Jul 16 2008
President:
NORTH CAROLINA (SurveyUSA): McCain - 50%, Obama - 45%, Others - 2%.
SOUTH CAROLINA (PPP-D): McCain - 45%, Obama - 39%, Barr - 5%.
U.S. Senate:
SOUTH CAROLINA (PPP-D):
Lindsey Graham (R) - 52%, Bob Conley (D) - 21%, Mayor Mark McBride (Ind.) - 10%.
Governor:
NORTH CAROLINA (SurveyUSA):
Bev Perdue (D) - 47%, Pat McCrory (R) - 46%, Mike Munger (Libertarian) - 3%.
Jul 15 2008
The State is reporting today that both Senators Graham (R) and DeMint (R) have changed their opposition to offshore drilling as has Congressman Joe Wilson (R) of the Second Congressional District. They are three more of a growing list of politicians now supporting our nation’s ability to drill offshore in the wake of out of control gasoline prices. I just posted the other that North Carolina Senators Elizabeth Dole (R) and Richard Burr (R) and Congressman Mike McIntyre (D) have also moved in the direction of offshore drilling.
Jul 09 2008
WASHINGTON — If Andrew Jackson created the notion of a president’s “Kitchen Cabinet,” Sen. John McCain is reinventing it months before his possible election to the White House.
And Sen. Lindsey Graham seems to be McCain’s one-man Kitchen Cabinet.
Graham’s visibility as the Arizona senator’s closest political confidant has risen in recent weeks as the two men crisscross the country and travel abroad on McCain’s presidential quest.
“There’s nobody I trust more than Lindsey Graham,” McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, said by phone Thursday from Mexico City. “I’m honored to have him travel with me and give me the counsel I need.”
I guess one good thing about Graham getting a cabinet position in a possible McCain administration would be that it gets him the hell out of South Carolina. Then Mark Sanford could appoint his replacement. With Sanford’s libertarian streak, it is highly likely we would get another Senator in the mold of Jim DeMint which would be fantastic.
Jun 24 2008
Three Senators, belonging to the “party of personal responsibility”, the “party of small government”, and the “party of individual accountability” voted to throw away $300 billion of your tax dollars. Lindsey Graham, Elizabeth Dole, and Richard Burr apparently think that it’s their job to hand your money over to irresponsible home owners, real estate speculators, and big companies like Countrywide Mortgage because they got in over their head. Wasn’t that nice of them?
Stop paying your mortgage. You don’t have to. If you default the nannies in Washington will bail you out. That’s the message that was sent by every Democrat present for this vote in the Senate and all but nine Republicans who were present in the Senate. Jim DeMint was the only one of our Senators who voted against this feckless piece of legislation.
Dole is up for reelection in November, which I am sure plaid a role in her decision. Now she can run around the state, when she actually comes here, and shamelessly pander to all the voters. Look! I voted to take other people’s money and give it to you so you can pay for that house you bought that you couldn’t afford in the first place! Vote for me in November!
Jun 20 2008
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint has endorsed Katrina Shealy over Jake Knotts for a Lexington County state Senate seat, weighing in on a race that has divided local, state and federal politicos.
DeMint’s endorsement follows that of Gov. Mark Sanford. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson has appeared in television commercials endorsing Knotts, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told House and Senate incumbents earlier this year that he would support their campaigns.
Nice. Very nice. Shealy must win this race. That is a shot in the arm this state needs.
This is the difference between politicians like Sanford and DeMint and politicians like Wilson and Graham. Sanford and DeMint stand on their principles. Wilson and Graham are party hacks.
Jun 17 2008
It’s official! Bob Conley has won the recount for the U.S. Senate Democratic Primary and he will face Lindsey Graham in November for South Carolina’s Senate seat. Graham has a huge war chest to defend his seat, but he has become a self-serving neocon and many people, including Republicans, aren’t very enamored with him. I am hoping that Conley’s fiscal conservatism and his positions on Constitutional liberties will be able to win voters over so we can bounce Graham from the government once and for all.
Jun 10 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C. — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham fended off a primary challenge Tuesday from a Republican who accused the one-term incumbent of being too liberal for South Carolina while criticizing his ties to John McCain and their work on failed immigration reform.
With 66 percent of precincts reporting, Graham had 68 percent of the vote compared with 32 percent for challenger Buddy Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National Committee member.
Not surprisingly, Graham whomped Witherspoon in today’s election. I knew that was going to happen and since the U.S. Senate race was the only race on the Republican ballot in my area I should have just voted in the Democratic Primary for Bob Conley. At the moment, the race between Conley and Michael Cone is too close to call.
Jun 03 2008
Bob Conley is a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s Primary Election. He is facing political newcomer Michael Cone for the Democratic nomination, but if he wins he may be a recipe for success in November for the Democratic Party.
Lindsey Graham has miffed many a Republican in South Carolina. That’s putting it lightly. Despite that, I think he is going to pull through Tuesday’s primary because he has out raised his opponent, Buddy Witherspoon, by about a 20 to 1 margin and Witherspoon has been coming off a little weird lately, with his whole North American Union thing. I am going to vote for Witherspoon on Tuesday anyway because I want Lindsey gone, but if he prevails I’m going with Bob Conley in November. On the issues:
Conley is the kind of Democrat that can win statewide in a southern state. He is an old school, conservative Democrat who understands how to effectively represent his would be constituents. He is not promoting a radical left wing extremist agenda like so many in the Democratic Party today. I will gladly choose him over Lindsey Graham and I bet quite a few others will follow suit if he gets his message out.
So aim high with Bob on Tuesday!
May 30 2008
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley joined a few other “green” South Carolina mayors today to push support for a controversial energy bill with a cap-and-trade for carbon emissions. The bill is due to come up for vote in the U.S. Senate next week.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is the reason for the push. He’s considered a key swing vote in a bill roundly expected to die to a filibuster on the Senate floor, at least until next year, said Katrina Managan, National Wildlife Federation legislative representative.
Apparently Joe Riley wants the standard of living for the residents of Charleston to be severely crippled in the coming years because that is exactly what the Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill will do if it is passed. It will be an economic disaster for the entire country, a knee jerk reaction to satisfy the Chicken Little climate change alarmists.
I don’t suspect that Graham will vote for this bill with his reelection vote coming in less than two weeks. It could actually cost him the election. If he votes for it Witherspoon will absolutely seize on that and blast the state with last minute ads nailing him for it. Conservatives will have a fit and he’ll lose the primary election. Of course, maybe I shouldn’t be saying any of this. After all, I want Graham to lose.
May 22 2008
Sen. Richard Burr is trying to persuade leadership to allow a debate on his and Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill as well. Their proposal, about $38 billion over 10 years, would raise the monthly stipend for veterans.
To address concerns from the Pentagon about troop retention, their bill also allows the full education benefit to be transferred to military members after 12 years of service. It also is authored by Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
It would seem that Jim Webb has the better bill of the two. Webb’s bill allows military members to go to any university they want in their home states, compared to serving 12 years to receive the full benefit as in Burr’s bill. As far as troop retention goes, it would be a concern if we weren’t war mongering in Iraq.
May 17 2008
About 30 people showed up to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park to meet the senator during a Lowcountry boil his campaign sponsored. Mike Passanite, owner of Boundary Street Pizzaria, catered the event and said he was told to expect about 125.
Hey, what does he expect? When he goes and insults the majority of his constituents by calling them bigots because they expect our country’s laws to be enforced against illegal foreign nationals can Graham really be surprised if support for his reelection is lackluster?
May 11 2008
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he will propose suspending the federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon for the summer in a measure on the Senate floor as early as next week.
“On a very short-term basis, I think Sen. (John) McCain’s got a really good idea — relieve that tax,” said Graham, R-S.C.
The idea also has been widely touted by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. Democratic candidate Barack Obama has dismissed it as a political gimmick that will not solve the real problems of soaring demand and dwindling supply.
This is an entirely stupid idea. The Federal Gas tax is needed to maintain the transportation infrastructure in this country. By suspending it we are taking money out of that pool and creating an even larger deficit that the government is already running for this fiscal year. Barack Obama is correct in saying that this is nothing more than a political gimmick. It’s pandering to the worst degree and will not solve the gas price crisis.
The days of $1.50 per gallon gas are behind us and it’s fine time that Americans get that through their heads. The developing world, mainly China and India, are consuming more of the oil resources than in previous years. That combined with instability in the Middle East due to the Iraq War and the unwillingness of many of our own elected officials to allow us to drill within our own freaking borders are all contributing to the skyrocketing prices.
May 05 2008
Bible study at Spartanburg’s Evangel Cathedral had just finished Wednesday night, but the woman grabbing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Buddy Witherspoon’s business card still had a conversion to complete.
“I’ll give this to my friend,” the woman said. “She is just so mad at Lindsey Graham she’ll be happy to vote for you.”
It is that discontent with the state’s senior senator that Witherspoon, a Lexington orthodontist, is pinning his unlikely run for U.S. Senate on. Tall and balding, Witherspoon, 69, is a fast talker who ticks off criticisms of state leadership in rapid fire, punctuated with a sly sense of humor.
Witherspoon has got my vote. I am a little sketchy about his past affiliation with the Council of Conservative Citizens, but I am certainly not going to vote for Lindsey Graham. Graham was great when he was in the House, but once he got to the Senate he changed. He didn’t feel he was any longer responsible to the people that elected him, that he could go his own route and call us names and insult us when we disagree. Graham has forgotten that he is there to represent us, not to dictate to us.
May 04 2008
A month before an Internet video brought worldwide attention to the issue, an Army health inspection in March recommended cleanup of mold growing in aging barracks on Fort Bragg.
Inspectors with Womack Army Medical Center’s found that “mold growth was visible on hallway walls in various places and along the metal door framing of most rooms” of barracks occupied by the 11th Quartermaster Company, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, according to documents obtained by The Fayetteville Observer.
The barracks next door didn’t fare much better, according to a YouTube video last week by a soldier’s father. That video, depicting peeling paint, mold on the ceiling and raw sewage, prompted outcry from top military and political leaders.
I have this video posted here.
There is no justification as to why these barracks were ever allowed to reach the condition they were in. There is simply no excuse for this and it should have been dealt with a long time ago. Our military is continuously treated like second class citizens by our government and it goes beyond all acceptability.
For the record, I wrote both of my senators, Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and my Congressman, John Spratt, regarding this issue. I received only one response. That was a personal phone call from a staffer in Senator DeMint’s Washington office. That showed me who cares about their constituents’ concerns and who doesn’t.
Apr 18 2008
COLUMBIA — The National Rifle Association has endorsed U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in his re-election bid.
The group says it endorsed the Republican from South Carolina because of his stance on gun rights and his voting record.
Graham faces Buddy Witherspoon in the June 10 primary.
He’s never getting my endorsement at the ballot box, that’s for sure.
Apr 13 2008
GRAHAM VOTES ‘YES’Graham, a Seneca resident seeking election to his second term in November, cited the $4 billion for new community development grants as being among a half-dozen positive features in the housing-aid legislation. The bill also provides a $7,000 tax credit, over two years, for buying a foreclosed home. It offers a standard property tax deduction for taxpayers who don’t itemize on their IRS returns.
“While not a perfect package, this bill will hopefully provide short-term relief to homeowners facing foreclosure and flexibility to lenders to renegotiate loan terms,” Graham said.
DEMINT SAYS ‘NO’
DeMint didn’t see it that way.
“This bill needlessly spends billions of dollars to bail out lenders, makes our tax code more complex and will do little to stimulate our economy,” he said. “In fact, this bill could have the perverse effect of increasing the number of foreclosures and reducing home values.”
The one thing the news tends to leave out is that a lot of these foreclosures are investors, not primary home owners. These are people that bought these houses in order to upgrade them and then flip them in a short period of time and walk away with a $50,000 profit in their hands. It was a good way to make money while the housing market was simmering up, but now that the bubble has burst these people are feeling the pain of the risk they took. Why should we bail them out? As for the people who bought as primary home owners, they took the responsibility for buying more than they could afford and they need to sink with their decision.
As usual, DeMint is standing on principle and Graham is taking the populist road, whoring himself for votes in the upcoming primary.
Mar 26 2008
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told state House and Senate Republicans he would support — even raise money for — any incumbent challenged in a Republican primary.
Graham’s comments set him at odds with Gov. Mark Sanford, another prominent Republican, over GOP membership of the State House.
Sanford has criticized the Legislature as a whole — as well as singling out some lawmakers — for spending too much money, failing to reform government and putting local needs ahead of state needs.
Graham, who formerly served in the General Assembly, told House and Senate Republicans Tuesday they had earned his support.
“I’ll raise money for you. I’ll say you’re bad if you want me to. Whatever you want me to do, I’m here to help,” Graham said. “We’re a team … I do believe an incumbent Republican who has led and wants to build the party needs to be supported.”
Graham basically just admitted he is a party hack. This is not at all surprising since he is facing his own primary challenge for reelection to the U.S. Senate. There are plenty of legislators on both sides of the aisle in Columbia that need to go because they have stood in the way of smaller government, lower taxes, and reform. Incumbent or not, if they are blocking an improving of the state then they aren’t representing. Being an incumbent does not entitle you to a legislative seat for life.
Mar 20 2008
COLUMBIA - Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham will have at least one primary challenger. Buddy Witherspoon, a Columbia dentist and former Republican National Committee member, has paid the more than $10,000 fee to get in the contest.Witherspoon has already run ads critical of the Republican senator and put up campaign signs.
Witherspoon’s campaign manager Dan Herren says the campaign has about $30,000 for the June 10 primary.
Graham’s campaign has been running ads featuring President George W. Bush and conservative groups. Graham campaign manager Scott Farmer says the senator has nearly $5 million to run for re-election.
Feb 25 2008
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said this morning that military and political gains in Iraq due to President Bush’s 2006 troop surge have “exceeded all expectations that I had.”
With al Qaeda on the run, Iraq’s economy beginning to boom, Sunnis and Shiites cooperating in parliament and a degree of normalcy returning to everyday life, Graham told reporters in his Greenville office that “better security was the ingredient for turning Iraq around.”
Graham said, “We’re on the verge of getting it right. The only way that we can lose Iraq now is if Congress” undercuts the military.
I was opposed to the Iraq invasion and still stand by the opinion that we should have never gone in, but I also agree that the situation has greatly improved since Bush got rid of Rumsfeld and began the surge. The news out of Iraq has gotten increasingly positive and the success is also indicative of the sudden decline of attention the media has given the war as well as the lack of rhetoric coming from the Democratic Party.
Feb 25 2008
The State has a lengthy list of candidates lined up to challenge Graham in the Republican primary this June:
There are also two possibilities in Lt. Governor Andre Bauer and State Representative Jeff Duncan. The amount of challengers in this race will more than likely contribute to a Graham primary victory as the anti-Graham vote will be diluted among too many hopefuls. Assuming Graham survives the primary he goes into November to face Democrat Michael Cone, a Mount Pleasant attorney. With South Carolina’s heavy Republican tilt it is unlikely that Cone will prevail, but if Barack Obama is on the top of the Democratic ticket and brings an increased turnout among black and young voters, he could have some coattails.