, but her win there couldn’t offset losses in Berkeley, Dorchester, Georgetown and Horry counties. Brown won re-election by a 52-48 margin — by far the slimmest margin for a Republican here in two decades.

The Post and Courier

I said when she declared that Linda Ketner was an excellent candidate and she almost pulled it off.  I don’t know that she’ll be able to come as close in 2010 if she runs again.  There was a lot of anti-Republican, pro-Obama fuel behind her that made the numbers this close.  That won’t be a factor in two years.

South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson wrote Ketner a letter demanding that she return $54,000 in political action committee contributions, saying that she made a pledge not to take any.

“Failure to keep your campaign promise and refund these contributions would be proof-positive that you will say and do anything to buy a seat in Congress,” he said.

Ketner said she made no such pledge. She said Dawson is referring to a Project Vote Smart questionnaire that someone — she doesn’t know who — filled out on her behalf.

The Post and Courier

Ummm…. yeah…. sure….. someone else filled it out……

She also noted her PAC contributions are but a fraction of Brown’s, whose campaign had listed $234,400 as of Oct. 15, according to the Federal Election Commission.

“They’re trying to divert people in the 1st District from the things that matter,” she said. “People need to stop putting up with this in politics.”

You know what? I agree.  It is a distraction from the issues and nothing more.  Nobody is going to give a shit about Ketner taking PAC money after she allegedly pledged not to do so.  If she is lying does it reflect on her character?  Yes.  But right now people are concerned about actual issues, not political mudslinging.

Also, I dont think Dawson would have taken the opportunity to hit Ketner on this unless he was concerned about Brown’s reelection.

Congressman Henry Brown (R) and his challenger Linda Ketner (D) appeared before over 100 people at the Rotary Club of Charleston to take time to discuss where they are on the issues and what they would explore in the next session of Congress is elected.

Ketner, who has never sought office before, said she agreed with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain when he said “government is broken.” She said President Clinton’s 1999 decision to get rid of Depression-era regulations that separated banks, insurance companies and investment houses is at the root of the problem.

“I’m not going to blame the Republicans because there’s a lot of blame to go around. A lot,” she said. “I believe it was preventable. I believe it was predictable, and I don’t believe we have the right solution to it yet.”

It’s nice to hear her give an honest take on this instead of just finger pointing at the GOP like a lot of Democrats have wrongly done in the past month.  Indeed there is a lot of blame to go around and some of the major players who shaped this disaster aren’t being held accountable.  In fact, a couple of them were put in charge of writing the bailout.

Brown, who is seeking a fifth term, said the nation’s toughest issue is coming up with a new energy policy that will help wean the nation from its $700 billion dependence on foreign oil, and he promised to pursue domestic sources even if environmental groups don’t like it.

It has to be done.  We absolutely must continue to expand domestic drilling and build more refineries while we continue to explore other alternatives.  There is no argument here.

On balancing the federal budget, Brown said he wants to see Congress be required to balance the budget, like the South Carolina General Assembly must do.

Another excellent suggestion by Brown, but quite frankly, I find it a very unlikely goal considering the way this Congress has behaved and in the face of an Obama presidency with a Congress with expanded Democrat majorities it will be impossible to balance the budget without raising taxes through the roof in order to cover the additional socialism they have been proposing.

On immigration, Ketner said she would like to see the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, or SPAWAR, get a contract to build a “virtual wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border, and Brown said the nation needs to identify its 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants “and return them to their destination.”

Ketner said she also didn’t support amnesty.

I’m actually not that big on the wall, although I’m not opposed to it.  I just think if we went after the employers with the approrpriate force and fierce aggression to stop the willful practice of hiring illegals for cheap slave labor we wouldn’t need to build a wall on the border because there would be no further reason for people to illegally come here.

I haven’t decided yet who I am supporting in this race, but Ketner scored a big plus with me when she said the following:

“I think I’m going to be the bane of Nancy Pelosi’s existence. I really do,” she said, adding that more members of Congress should take their cues from the people, not their party’s leaders.

Speaking to more than 150 supporters jostling for space under a rental tent in Charleston’s Cannon Park, Charleston businesswoman and philanthropist Linda Ketner kicked off her Democratic bid for the 1st Congressional District seat.

“What we need to do together is to forge a new path forward,” she said, noting the rising cost of gassing up, rising health care costs, the current wave of foreclosures, lost jobs and an education system in need of improvement. “I want you to elect me to lead that new path forward.”

Saying that “you need to be more than strong to be great,” she said she would urge more collaboration and diplomacy on foreign policy. “Homeland security means more than kicking off your shoes and throwing away your shampoo.”

Mayor Joe Riley introduced Ketner, calling her “a human dynamo” and the person most responsible for the state establishing a low-income housing trust fund.

The Post and Courier

I did a post on Ketner not that long ago.  She’s a great candidate for the Democrats.  She’ll definitely be a stronger challenger to Henry Brown than what he has had in the past.

While all six of the state’s congressmen face challengers, none of the races will be repeats as the all the major party losers in the general election of 2006 did not file to run for Congress again.

Fifth District Congressman John Spratt went the longest without a challenger. Republican Albert F. Spencer didn’t file to run against the 13-term Democrat until Saturday.

Spencer and Spratt have met before. In 2004, Spencer got 37 percent of the vote. A much better financed and supported Republican challenger in 2006, Ralph Norman, received about 43 percent of the vote against Spratt.

The 5th District stretches along the state’s northern border and rural Pee Dee areas - from Newberry and Cherokee counties more than 130 miles east to Dillon County.

The most crowded race is in the 1st District, which stretches from the Grand Strand to Charleston. Four-term incumbent Henry Brown will face Katherine Jenerette and Paul V. Norris in the Republican primary, while Linda Ketner and Ben Frasier compete for the Democratic nomination.

In the 2nd District, incumbent Joe Wilson will go for his fourth full term. He faces Phil Black in the Republican primary, while Rob Miller and Blaine Lotz are running for the Democratic nomination. That district runs from Beaufort County north into the northern and western suburbs of Columbia.

Gresham Barrett is seeking a fourth term in the 3rd District in the northwest part of the state. He will face Democrat Jane Dyer in the general election.

Fourth District incumbent Bob Inglis is trying for a third term since returning to Congress in 2004. He will face Charles Jeter in the Republican primary, while Bryan McCanless, Paul H. Corden and Ted Christian face off in the Democratic primary.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn will run for a ninth term in the majority-black 6th District. He will take on Republican Nancy Harrelson in the general election.

The State

Because of gerrymandering, don’t expect any of these to flip.

Charleston business executive, Linda Ketner, has thrown her hat in the ring to challenge Henry Brown for his seat in Congress representing South Carolina’s First Congressional District which covers the coastal region from Myrtle Beach down to Charleston. She would be only the third Democratic challenger to Henry in the past five election cycles as the district is so heavily Republican Henry has only faced minor party candidates in 2002 and 2004.

She has a campaign Web site put together that appears to still be a work in progress as the Issues section only details two main subjects: Education and Veterans’ Care. I don’t see eye to eye with her on her ideas for improving education, but I do fully support her recommendations for improving veterans’ care.

Her platform on education seems to follow the typical viewpoint of the Democratic Party. She supports pre-kindergarten education, smaller class sizes, and an increase in Federal intervention. I am of the belief that this agenda will not result in any improvement in public education and in some instances worsen it further. I think four years old is far too young for a child to be attending school all day away from his parents. There is no scientific data proving that smaller class sizes lead to better education and if history is any indicator, public education went south in this country once the Federal Dept of Education was established by the Carter Administration. Increased Federal intrusion and mandates have made it more difficult to teach kids and they are not being taught the knowledge and skills they need that are practical for the working world. I think less restrictions and more “entrepreneurship” on the part of teachers with the freedom to tailor their classes to their specific learning abilities are the keys to success.

On veterans’ affairs, Ms Ketner is to be applauded for her ideas. The way our military veterans are treated is despicable and the Republican Party, which claims to hold the mantle on military support, had their heads in the sand on this until the deplorable conditions of Walter Reed were leaked to the media. Ms Ketner proposes the following changes:

• Provide full disability and retirement benefits to disabled veterans
• Guarantee survivor benefits equal to those of federal employees
• Lower the current retirement age for national guard and reservists to 55, just as it is for federal civilian employees
• Expand the military healthcare system so that America’s Guard and Reservists receive health care benefits even when not on active duty
• Provide travel for active duty personnel and Guard and Reserve soldiers return home from the battlefield
• Provide full GI college benefits for Guard and Reservists
• Automatically accept all disability claims of soldiers returning from the battlefield

Two thumbs up!

Undoubtedly, Linda Ketner is a woman of great character and accomplishment. She is the founder of the South Carolina Citizens for Housing. She personally spent her own time and money volunteering to help victims in Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and has sat on the boards of several charitable organizations. She doesn’t just talk, she walks the walk! Furthermore, she is a small business entrepreneur and the founder and current President of KSI Leadership & Management Development.

Linda Ketner has an uphill battle for this seat, but I have a feeling this will not prove to be a typical election year when you look at both the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees, so nothing should be assumed in 2008.