LIBERAL “REPUBLICAN” COVETS COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP …
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson has no intention of giving up his seat in the U.S. Congress to clear a pathway forward for his adopted son – embattled S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson.
Sources close to the liberal “Republican” lawmaker – who likes to “fact find” on your dime in Hawaii – say he is not about to depart Washington, D.C. Especially not when he is closing in on becoming chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
Wilson is the fifth-ranking “Republican” member of this committee – behind current chairman Mac Thornberry of Texas and GOP members Walter Jones of North Carolina, Randy Forbes of Virginia and Jeff Miller of Florida.
His pathway forward is clearing quickly, though. Forbes recently lost his seat in a primary fight and Miller is not seeking reelection in 2016. Jones? He’s loathed by the GOP establishment – which controls committee assignments.
That means Wilson could conceivably wind up as chairman of this committee within the next four years.
Wilson, 69, is best known for screaming “You Lie” at U.S. president Barack Obama back in 2009. Of course he loves Obama’s crony capitalist trade deal – and has been one of the most fiscally-liberal, Obama-accommodating lawmakers in the entire Congress.
So maybe “He Lied.”
Anyway … prior to the path to a possible committee chairmanship clearing for Wilson, there had been some speculation that he might step down from Congress and endorse his 43-year-old son as a successor.
Of course that was before Alan Wilson’s political career imploded – the result of an ongoing scandal involving the obstruction of an investigation into public corruption at the S.C. State House.
Prior to that scandal, Wilson had been viewed as a likely frontrunner for governor of South Carolina in 2018. And while he appears poised to move forward with a gubernatorial campaign, it is no longer out of an abundance of promise … but rather an acknowledgment of his precarious political positioning.
At least two credible “Republicans” have emerged as likely primary challengers to the scandal-scarred politician – prompting him to forego seeking a third term as attorney general.
Running for his father’s seat would have been far easier than running for governor – but the former option doesn’t appear to be on the table anytime soon.
Frankly, we have zero use for either Wilson.
The sooner they are both out of office, the better off the people of South Carolina will be.