Company Profile: Richard Quinn & Associates

They still have a ways to go to supplant the nastiness of J. Warren Tompkins’ firm – or to match the duplicity of Rod Shealy’s crew – but the S.C. political consulting firm of Richard Quinn & Associates is certainly shoveling hard on both counts.

And with a super-liberal “Republican” U.S. Senator (Lindsey Graham), a neo-Confederate State Senate leader (Glenn McConnell) and a special needs Attorney General (Henry McMaster) representing the firm’s top three political clients, the fact that “the Quinndom” is going negative against its opponents – or as they would call them, their “enemies” – isn’t surprising.

Nor is it cost-prohibitive.

The Quinns made hundred of thousands of dollars off of the failed presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain, and they’re currently receiving a steady infusion of TV lawyer cash to help fund their attacks, too, so they’ve got money to burn on as many smear campaigns as they can come up with.

They’re also consultants of record for State Ports Authority Chairman Bill Stern, a left-leaning political gadfly who raises big bucks for Democratic and Republican politicians, depending on who’s in power.

Until recently, the Quinns’ have been targeting their attacks on U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett – who is running for governor in 2010 against McMaster.

But lately, Barrett’s star has been on the wane, which means the Quinns have begun throwing mud at potential dark horses in the 2010 race – like Beaufort Senator Tom Davis.

The greatest attack of them all, however, is reportedly reserved for Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer – who let’s face it probably has the most skeletons in his closet as the 2010 gubernatorial “smearsearch” begins.

So what do the Quinns have on Bauer? We have no idea, but sources close to the firm have told us it’s “game over.”

And while we’ll certainly look forward to following the “mudflow” coming out of 1600 Gervais Street over the next few months, isn’t it just a little curious that all these guys do all day is sit around and come up with ways to attack people?

Seriously, don’t they have anything good to say about Lindsey Graham, Glenn McConnell or Henry McMaster? Or at least anything beyond the plastic-wrapped, pre-approved pablum you read on the firm’s mouthpiece, The Palmetto Scoop?

The Quinns like to view S.C. politics through a distored, self-purifying lens. They believe that they’re always the good guys in white hats while the Tompkins and Shealy crews are always playing the role of despicable villains.

And the grudges go back decades, people.

The truth?

They’re all despicable villains, and they’re all invariably bought-and-paid for by the same special interests holding this state back.

All three firms live in the mud, and exist for no other reason than to spread as much filth on as many politicians as they possibly can.

Lately, however, the firm throwing the most mud has been the one firm that likes to pretend they’re above that, Richard Quinn & Associates.

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