Free Republic

Relative: Jones is ‘crazy’ By Lauren Gregory Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer Jerry William Jones’ trail of crimes starts in the late 1980s and includes convictions in Floyd, Gordon, Clayton, Fulton and Henry counties. Most were theft, shoplifting or traffic charges that ended with some time in prison and decades of probation. Jones also lost his mother and stepfather in the ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades in 1996, which left him with a sizable settlement that relatives said disappeared in no time. And while relatives say they saw hints of violence and heard his threats over the years, they never...

GOP voters pick Sanford Former congressman will next face Hodges BY SCHUYLER KROPF AND BRIAN HICKSOf The Post and Courier Staff      It was never even close.     Former congressman Mark Sanford overcame a late start to decisively win the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, upsetting early favorite Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler and emerging as the new face of the South Carolina GOP.     Peeler, as the highest-ranking Republican in state government, had for years been building a machine to become the party's challenger to Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges. Sanford, meanwhile, was one of the last of the seven Republicans candidates to...

Here we go again. The same geniuses who ran George W. Bush’s South Carolina campaign in 2000 are on the march against Mark Sanford. If they remain true to form, it is only a matter of time before we see anonymous campaign literature claiming Sanford once paid for an abortion for his homosexual lover out of campaign funds the former congressman received while smuggling heroin for the Communist Chinese. The attacks launched against Sanford thus far are stupid, dishonest, and — in the case of the “independent” attack mailing sent out by Bob Peeler’s mail house — potentially illegal. (Note...

Bob Peeler vs. Mark Sanford. They're the two candidates in a run-off next week to be the Republican nominee for governor of South Carolina. For some reason, Sanford is often described as the moderate in the race and Peeler as the conservative. It's true that Sanford backed McCain and Peeler backed Bush in 2000, and that became, especially in South Carolina, a moderate-vs.-conservative fight (although it wasn't obvious in 1999 that it would turn out that way). But Sanford is in fact an exemplary conservative. Elected in 1994, he quickly became one of the leading lights of the "Republican revolution."...

  Sanford, Peeler keep debate moderate, disagree on adsBY WARREN WISEOf The Post and Courier Staff  COLUMBIA - Mark Sanford and Bob Peeler skirmished over familiar themes in a televised debate Monday, but each agreed to support the winner of their June 25th runoff in the fall race against Democrat Gov. Jim Hodges.      Like the race itself, the debate at times hinged more on the question of campaign tactics than policy substance. Lt. Gov. Peeler continued to press questions about former Congressman Sanford's Capitol Hill voting record as the two fielded questions via e-mail, a moderator and each other...

PEELER, SANFORD LEAD THE PACK FOR NOMINATION Sunday, June 9, 2002 BY SCHUYLER KROPFOf The Post and Courier Staff      With only days and hours to go, the Republican fight for governor appears to have narrowed: It's Bob Peeler versus Mark Sanford.     A Post and Courier poll of 404 likely Republican primary voters shows the two hopefuls emerging as the strong 1-2 choices going into Tuesday's primary. If the trend holds, Peeler, 50, the current lieutenant governor from Lexington, and Sanford, 42, the ex-congressman from Charleston, would be in line to face off again in two weeks for the right...