Gresh For Goober: What A Shock
In a move that will no doubt cause “Tweedle Dumber” and “Tweedle Dumbest” to launch their campaigns any day now, “Tweedle Dumb” made it official today by rolling out a preview of his goobernatorial website.
And if you’re completely lost as to what we’re talking about, we’ll stop for a moment and pretend to be some boring MSM outlet … ready?
“In a move that signals the start of the 2010 GOP guberantorial contest, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett unveiled his 2010 gubernatorial website today – a prelude to an official announcement that could create pressure on S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer to announce their campaigns sooner rather than later.”
… sheesh. We feel dirty now.
Anyway, here’s a link to the Barrett blah blah.
Since we may end up having to endorse this bumpkin as the “lesser of three idiots” (depending on who else gets into the race, of course), we’ll try to mind our manners as we assess the Barrett candidacy.
Basically, he’s an intellectually incurious, pandering social conservative who likes to speak in the royal “we” when talking about himself, a countrified, bloviating mass of “awww, shucks” and “God bless” who spent years positioning himself as a fiscal conservative on hundreds of little lopsided votes that his side lost, only to blow it all on the one ginormous vote that his side “won.”
You remember … that vote back in October of last year about whether or not this country was going to continue as a free market Republic or become a command economy.
This vote, in case you forgot.
Barrett is also being advised by one of the biggest RINOs anywhere in America – South Carolina’s own J. Warren Tompkins – which makes that one vote loom a lot larger in our minds.
Seriously, it would make way too much sense for a consultant-driven boob like Barrett to position himself the way he has only to bail on those supposed “fiscal conservative principles” the one time taxpayers really and truly needed him.
And it’s sad, but Barrett is actually marginally preferable to the other two all-but-announced GOP bovines – McMaster (Tweedle Dumbest) and Bauer (Tweedle Dumber).
No kidding … choosing between these three is like trying to decide whether you want to eat poop, vomit or mucus for breakfast (hint: go with boogers).
Interestingly enough, the McMaster PR machine over at Palmetto Scoop – which blasts Barrett pretty much every day for his bailout vote – had this to say about the vote when it happened:
“They had to pass something to save the free market.”
Hmmmm.
McMaster’s no real Republican either, folks. Obviously.
Nor is Bauer, who seems intent on having the elderly serve his electoral ambitions rather than him serving their needs, which is what we thought the Office on Aging was supposed to be about.
Sad, sad, sad.
We patiently await a real reformer’s entry into this Republicrat race …
Comments
By Watching Sewell Screw Up on March 4th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Sewell for Guv… fruity ascots and booze binges for all!
By Jeff Phillips on March 4th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
The “real reformer” IS in the race, Will. His name is Brent Nelsen. The sooner that you get on his team the better chance he will have of beating the rest of the “goobers” that you have been lambasting.
By Barney on March 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I want a God fearing,church going, half-way intelligent, gun toting, homosexual hating, pro-death penalty, anti-abortion, fiscally conservative talking, and big spending liberal for Governor that calls himself(not a woman please)a Republican and I guarantee I will have several picks to choose from.
By Mike on March 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Jeff–I’m a Furman grad and a big fan of Nelsen too…but no one knows anything about him yet. He has no record and his entire career has been spent in academia. So we must wait to hear what his plans are and his rationale for running.
By Connie on March 4th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Jeff- did you vote for John Cox?
By Rachel on March 4th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
If Barrett wins the nomination and Rick Beltram is SCGOP chair, will Beltram “sit on his hands” when Barrett comes looking for help?
By Paul Zimmerman on March 4th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Gresh messed up with the TARP vote; especially since he had taken a well reasoned stand against it on the first round (unlike Wilson).
But he’s 93% with National Journal and will probably not stray out of the conservative box too much as Governor. He might end up being the old man in the Wooly Swamp but that’s better than the other names out there.
By Someone in Sparkle on March 4th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
We want Nikki Haley!
By Tom Smythe on March 4th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Jeff Phillips is dead on. The real outsider for reform is Brent Nelsen. He has vision and is not hampered by the existing do nothing attitudes of those currently in Columbia. Possibly more important is that he has done a remarkable job bringing divergent opinions together in the most difficult political enviroment one can face – a college faculty.
By Rachel on March 4th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Tom–the thing is that voters dont know anything about Brent Nelsen yet! I am a Furman grad and would love to support him as a conservative reformer, but what is his platform. Just let people find out what he is all about before you proclaim that he has a vision. If you know what that vision is please share here.
By Taylor on March 4th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Brent Nelsen has a two-pronged vision for South Carolina: bringing jobs to the state and fixing the broken education system. Brent Nelsen is the only person in this race who is an International Political Economist. He understands that South Carolina must recruit new business that transforms the state with a “knowledge economy” that emphasizes good-paying, 21st century jobs that will last. This is a man who has personally knows world leaders, like the Foreign Minister of Finland. Simply put – Brent Nelsen has the connections and the vision to bring jobs to South Carolina.
Brent Nelsen will improve education by not only reforming the antiquated, unratified SC constitution, but also by employing new, innotative techinques in the system. For example, Nelsen favors developing charter schools throughout the state, which are proven to raise academic standards.
There is more to come on his website, http://www.brentnelsen.com.
By Herbert on March 4th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Ok seriously paladins. . . Come down from the ivory tower and think for a second. He’s not going to be able to raise money, he is an academic, and there IS going to be a legitimate reform candidate who will steal all of the support that this guy can put together. Political campaigns in this state are about raising money, putting together a ground game, and having an effective media strategy. Good luck.
By TJ on March 4th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Herbert – who is this reform candidate that has yet to enter?
By Robert on March 4th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Taylor,
“Brent Nelsen will improve education by not only reforming the antiquated, unratified SC constitution…”
Way to pre-emptively co-op Tom Davis’ well-known desire to enact sweeping changes to the 1895 constitution! (see Sic Willy’s “Tom Davis V. South Carolina’s 1895 Constitution” post) But “unratified”? I’ll grant you that the state constitution is extremely antiquated and needs to be scrubbed, but are you sure it was not ratified on December 4, 1895? Since you work for Dr. Nelsen’s campaign, and he is a political science professor, maybe that was not the correct choice of word for you to use? If it was, please explain–I may be missing an important piece of South Carolina history where our state constitution was not ratified, regardless of what you think of the document.
By Malcom on March 4th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Go tell your average GOP party activists that this fella is an international political economist and friends with the foreign minister of finland- and they’ll be screaming New World Order and Council on Foreign Relations in no time!
By liz on March 5th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Barrett’s office writes copies of rough drafts for Inspector General’s offices that LIE>
NOT WHAT SC NEEDS AS GOVERNOR>
By EM on March 5th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Niki Haley
By Ron on March 5th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Macolm,
You’re totally correct. I’m already very concerned by what i read here about this guy and you can bet he’ll be thoroughly vetted. We’ll probably have Gov McMaster or Bauer due to a fairly conservative track record and huge name i.d. I do like Nikki as a future candidate, but her crusading for transparency and ethics reform must be a continuous and comprehensive drumbeat leading into a 2014 or 18 bid. South Carolinians will then know for sure she’s real and not just another opportunist.
By Webb on March 5th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Guys,
It’s not quite fair to discount Nelsen simply because he’s an academic or the fact that he doesn’t have much name recognition in the state right now. Obviously those are hurdles he’ll have to overcome, but not reasons not to support him if you like what he says. His ability to put on a ground game only speaks to whether he’s likely to win, not whether he should. We need to find someone in this state that we really want to win, not just support the guy who’s most likely to win in the end. That would be the exact opposite of a reform campaign. Is there another reform candidate? I’m waiting. But beyond that, the ground game will take care of itself.
By Cooper on March 5th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Webb-
I think there are just a lot of Republicans wondering what Brent Nelsen is all about, what his proposals are and his rationale for running. People have kind of been prepared for Barrett, Bauer and McMaster and have been watching these guys for years. I know this is a hurdle you guys working for Nelsen can and will overcome eventually, but some healthy curiosity on who Nelsen is right now is to be expected. Hopefully you guys won’t wait too long to start getting him out in these economic town halls you are supposed to do and releasing some policy proposals–he needs to be doing this more so than Barrett right now.
By Alex on March 5th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Webb- Remember Sanford’s strategy in 02? He let the big dogs rip each other apart for months before he got in. He got in so late that he didn’t start to gain heavy traction until right before the primary. Don’t you think that strategy might work again? You know the big 3 are going to destroy each other- so why get in now? The reform candidate will emerge once South Carolinians have a chance to see how pathetic the choices are now. I’m sure that candidate is already laying the ground work- much like Sanford in 02.
By Charlie on March 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Webb- I’m all about voting based on ideals- but the candidate still needs to be viable. Also, if this guy has so many good ideas- why hasn’t he been talking about them earlier? The policy council, the club for growth, even the local party would have been ways for him to get involved and offer solutions. It is just kind of odd that this fellow wants to come out and start at the top- a little arrogant too. I think we need a draft movement to pull a legitimate reform candidate out. The reform bench is pretty deep with folks like Shoopman, Haley, Davis, Mulvaney, Ballentine, Campsen, Ryberg. . .I could go on and on. Let’s decide on one- but one that can actually win.
By Dogbert on March 5th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
This is great! The whole post about the supposed front runner has turned into a debate about a third tier candidate. That oughta make Team Gresham feel pretty good. This race is going to be a perfect illustration of the joke that is the GOP.
By Cooper on March 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Dogbert–I was just thinking the same thing. HILARIOUS!