Hot. Fresh. Scandal.

LOCAL ALTERNATIVE WEEKLY TURNS THE TABLES ON BAD BOY SIC WILLIE

FITSNews – January 23, 2008 – For someone used to busting off verbal caps in other people’s asses, this morning’s edition of The (Columbia, S.C.) Free Times is something of a role reversal for our founding editor Sic Willie.

According to the local alternative weekly’s new cover story, our favorite bad boy is allegedly the mastermind of an elaborate plot to defeat over two dozen incumbent state legislators, and the author of a “hit list” that identifies which individual State Representatives and Senators should be targeted. In typical defiant fashion, Sic would neither confirm nor deny whether he wrote the soon-to-be infamous strategy memo entitled “Thoughts On Creating A More Conservative Republican Majority In S.C.,” although the S.C. Club for Growth confirmed to the Free Times that Sic is indeed the memo’s author, and that the proposal was submitted to the organization “months ago.”

“I would say to all of those who wonder whether they’re on the list or not – or whether or not they’re on my list or not – if they get beaten, then they’ll know they were on my list,” an almost too-humble Sic told the paper.

Yowzers. Them’s fightin’ words …

The article, which was actually penned in part by FITSNews‘ contributing writer Corey Hutchins, will no doubt be the talk of the legislature this week, as rumors about “hit lists” have been swirling around the State House for several months now.

We can’t link to the story because The Free Times hasn’t updated its online content yet, but the four-page article includes multiple excerpts from the strategy memo, which it says “was leaked by sources close to S.C. Club for Growth.” Hutchins later elaborated on the source of the leak to FITSNews, saying it was from “someone with a conflicted conscience.”

Covering a wide range of campaign-related issues, the memo proposes a litany of strategic tactics to be employed in targeting up to 30 different legislative races. Specifically, it proposes using a sophisticated “weighting” system to assess incumbent vulnerability as well as the use of “symbolic targets” to deflect attention from the real ones. It also includes excerpts from what the memo insists is an unsolicited, private e-mail from Sic Willie to Gov. Mark Sanford, in which the former gubernatorial spokesman chides his old boss for failing to recognize that the battle with the legislature is “a zero sum game.”

“There is simply no longer a tradeoff to ponder because they are going to give you nothing, period,” Sic allegedly wrote Sanford in the private e-mail. “No matter what you do, you will not get any less out of this system than you are currently getting, so there is no longer any risk.”

Sic’s blunt talk – which has been directed at Sanford on repeated occasions in the past on this website – is echoed throughout the memo, which includes references to “black ops” and a “core council” to implement its directives.

Needless to say, Palmetto politicos are already buzzing about the memo, its “target list” and Sic Willie’s alleged involvement.

“Why is it that no one will actually admit to paying Will Folks for his advice?” asks Luke Byars, state director for U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, who like Sanford (and most every politician in the state) has been both pilloried and praised in the past by FITSNews. “I guess there are some who are foolish enough to trust his judgment, but just smart enough to be embarrassed about it.”

One State Representative who has used Sic’s services in the past (and has likewise been both praised and pilloried here on FITSNews) countered that assessment.

“I’m not embarrassed by Will,”  Smith said. “He a good writer who’s done good work for me in the past. He’s even popped me a couple of times on his blog when he felt I deserved it. That just comes with the territory, though.”

UPDATE I – The story is now up on The Free Times website.

UPDATE II – Viewpolitik, LLC, Sic’s consulting firm and our parent company, is apparently issuing a statement on the article soon … err, now:

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