The Speaker’s Robo-Call

House Speaker Bobby Harrell (RINO-Charleston) – a longtime opponent of government transparency – has reportedly paid for an anonymous batch of recorded phone calls supporting it.

Wait … what?

Believe it or not, you read that right.

Harrell’s alleged political “robo-call” is raising eyebrows – and not only for its obvious hypocrisy. Several listeners who received the call insist that its narrator never identifies who is responsible for its message. That’s just one way in which the robo-call may have run afoul of state law governing political communication – in addition to enabling Harrell to conceal the fact that he allegedly authorized the calls.

Received by numerous Republican activists earlier this week, the robo-calls began with a female narrator saying that the good ole boys who oppose government transparency were “at it again.”

“The House Republican Caucus is about to vote on important matters behind closed doors,” the call’s narrator reportedly said.

Listeners who oppose lawmakers casting votes “without transparency” were then directed to contact their lawmakers and tell them “it’s wrong to vote behind closed doors.”

Needless to say, House Republicans were livid to once again find themselves taking incoming fire on the transparency issue, particularly after they passed a bill supporting recorded voting last year.

S.C. Rep. Ralph Norman – who is running against Harrell for Speaker of the House – says that Harrell took responsibility for the calls during a heated meeting of the House GOP Caucus this week.

“I confronted him at the Caucus meeting and he admitted it,” Norman told FITS. “He said he knew the robo-call went out but claimed he had not read the text.”

Several S.C. Republican lawmakers who spoke with FITS on condition of anonymity confirmed Norman’s version of events. However, they told us that Harrell had not only read the text of the calls in advance, but has actually forwarded the language to several Republican leaders prior to the meeting (including GOP Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, who is said to be furious with Harrell over the stunt).

Now, why would Bobby Harrell – a big-spending liberal who has taken advantage of the state’s lack of transparency to pass tax hikes in the past – secretly pay for a pro-transparency ad?

That’s a good question … but one with an obviously self-serving answer.

Harrell’s Caucus is preparing to hold several “litmus test” votes to determine their choice for Speaker. Were a majority of Republicans to favor someone other than Harrell, it could create serious problems for him when the House reconvenes later this year for an organizational session. In the past, Harrell has relied on Democratic support to provide his “governing coalition,” but if a majority of the GOP Caucus were to chose someone else as their Speaker – there’s a chance that enough Caucus members could be persuaded to vote “as a block” to oust him rather than let the Democrats’ choose their leader.

We doubt that’s going to happen, but given that Harrell has pissed off plenty of Republicans in recent years the last thing he wants is for the Caucus to be able to cast its litmus test votes anonymously (i.e. free from Harrell’s threat of reprisal). Let’s face it – as much as Harrell hates transparency, he loves recrimination. In fact, in December 2008 he stripped S.C. Reps. Nikki Haley and Nathan Ballentine of their committee assignments because they refused to back down from their support of transparency legislation.

Norman raised the issue of Haley and Ballentine’s demotion as proof that Harrell was a hypocrite on the issue.

“What about Nikki Haley? What about Nathan Ballentine?” Norman asked. “People are tired of this. That’s why I’m running for Speaker.”

Incidentally, Norman told FITS that he would be fine with a recorded Caucus vote for Speaker.

“I don’t care if I only get one vote,” he said.

We remain convinced that Norman’s candidacy is a Quixotic quest, but the fact that Harrell (who recently boasted that he had “112 commitments” out of 124 members) is this worried about it is interesting.

It will also be interesting to see if Harrell’s phone call violated state law governing such communication.

UPDATE: FITS has learned that Harrell used political consultant Robert Cahaly to produce the calls.

UPDATE II: Another source who received the calls tells FITS they were placed from the following phone number: 803-753-8085.

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