“Vanilla” Sheheen

By FITSNews || Originally, the rumor circulating within the Palmetto political world was that our founding editor was “on the payroll” of the gubernatorial campaign of S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) or Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (RINO-Newberry).

The only problem with that theory (well, other than the fact that – unlike some websites – we don’t work for political campaigns) is our frequent and vocal criticism of both politicians.

Sure, we like Haley more than the other candidates (from an ideological perspective), but that doesn’t mean we’ll be cutting her campaign any slack.  In fact, we haven’t.

As political observers took note (and scratched their heads) over our repeated battering of all the candidates on the GOP side of the 2010 race, a new theory emerged.  In fact, our founding editor (Sic Willie) was asked about it point blank the other day by a mainstream media reporter.

“Are you working for Vincent Sheheen?” the reporter asked.

“Huh?” he replied, a bit taken aback.

“Well you never seem to have anything negative to say about him,” they replied.

Hmmmm …

According to the theory, Sic has a major man-crush not on Sheheen, but on S.C. Senator Tom Davis – who as things stand now would be among the GOP front-runners in 2014 should a Democrat (like Sheheen) capture the Governor’s Mansion in 2010.  Therefore, the theory goes, Sic is working to help elect the most “electable” of the 2010 Democrats – a.k.a. Sheheen.

Interesting notion, right?

Unfortunately for all the schemers out there, it’s just not true (although judging from Sheheen’s bank account, we wish that it was).

Here’s the deal …

Despite several offers, Sic Willie made a decision prior to the 2008 presidential primary election to refrain from working for any candidate – which turned out to best thing he could have done for FITS from a credibility standpoint.  Obviously, two years ago this website was still just a part-time hobby, but “irregardless” … Sic’s decision was an integral component in turning FITS into what it is today (a.k.a. “the bomb”).

And yes, we know that “irregardless” is not really a word.

Unlike the rest of the S.C. political blogosphere, we weren’t (and aren’t) in anybody’s pocket – which enabled us to alternately praise and criticize the 2008 candidates based on their merits (as viewed through our fiscally conservative lens).  We’ve adopted that same approach in 2010, which means that none of the nine “goobernatorial” contenders will be getting a free ride – whether they advertise on our site or not.

But that brings us back to the reporter’s central question … why haven’t we written anything negative about Sheheen?

Well, last time we checked we hadn’t really written anything about Sheheen – in large part because Sheheen really hasn’t done anything.

Seriously, this guy’s “front-runner” campaign is like a friggin’ silent movie, people.  He defines “Vanilla.”

As far as we can tell, Sheheen is a nice enough guy, but his voting record is slightly to the left of the South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus (a.k.a. the Lilliputian Leninists) – which ain’t good.

He’s also a thick-accented bumpkin who remains slavishly beholden to this state’s failed status quo with respect to the economy, education, spending and government structure – and worse still he’s had a front-row seat for this ongoing disaster for the past decade.

That means he’s too stupid to figure out that what he’s been doing (a.k.a. spending more of your money) hasn’t worked.

So yeah … he’s a lot like your typical Republican candidate for governor.

Seriously … when you hear Sheheen blast the GOP for its failure to move our state forward (or whatever other easily-memorized pablum he’s spitting out on the campaign trail), keep in mind that it’s been a RINO-Democrat legislative majority – not Mark Sanford – that has been running this state for the past eight years.

Bottom line? When Sheheen starts opening his mouth (whenever that is), rest assured we’ll be there to dissect the B.S. that comes out of it …

Pic: Text