Rex Campaign Is Broke, Unaccomplished – And Winning?
It’s been an awful October for S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex … and to make matters worse, it wasn’t like South Carolina’s top Democratic official was starting off the month in a particularly strong position, either.
Let’s recap, shall we?
First, Rex and his buddies in the education establishment got caught earlier this month trying to dumb down South Carolina’s academic standards.
Then, a week later, Rex and the education bureaucracy’s constant complaints about “budget cuts” were revealed to be fiction when a report published by the S.C. Office of Research and Statistics showed that education funding in South Carolina is currently at its highest level ever – in spite of the national recession.
Finally, last week, a new report showed that South Carolina’s graduation rate was still among the worst in the nation – which is consistent with our state’s declining SAT and ACT scores.
On top of all that, Rex failed to file an initial disclosure form with the State Ethics Commission for his anemic gubernatorial campaign, adding injury to the insult of his disappointing fundraising totals.
Needless to say, Rex was in desperate need of a pick-me-up heading into a crucial fundraising stretch of the 2010 Governor’s race … a pick-me-up his friends at The (Columbia) State newspaper, a.k.a. La Socialista, provided Wednesday.
In a banner-headlined “exclusive,” La Socialista boldly proclaims that, according to Rex, he’s winning the Democratic race for governor …
Comments
By Beatrice Thomlinson on October 28th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Will, your constant obsession with Jim Rex only tells me one thing…that he’s the one you guys are most afraid of in the General Election. Keep the criticism’s coming. It only helps Rex.
By FrankieSC on October 28th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Seriously Beatrice? I mean…seriously? No, I am not a Democrat, but never the less he is one of the worse possible candidates. Fits does drill on some stupid things but in regards to Jim, they are 100% on the mark. SC Dept of Ed is one of the highest funded agencies in the state – and have taken the smallest hit (almost none). What has it done for our children? This guy has been caught in more outright lies than any other elected official in the state. I highly suggest that you consider doing some fact checking on his various statements. Statements like “SC test scores have improved” – yes, in PRIVATE schools and Home School kids – the PUBLIC scores have again declined. Come on…I understand towing the Democratic line…really I do…but even the most dedicated Democrat has got to face reality sometimes.
By Mike on October 28th, 2009 at 11:51 am
The best thing is the screen-cap with the H1N1 in large bold print followed by a picture of Rex. Priceless.
By sclawboy on October 28th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I am a Dem (and love reading FITS nonetheless), and I am not supportive of Rex’s run. I would much prefer he run for Sup. Ed again and try and do something to give him credentials if he wanted to run in 2014. I am much higher on Sheheen or McLeod than Rex.
On a side note, I got an email from the Rex campaign a couple of weeks back. I hit a link in the email, and it took me to a website with .gov at the end. Very curious.
By Fred Guy on October 28th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Will:
Isn’t that the last ditch effort to get the voters to take your candidate seriously???? Releasing your “internal, paid” poll that obviously tells everyone that you are way ahead of the field. You can’t raise money to get your message out, so lets release this ‘poll’ that will let everyone know how SERIOUS we plan to be taken…
Such as:
Edwards in statistical dead heat with Clinton and Obama:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/12/edwards_campaign_internal_poll_finds_statistical_tie_in_iowa.php
Romney and Thompson in statistical tie in SC!
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1007/Romney_leaks_an_internal_poll.html
…to bad no one is listening!
Fred
By Larry on October 28th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Not sure if y’all read the article. Carey Crantford is quoted, saying the poll shows Rex is in trouble.
By Jeffy on October 28th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Beatrice……you are funny. Keep writing. (don’t use Dept equipment
though).
By Hal I. on October 29th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Not great news for Rex, from a polling perspective. Not great news for Sheheen either since it shows him polling less against Rex in a runoff than Drake. Wonder what the numbers were for McLeod in that scenario..?
By Bill on October 29th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
It is ridiculously early!!! Rex is a terrible fundraiser, and showed it last quarter. He released this poll to label himself the “frontrunner.” All this does is show he has more name ID than anyone else right now…which we already know, and did not need a polling firm to tell us. The reason people raise money is to get their name out, which all this candidates will begin to do all too soon, and by then Rex will have either quit or at the very least forfeited his “lead.”
What a crock.