The Proof Is In Ralph Norman’s Pudding

We’re not quite sure how former S.C. Rep. Ralph Norman ever got elected to anything.

Seriously, people … the Rock Hill real estate developer is probably the worst campaigner we’ve ever seen.  In fact, for those of you who are new to FITS, we had a field day ripping Norman’s 2006 campaign for the U.S. House – which we’re convinced will go down as one of the most ill-advised, poorly-managed and downright atrocious political campaigns in South Carolina history.

That’s too bad considering Norman’s potential as a candidate … and considering how U.S. Rep. John Spratt has turned into a friggin’ socialist.  Well, between apparent bouts with senility, anyway.

Three years later, though, Norman is once again attempting to “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” in his race against RINO Roger Costner, a backslapping, status quo blowhard who we’re sure would fit right in with all of the other backwoods, redneck RINOs who keep running our state into the ground year after year.

So why is this race even close?

For starters, take a look at Norman’s website … and please, try to suppress the gag reflex.

Of course as bad (and we mean bad) as Norman’s recent campaigns have been managed, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s one of the few sure things in S.C. politics – particularly when it comes to watching out for your bottom line.

How good is Norman’s fiscal conservative voting record?  It’s practically spotless … which makes him one of the few Republicans this decade who has actually aligned himself with the limited government principles that the Republican Party is supposed to stand for.

In a state dominated by clever snake oil salesmen who run as Republicans but then govern as liberal Democrats, Norman is one of only a handful of elected officials who can tell you he’s a fiscal conservative … and not be lying through his teeth.

Norman’s opponent, on the other hand, is a guy whose status quo roots we picked up on from the moment he entered the race.  For example, Costner has already pledged his blind allegiance and servitude to our state’s failed education establishment, which is funny because he has personally availed himself of the same academic choice that he is adamantly opposed to providing to other parents.  Costner would no doubt also be a reliable vote for left-leaning S.C. Speaker Bobby Harrell and his big government “economic development” agenda, i.e. the “pillars and pyramids” nonsense that has given us a $140 million “research campus” in the middle of downtown Columbia.

An empty campus, we’d like to add.

Of course, what should be a clear choice between a proven conservative and a glad-handing RINO has been muddied by … guess who?  S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford.

Because Norman supported a number of Sanford’s responsible government initiatives during his previous tenure in the S.C. House, Costner is now shamelessly attempting to paint Norman and the governor with the same brush – a strategy that has met with some success given the growing frustration level voters have with the scandal-ravaged Sanford.

Let’s hope Rock Hill voters see through all of that merit-less “guilt by association” nonsense and elect Norman on Tuesday.

He may be an awful campaigner, but in the fight to protect your pocketbook from government’s ever-expanding reach, Norman has something Costner will never have no matter how many years he may serve in Columbia … a proven fiscal conservative record.

Editor’s note: We’re well aware that the title to this article is less-than-appetizing in more ways than one.