Thomas Ravenel officially on Senate ballot in SC

The State ^ | August 6, 2014 | Cassie Cope

[Javeth]

COLUMBIA, SC — Onetime Republican Thomas Ravenel officially is running for the U.S. Senate again, this time as a petition candidate.

The S.C. Election Commission certified the 10,000 signatures required for the former S.C. treasurer and reality TV star to be on the ballot in November as a challenger for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/08/06/3604749/thomas-ravenel-signatures-certified.html?#storylink=cpy

[Javeth]

So it's official, and this news is significant. I do a lot of business in South Carolina (mostly out of the port of Charleston) and have gotten to know hundreds of solid conservative South Carolinians over the years. And they have no plans to vote for Lindsey Graham. To be clear, most did support him in 2008 and before, partly because it wasn't clear how much of a RINO traitor he'd become. But after Graham's betrayal of the Constitution, the conservative movement and South Carolinians in general by supporting the 2013 immigration reform bill, even "low-information" voters are turning against him.

Graham insulted the Constitution by supporting amnesty and law-breakers, and committed what amounts to treason by backing the H1b visas program against South Carolinians and Americans in general. To good conservatives in the great state of South Carolina, that's unforgiveable-- people understand compromise, but amnesty and the H1b represent a critical issue where a conservative does not compromise, since doing so goes against every principle of conservatism and would turn the US into a socialist Democrap one-party state. This is what the conservative voters in Virginia understood quite well when they propelled Dave Brat to his astounding victory. Therefore "compromise" like Grahamnesty's means abject betrayal, the definition of a RINO traitor. It's why Lamar Alexander is facing similar problems in Tennessee (and why McCain, Ayotte, Rubio and other RINO's will be facing the music in 2016), but Grahamnesty is even more deeply resented for joining up as part of the Gang of 8 and betraying us lately on other core issues like gun rights, too. Graham's misery is entirely self-inflicted.

What makes things interesting is that conservatives in SC can feel free to look elsewhere. It's a solid Red State and the Democraps have conceded it anyway, pulling out their funding and basically whatever organization they had in the state. SC still inexplicably uses an open primary system which works to the benefit of RINO's like Graham, without enough time to organize around a single primary opponent to attract funding and media attention (which conservative activists are starting to address with "pre-primaries" in 2015 well before the official primaries). So as result, disaffected SC conservatives are looking to Ravenel instead, and now he's officially an option. Funny thing is, his prior rap-sheet is hardly an issue at all. As the Bible makes clear, no one is without flaws, and the high treason committed by Lindsey Graham far exceeds any crimes Ravenel was alleged to have committed (and even there it seems he was rail-roaded). He's plain-speaking and a sincere Constitutional conservative as Mark Levin has stated, and unlike Graham, Ravenel hasn't sullied himself by taking amnesty bribe money from the Chamber of Commerce, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheldon Adelson and other neocon Trojan Horses of the "axis of treason". Ravenel is a conservative working for conservative causes, and as much of an uphill battle as he has, even some wavering party members are starting to line up behind him. After all, given Graham's proven record of betrayal, the longer he's in office, the more damage he does to the Republican brand across the state, something the GOP establishment has failed to clue into. The true conservatives in SC aren't so blind.

[Resettozero]

Almost every vote Ravenel gets this November, and some of the votes for the Dem Hutto, will be a protest vote against L. Graham rather than a vote FOR Ravenel or Hutto.

So, Ravenel or Hutto it is.

(Before slamming, be advised I am not a Republican Party member.)

[SharpRightTurn]

Great post, Javeth.

I hope conservatives get behind Ravenel. Even if he is not the perfect candidate (who is?), he has to be better than Grahamnesty.

“Graham far exceeds any crimes Ravenel was alleged to have committed (and even there it seems he was rail-roaded).”

Absolutely. Ravenel may have baggage, but almost every candidate does. To argue than isolated acts of stupidity (Ravenel’s rap sheet, Bevin going to an event that turns out to be a cockfight, Wolf putting x-rays on the web, etc.) are worse offenses than years of taking away our freedoms in Washington and leaving our grandchildren with mounds of debt is, in my opinion, the height of stupidity.

[InterceptPoint]

I would not be too confident about this one. In 2008 the Dem got 42% of the vote. If Ravenel and Graham roughly split the Republican vote then we will see a brand new Democrat Senator from South Carolina.

But you may believe (and possibly correctly) that the Dem has no chance of pulling anything like 42%.

Give us some feedback on this and ping Impy when you do.

[Fernet Branca]

T Rav? Look, this guy is as tainted as they come...
Please guys, this is the last thing the Republican Party needs.

[Resettozero]

If Ravenel and Graham roughly split the Republican vote then we will see a brand new Democrat Senator from South Carolina.

SCGOPe will insure Ravenel doesn't get more votes than Graham. Hutto, on the other hand...

[livius]

We’ll get a Dem Senator.

Ravanel is a privileged idiot (leaving aside his drug problems)from a wealthy SC “founding family” but he has had the self-preservation smarts to hitch his star to the dissatisfied GOP voters because nobody in their right mind would vote for him. This means that he won’t win and neither will Graham, who was at least another number and did come through when he had to.

And numbers are all, but these self-obsessed show-boating candidates only care about themselves, and they’re exploiting GOP dissatisfaction to give themselves a leg up.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Go Ravenel ! Take the little poofter creep down !

[JRandomFreeper]

Welcome to FR.

I’m not a republican, I’m a conservative.

/johnny

[Resettozero]

Please guys, this is the last thing the Republican Party needs.

Do not care. Not going too well as things now are. Not to mention being sick of the gibing from out-of-State relations/friends about Graham all the time.

[Resettozero]

And numbers are all, but these self-obsessed show-boating candidates only care about themselves, and they’re exploiting GOP dissatisfaction to give themselves a leg up.

Always the candidate's fault, eh?

[fieldmarshaldj]

The Dem challenger in 2008 got 42% because he ran to Graham’s right (he was a former Republican). I endorsed the guy myself as it was likely he would switch to the GOP if he beat Graham.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

“PARTY UNITY” barks incoming from the establishment. Where were they in Alaska when Murkowski was fairly defeated and ran an insurgent write-in campaign aggressively supported and funded by the establishment.

I don’t care for the hypocrites cries of “a dem will win it!” if we don’t support Graham. He does not deserve support. He loses and we aim for the seat with a legitimate conservative in six years.

There needs to be a culling of RINOs before the GOP takes the conservative insurgency seriously and starts governing as a real opposition to liberals instead of dem light. Graham is a big fat RINO. His scalp will do nicely. Especially if Cochran gets taken out in Mississippi too.

RINOs need to learn that you stab conservative members of the base in the back at their own peril.

[Resettozero]

...and they’re exploiting GOP dissatisfaction to give themselves a leg up.

Look at it this way: they're doing pioneer work to see how a conservative party (non-GOPe) might fare in S.C. in the modern age.

[GeronL]

I would like to see a Freedom Party or a Conservative Party be created in every state as a “just in case” precaution.

Plus it might feel like in a kick in the pants to the GOPE and that couldn’t hurt.

[SharpRightTurn]

“T Rav? Look, this guy is as tainted as they come...
Please guys, this is the last thing the Republican Party needs.”

Ravenel’s votes in Washington would be worse than Grahamnesty’s? Can you give me a link for that?

[GeronL]

Now if only we could have independents run against McConnell, Cornyn and Cochran....

[GeronL]

Lindsay Graham/McConnell/Cornyn/Cochran is the last thing the Republican Party needs

[OneWingedShark]

I’m not a republican, I’m a conservative.

You know, after some thinking I'm inclined to think that conservative and liberal are useless descriptors:

1. The liberal thinks conservative means you want to keep things the same; which is a valid definition.
2. The conservative thinks conservative means you adhere to traditional values; also a valid definition.
3. The liberal thinks liberal means, essentially, favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties; a valid definition.
4. The conservative thinks liberal means noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform; also valid.

[GeronL]

The “Party Unity” barkers didn’t seem to care when Cuccinelli was abandoned and sabotaged by the GOPE and we will likely see the same thing happened to some of the candidates - in the general election- this year too.