S.C. Mayor Drops Out of U.S. Senate Race

Newsday.com ^ | October 21, 2003 | Associated Press

[Impy]

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The city's mayor on Monday dropped out of the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Ernest "Fritz" Hollings.

[Impy]

This is good and bad.

Gone is the threat of the pro-life Coble winning but now Inez!!!!!!! doesn't have a primary to weaken her.

[Impy]

Rats united

[goldstategop]

Looks like the Dems can't find a candidate to hold Foghorn Leghorn's seat next year.

[ambrose]

What happened to Irksome Bowls?

[goldstategop]

He's running in North Carolina for the seat vacated by the retiring Breck Girl.

[ambrose]

oh yeah, got the Carolinas mixed up.

[Impy]

Yeah they have. They are uniting behind Inez!!!! Tenenbaum State Superintendent of Education and the only rat in statewide office besides Hollings and the 35+ year veteran State Treasurer whom I assume is a DINO.

[goldstategop]

It doesn't say much for them the only way they can keep Leghorn's seat is by running a near Republican. LMAO! Voters given the chance, would just as soon have the real thing.

[Impy]

Inez!!! isn't the DINO. Grady Peterson the elderly treasurer is.

Inez is probably mostly liberal.

[goldstategop]

A liberal won't fly in the South. Unless things look real bad for the GOP, South Carolina will have its first two Republican Senators since Reconstruction.

[JohnnyZ]

Unless things look real bad for the GOP, South Carolina will have its first two Republican Senators since Reconstruction.

Maybe. But a race with a popular for-the-children politician is nothing to laugh at. Expect to hear plenty about upstate/downstate, too, which works against us if DeMint is the nominee. And then in order to show Inez as a liberal, he'd have to attack her, and attacking a woman, especially in the South, is a Bad Idea. Michelle Nunn in Georgia presents similar problems.

[Moose4]

Dang. And I was hoping Mayor Bob would retire to focus on his "Senate campaign" so maybe we could get a real fiscally responsible mayor in this town. One that doesn't think he can turn Columbia into some kind of major tourist destination by taxing and taxing and taxing again to spend money on pet projects like trolleys and "green space" while whole neighborhoods fall apart.

Oh well. If we're going to be stuck with a doofus, at least he's an amiable pro-life doofus.

}:-)4

[Moose4]

Tenenbaum is surprisingly popular. The schools here, traditionally near the bottom of the barrel, have made some small progress under her control, but not that much. With our budget problems, she has a ready-made excuse--she can just go out there and whine that she's not getting enough money from the General Assembly every time something goes wrong. She's an orthodox Democrat, not terribly liberal, but very much a teacher's union supporter as far as I know.

She was one of only two Rats to win statewide office this year (Grady Peterson is the other) and is the best of a fairly weak lot of candidates for the Rats. Don't underestimate her.

}:-)4

[jmaroneps37]

Its hard to get a rat to take the cheese. They know what's gonna happen!

[Clintonfatigued]

This is, on balance, good news. Colombia Mayor Bob Coble would have been tough, with his downcountry base and pro-life, pro-gun, pro-military views. Now the 'Rats will unite around state School Superintendent Inez Tennenbaum. Does anyone remember Bill Bradbury, the Oregon Secretary of State who challenged Sen. Gordon Smith last year? I predict that Ms. Tennenbaum will be a similar candidate (a liberal who looks stronger than she actually is). This is what I know about her. She won an open race in 1998 and was reelected against marginal opposition in 2002. Those are the only elections she's won. She is a lawyer and former schoolteacher. She is affiliated with Planned Parenthood, and also an organization promoting "reform" of juvenile justice. Her husband is a high-ranking member of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee. She and her husband live in the rich, toney suburbs of Lexington County, but she has no regional base that I'm aware of. Also, when the national 'Rats rallied around her, several South Carolina 'Rat officials publicly called on their national counterparts to bud out. The way things stand right now, Tennenbaum's chances hinge on the Republican primary getting nasty (which could happen).

[ForOurFuture]

Who does the GOP have to offer?

[Clintonfatigued]

The leading Republican candidates right now are Congressman Jim DeMint of Greenville, former state Attorney General Charlie Condon, a Charleston resident who badly lost the 2002 Republican primary for Governor, wealthy real estate developer Tom Ravenel, whose father is a colorful former Congressman/state legislator from Charleston, long-ago former Congressman Tom Hartnett, who lost races for Lieutenant Governor (1986) and U.S. Senate (1992), and Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, whom I know nothing about. DeMint is the front-runner for now. But the state has a tradition of electing one U.S. Senator from upcountry and one from downcountry. Lindsay Graham is from upcountry, like Strom Thurmond was. DeMint is also from upcountry, and downcountry doesn't want to have two U.S. Senators from upcountry.

[Kuksool]

Bush is very popular in South Carolina. He might have to campaign more than expected in South Carolina for 2004 if the GOP wants to claim the open Senate seat.

[BlackRazor]

But the state has a tradition of electing one U.S. Senator from upcountry and one from downcountry.

This is an oft-repeated item, but I wonder how valid it is. After all, for nearly 40 years the same two people represented the state. Not exactly a lot of turnover to prove or disprove the theory!

[Impy]

Well put.