Hall Withdraws From SCGOP Race
Columbia attorney Kevin Hall – widely regarded as the front-runner to become the next Chairman of the SCGOP – has withdrawn from the race citing health reasons.
In a post on his website, a “sad and deeply disappointed” Hall writes that repeat occurrences of heart-related symptoms over the past few weeks have forced him to “withdraw as a candidate for Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.”
From Hall’s post:
A few weeks ago, I began to experience occasional shortness of breath and some tightness in my chest. I have been a runner all my life, so it never occurred to me that I might be having serious problems. In response, I tried to get a little more sleep and to eat better. Then on Wednesday of last week, the symptoms returned. However, this time it was obvious to me that something was seriously wrong. I was admitted to Providence Hospital in Columbia with chest pains and other symptoms of a heart attack. I stayed in the hospital a couple of days as I underwent a series of tests to determine my condition and the treatment options going forward.
First of all, our thoughts and prayers are with Kevin, his wife Jamie and their four kids.
There’s obviously plenty of political fallout to address from Hall’s decision (and we’ll get to all of that shortly), but for now we’re hopeful that our friend is doing well and taking care of himself.
Comments
By Billy Bob on April 1st, 2009 at 10:31 am
Wow I just heard the Rhino Warren Tompkins might be jumping in the race. Hold on this is going to be a battle Royal.
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' on April 1st, 2009 at 11:20 am
How old is he?
By calhoun fawls on April 2nd, 2009 at 12:08 am
Billy Bob, you and I disagree on the definition of RINO. Like Warren Tompkins or not, he was working for the Republican Party when there was hardly any Republican Party in South Carolina and when so many of the self proclaimed “real” Republicans were in their public grade schools.
Back in the mid 1800s, the Whigs had such purity forces come to power that demanded people be “real” Whigs. That worked well for them, didn’t it? More recently, the South Carolina Democrats went through such a purity phase back in the early 1990s. That really worked out for them.
Indeed, when any political movement is ran by people that seek to push people out and define them as not worthy to be within it, failure eventually happens. Politics comes down to power. In a democratic republic such as ours, that power comes from building coalitions in which people find more in common than not and are not driven out over singular issues. Frankly, that is how winning is done.
Calling folks RINOs for only agreeing on 80 percent of the issues that you do and making them feel unwelcome in the GOP will only diminish the power of the GOP.
If you want to sit around those who have only the same pure thoughts as you, join a church. Politics is not that place.
Ask yourself this. If a man is pro-life, against gun control, for lower taxes and strong national defense, but has some qualms about private school tuition credits, is that a man a RINO and not welcomed in the Republican party anymore?