Ken Ard’s Resignation Underscores Dire Need for Two-Party System in S.C.
In any modern democracy it's critical that voters make choices from at least two political parties. One-party rule almost always paves the way for rampant corruption and extremism.
Welcome to South Carolina in 2012.
For much of its existence, South Carolina has been a one-party state. While conservatives have always reigned supreme, from the 1870s until the 1970s most everyone was a Democrat. The only real choice voters often had was in the Democratic Primary. When the national Democratic Party became more liberal on social issues, especially civil rights in the 1960s, many conservatives bolted the party to form the modern day South Carolina Republican Party. Strom Thurmond, Floyd Spence, Albert Watson and others led that effort. Moderate and progressive state leaders like Fritz Hollings and John West stuck with the Democratic Party and formed a coalition with African Americans who finally were able to vote thanks to intervention from the federal government.
For a brief period of time, South Carolina flirted with a two-party system. For a 28-year stretch between 1974 until 2002, Democrats controlled the Governor's Mansion for 12 years and Republicans for 16. During that period, South Carolina sent one Republican to the U.S. Senate and one Democrat. Republicans made steady gains at the local level, but Democrats remained viable.
But for the last 10 years, Republicans have dominated. Since the 2010 elections, they've pretty much had it all. They have every statewide constitutional office and large majorities in the State House and Senate. Both U.S. Senators and five of our six U.S. Congressmen are Republicans.
On the legislative level, partisan redistricting has ensured that most Republicans will never have to worry about having a viable Democratic opponent. While banning them to minority status, redistricting has also ensured that most Democratic legislators don't face serious Republican opponents.
And the result?
We saw it again last Friday when Lt. Gov. Ken Ard resigned after being indicted on several major ethics violations. We see it in Florence where Republican State Rep. Kris Crawford is awaiting his second trial for tax evasion. We saw it in Myrtle Beach where Republican State Rep. Thad Viers was recently arrested for a second time since being elected to the legislature, this time for harassing his ex-girlfriend. Republican Primary voters in his district re-elected him twice after his first arrest for threatening his ex-wife's boyfriend in 2006.
In the Summer of 2009, we saw it when Mark Sanford exposed himself as a fraud when it was revealed that the 'small government' preaching former Governor was unethically using state money to help pull off an extramarital affair.
Our current Republican Comptroller General used his state computer and cell phone to send R-rated love letters to his mistress. This is the same guy who used state money to settle a past sexual harassment lawsuit. Eckstrom was of course re-elected handily in 2010.
In the last eight years, South Carolina's Republican treasurer has been convicted of cocaine distribution and a former Republican commissioner of agriculture served time for his involvement in an illegal cock fighting ring.
Would anyone be surprised if Nikki Haley ends up being next?
One party control has turned South Carolina into a regular gangsta's paradise. As Democratic Party Chairman and former prosecutor Dick Harpootlian says, the 2010 elections may have been a Republican tidal wave on the national level but it was more like a crime wave in South Carolina.
Corruption isn't about ideology. It's about power. In South Carolina, Republicans have all the power and they want event more. Because of redistricting and the conservative leanings of this state, Republicans often only have to please the extremists in their own ranks. The action is usually all in the primary. Moderates and independents who traditionally help keep both sides honest and away from either extreme are largely helpless to do so here.
As a result corruption and extremism rule the day. When S.C. Republicans aren't preoccupied by being arrested, it seems they’re busy pushing extreme bills in the legislature or turning down federal education funding like Superintendent of Education Mick Zais has done several times.
Ken Ard's 2010 opponent, Ashley Cooper, is an educated, honest, moderate person — essentially everything Ard is not. Cooper raised more money than Ard in that election and worked much harder. It just didn't matter. Is there anyone who can make a valid argument that Vincent Sheheen wouldn’t have been a better Governor than Nikki Haley?
Today, 51 percent of the voters here would vote for a Republican no matter what. It's not even up for consideration and the damage it's doing couldn't be clearer. Other states whose voters have a strong preference for one of the parties have shown the ability to mix things up some. Liberal Massachusetts elected conservative Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate in 2009 and ultra-conservative Mississippi elected a Democratic attorney general last year.
Until voters in South Carolina put the person over the party, the politicians won't fear them. When politicians don't fear the voters, bad things happen.
Bad things are happening in South Carolina.
JoSCh
11:42 am on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Cut education funding more, keeping the electorate ignorant and/or out of the voting booth is the best way to retain power for the incumbents.
Well written, and important information. Thanks.
Cherie Abee Mabrey
1:02 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thank you Lachlan for all you do for this state and the fact that no one's caught you yet!
SDR
1:49 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
There is a two party system...Half of the minoruty party is hiding in the majority party. White men that were elected democrats had to move so they would be accepted at the country clubs. They still vote the same on education and healthcare. That's why SC remains at the bottom of the list, even though controlled by GOP.
I would like to see a robust Dem party, but it is currently running the Alinsky playbook to oblivion.
Want to change how politics is done in SC?...Pass the Fairtax to get it started.
SDR
1:55 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
n 1875, African-American US Rep. Joseph H. Rainey (Republican from SC) declared: “We intend to continue to vote so long as the government gives us the right and necessary protection; and I know that right accorded to us now will never be withheld in the future if left to the Republican Party.” [146] In fact, on the floor of Congress, Rainey told Democrats: “Your votes, your actions, and the constant cultivation of your cherished prejudices prove to the Negroes of the entire country that the Democrats are in opposition to them, and if they (the Democrats) could have [their way], our race would have no foothold here. . . . The Democratic Party may woo us, they may court us and try to get us to worship at their shrine, but I will tell the gentleman that we are Republicans by instinct, and we will be Republicans so long as God will allow our proper senses to hold sway over us.”
JoSCh
1:56 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Are you saying that the GOP votes for and funds education and healthcare? Because they don't, and that is the reason SC is at the bottom of those lists.
Fairtax, assuming you're talking about a flat tax, is regressive. Only the type of people who are pro death penalty and call themselves "pro life" believe that a flat tax is fair.
JoSCh
2:05 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
You missed the "I" in your copy paste.
Also, the Republicans used to be the progressive party and the Democrats regressive, but as the northern Democrats tried to drag the party into the 20th century during the civil rights movement Strom Thurmond his ilk jumped over to the Republican party. I'm sure you knew that though.
SDR
1:55 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1072053/posts
SDR
2:00 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
@Jo....http://www.scfairtax.org/what-is-fairtax/read-the-sc-bill/
You gotta think outside the box. The GOP/DEM tag is smoke. The "Leadership" is old Democrat and thats how this state has been govern for a century.
SDR
2:03 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Fairtax UNTAXES the poor. The House GOP (all of them) are co-sponsors and cant get it out of committee. It looks good but they dont want it because it upsets the power....like the author said. If the dems pick that up, they will show they are for the working man and the poor. until they do that, they will be outside looking in.
DONALD M. YONCE,Sr
2:32 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
VERY GOOD !!! DON YONCE
Kathy Hughes
2:36 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Lachlan, you make Democrats sound like angels. Look at the corruption in Illinois, and the more we learn about the Kennedy clan -- the more immoral and corrupt we find they were. Look at Moveon.org, Acorn, George Soros, Eric Holder, and Obama himself. How can you point the finger at the SC Republicans? I don't want to give you my God speech, but you are too young to remember when we could pray in school. At Summerville High School years ago, I attended chapel once a month. God wasn't a bad word to use in class. I can boil the extensive problems down to one earth-shaking idea in a quote from Alexis de Tocqueville: "America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America ceases to be great." A void has been left by removing everything Godly from the schools, colleges, businesses, the legislature, organizations, etc., and corruption has filled the void.
John O. Williams
3:52 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
I don't believe his point is that Democrats are angels, but rather that we must elect "good" people regardless of their party affiliation. The problem is that when "good" people run as a Democrat in SC, they are not given the time of day. However, if "bad" people run as a Republican in this state, they are a shoe. This is because 51% of South Carolinians refuse to push a button with a "D" on it regardless of how "good" or Christian that person may be.
Barbara Bates
9:20 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Agree with you completely, Kathy.
John O. Williams
3:53 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
they are a shoe in
Don Brown
4:12 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
@KH -You can still pray in schools...........just quietly to yourself. No one can stop. How would you like praying in school if each of the children led the prayer one day each month. You may have 5 Catholics, 15 Baptists, 5 Methodists, a Buddhist, a Baha'i, 2 Hindus & 2 Muslims. It would only be fair to represent each religion in the prayer proportionally. What you really meant was that prayer would be good but only as you would like it to be done. Our forefathers took great pains to ensure that there was a separation between church & state, let's stay with it and each student can say their own prayer and you can teach them your religion at home.
Lachlan never said that Dems are angels, he just said that a 1 party government leads to corruption and that applies to both sides of the aisle.
Kathy Hughes
5:23 pm on Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Don, the forefathers took great pains to protect us from an established religion such as the Church of England. If you have time to read an excellent book, read The 5,000 Year Leap. This book clearly explains the Constitution with the forefathers' own words. There can be no dispute. It should be required reading for all high school students and really every American. Jefferson never intended there to be separation of church and state. This has been created by the judicial system.
stanley seigler
2:36 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
@Kathy Hughes: "Jefferson never intended there to be separation of church and state. This has been created by the judicial system"
"Separation of Church and State." come from? They can be traced back to a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote back in 1802...should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."
http://www.schoolprayerinamerica.info/1separationchurchstate.html
@Kathy Hughes: "At Summerville High School years ago, I attended chapel once a month. God wasn't a bad word to use in class...
neither was the N-word...course this was probably before kathy's time as...i seem to remember chapel once a week...and ministers rotated providing the message...my favorite was Bishop Kernny.
sad the N-word has not been removed from the hearts and minds of all too many who believe there should NOT be "Separation of Church and State..."
stanley seigler
9:41 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
@Kathy Hughes: "The 5,000 Year Leap. This book clearly explains the Constitution with the forefathers' own words...
kathy may want to rethink "clearly"...
Skousen [the author] founded a group called the All-American Society, which Time magazine described in 1961 as an "exemplar of the far-right ultras." Throughout the 1960s, Skousen was also admired by members and leaders of the John Birch Society, although members of the more mainstream conservative movement — notably William F. Buckley and the American Security Council — snubbed him out of fear that his controversial views would hurt the credibility of the conservative movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleon_Skousen
skousen say in "The 5,000-Year Leap", The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations.
really...dont think the "no reg free market economy" provided the "highest level of prosperity" in years preceding 1929 and 2008...OK well they did work for the 1%...at least in 2008 (and many in 1929)...hopefully;
the USA will NOT elect those who will serve up strike three...the DEMs are the lesser evil...
Jonathan Edwards
11:52 am on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Jim Minkler
9:08 pm on Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Its hard to have a 2 party system in SC because people like Jim Demint makes statements that we shouldnt deal with Democrates anymore.He made those comments back in Dec. 2011 pea party convention at Springmaid Beach.When we elect this type of spokesman for the Republicans its hard to take anything they say serious.
SDR
7:27 am on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Disagreement is exactly what is needed to foster a two party system. The convoluted mess we currently have, some hybrid alliance of those setting policy in order to accrue more power, is why government is ineffective.
JoSCh
1:04 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
I agree with you SDR. I'd even suggest that more than two parties would be better still.
George Grace
11:52 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
This is a great article, thanks.
George Grace
11:56 pm on Thursday, March 15, 2012
Has anyone noticed that Gov Blago got 14 years for talking about selling Obama's Senate seat, and Ken Ard got probation for 7 violations of campaign law? It helps to be white, connected and repub in SC.
Thanks Alan Wilson for confirming what I already knew about Repub favoratism.
Regina Waldrep
12:57 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012
Nice. But isn't the other party led by the devil (chuckle!)? I think most voters don't know their history and tend to use politics to protect their morality rather than owning it. And then there's the whole issue related to regulating "behavior" and making us "accountable" for our actions and as a member of our "community." Bottom line is if you tell someone in SC that the other party is going to make you pull the weight for the lazies, tax you to death for your property, regulate your behavior (property, guns, business and animals), and puts community (education, for example - or hints at anything national) first - you'll never vote for the other party. Irony is Lee Atwater went to his death apologizing for his sins, and anyone under the age of 45 knows nothing of him.
stanley seigler
3:49 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012
@Regina Waldrep: "...Irony is Lee Atwater went to his death apologizing for his sins, and anyone under the age of 45 knows nothing of him."
atwater perpetuated the GOP policies that black men were going to rape all the little white girls and take all the jobs that belonged to christian white folks...
of course code words/ads were used...eg; willie horton...but this was/is the underlying message to our baser prejudices...and these ads/code words have done much to perpetuate racism since the 60s...ie, divide the USA.
sadly these policies have and are working...eg, current jim crow voter ID legislation.
atwater personally apologized to dukakis...maybe one day the GOPs will apologize to the country...the DEMs apologized for their sins and became the party that supported civil rights...
one reason LBJ is my favorite is his comment to sen russell..."if you get in my way, dick, on the civil rights issue...i will run over you" (or something like this)...russell's response: "you have lost the south for decades"...and indeed LBJ did...LBJ a "profile in courage."
but the GOP may have over stepped with their divide and conquer policies...the pendulum may be swinging back the DEMs in the south...but;
the USA needs a strong GOP that doesnt play on our baser instincts...but debates economic, national defence, etc, policies.
Robert Kelly
8:34 am on Saturday, March 17, 2012
Maybe a way for stopping the radicalization of political parties is to have a single primary with al parties. Top two candidates (or more if the top two don't add up to 50%) run off in November. It would make primaries more important and increase participation. Make the primaries a state issue, not a party issue.
JoSCh
9:36 am on Saturday, March 17, 2012
Great suggestion! Won't work in SC because then the Republicans won't allow it as they would lose their current unfair advantage, but a great suggestion.
George Grace
6:30 pm on Monday, March 19, 2012
That is a heckuva good idea!