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POLITICS

Palmetto Political Stock Index: 2/4/2025

Where should you invest your Palmetto political capital?

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The dominant news in South Carolina politics last week was Nancy Mace’s intensifying jihad against her would-be rivals in the 2026 race for governor of the Palmetto State. Many political observers are puzzled by the intensity of her attacks – especially seeing as no one has entered the race yet.

The primary target of the congresswoman’s initial offensive, attorney general Alan Wilson, has remained mostly silent — for now. But observers are wondering how long he’ll stay mum.  

And how long he’ll wait to return fire…

Speaking of silence… Mace has had little to say in response to counterpunches portraying her as a poster girl for DEI. For years, Mace has touted her status as the first female graduate of The Citadel, South Carolina’s erstwhile all-male military academy. Longtime Palmetto State residents will recall the turn-of-the-century “Saves the Males” bumper stickers launched at the time of its controversial move to coeducational status.

How will Mace thread the needle in response to the first broadsides against her candidacy? We shall see…

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Since Mace and Wilson figured prominently in last week’s index – and since neither really moved the needle one way or the other this past week – we’ll keep them on our radar moving forward while assigning both “holding” ratings this week.

Every Monday morning, we publish the ‘FITSNews Political Stock Index’ – which focuses on the latest developments on the national political scene. Each Tuesday morning, we publish this volume – the ‘Palmetto Political Stock Index’ – which focuses on politicos from our home state of South Carolina, host of the quadrennial “First in the Nation” (for Democrats) and “First in the South” (for Republicans) presidential primaries.

Got a hot “stock tip” for these indices? Email our founding editor Will Folks (here) and/or political columnist Mark Powell (here).

Where should you invest your Palmetto political capital this week? To the index…

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THOMAS RAVENEL

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STOCK: RISING

He’s Ba-a-a-ack. Well, maybe…

Thomas Ravenel, the original “bad boy” of South Carolina politics, set the political world afire last weekend with a social media post saying he’s considering running for governor.  

No, really, he is… and apparently more than fifteen years removed from a federal drug conviction, he’s eligible to run.

Though out of office for many years, Ravenel has never been out of the public eye – because something always comes along to keep him there. Consider his starring role in the popular Charleston, S.C.-based Bravo TV reality show, Southern Charm – or the combustible romantic relationship with his costar that caused the show’s ratings to soar. Then there’s his offspring, related custody suits… criminal charges and a plea deal reached after he was accused of sexually assaulting a nanny.

As for his former forays into politics – and his Icarus-like fall from grace – click here to revisit it all.

This time around, Ravenel is offering thoughtful insight into how a lack of executive leadership is hurting our state’s competitiveness – and how a different approach could bring prosperity and growth. Now in his sixties and somewhat grizzled, those in his corner say all the road miles on him are marks of maturity and growth.  

Those who know him best insist nothing has changed…

The political pedigree and immense personal wealth Ravenel could bring to the race should not be taken lightly. And if he has learned anything from the slings and arrows that accompanied a lifetime of hard living, good for him… he’ll need that scar tissue to withstand the barrage of savagery that could very well be unleashed on him in what is clearly going to be a bloodsport bid.

But plenty of folks are skeptical about a Ravenel comeback.

“A TV star for governor?” one political strategist told us. “Are you kidding me?”

That’s not an insurmountable barrier, though. Just ask the reality TV star sitting in the Oval Office right now. 

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HENRY McMASTER

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STOCK: FALLING

In an economic climate in which every penny matters, comparison shopping is enjoying a revival. Unfortunately for South Carolinians, when it comes to comparing their chief executive to conservative leaders in other states… he fails to measure up.

Consider Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who unveiled his 2025-26 budget proposal earlier this week. DeSantis’ plan included tax relief for Floridians (who already pay no income tax), the elimination of nearly 800 state jobs and a spending cut of $3 billion.

Oh, and there are raises of up to 25% for cops and firefighters, too.  

Now, let’s compare that to what we’re hearing from South Carolina Henry McMaster. His proposal to lower the state income tax is anemic at best and his spending plan would blow nearly $2 billion in new money on government growth.  

“We should continue cutting or eliminating the personal income tax rate as much as we can, and as fast as we can,” McMaster told legislators last week.

Nice words. But as the old Wendy’s commercial famously asked, “Where’s the beef?” McMaster doesn’t appear to be exerting any effort on lawmakers to transform his call into reality.

And if you’re waiting for him to roll into action on it, you’re in for a mighty long wait.  

Meanwhile, South Carolina citizens are drumming their fingers also waiting for a sign — even a flicker of a sign — that House speaker Murrell Smith is following up on his declaration that tax relief is “Priority 1” for the new legislative session. Apparently, “Priority 1” has a different meaning in the State House than it does in the Real World.

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ELLEN WEAVER

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STOCK: FALLING

A rough stretch of road for South Carolina’s rookie superintendent of education got a lot rockier last week…

Ellen Weaver was all-in on a school choice measure passed by the legislature — and ultimately shot down by the state supreme court — last year. This year, she is once again embracing a very narrowly limited school choice proposal in the hopes of simply getting the issue back before the court.

Instead of supporting broad-based choice, she’s playing it safe… hoping to advance a watered down choice bill that will withstand judicial review rather than using her influence to create real academic opportunities for all Palmetto State school children.

Is that the sort of “leadership” South Carolina needs to bridge the achievement gap with our neighboring states?

No… but frankly, no one in the Palmetto State is standing up for true universal school choice, meaning Weaver has plenty of company in being unable to locate the courage of her convictions on this issue.

Next, there was an update on the December 2024 cyberattack that struck a major technology vendor of the S.C. Department of Education (SCDE). Not only does sensitive data of students and educators appear to have been compromised, but the belated notification of the bad news isn’t making Weaver any friends.

Weaver is still relatively new in her job, and despite her missteps she still has the potential to achieve positive advancements for South Carolina’s kids. Some people grow into the office they occupy. We sincerely hope Ellen Weaver will eventually prove to be one of them.    

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LEGISLATIVE ACCOUNTABILITY

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STOCK: DRASTICALLY FALLING

The audacity of South Carolina’s “Republican” legislative leaders is truly breathtaking. They’ll do anything to avoid being called out by the conservative peers. The latest power-play to insulate left-leaning members who reliably vote for big government pays homage to the guiding spirit of North Korean politics. 

Seriously, are there no depths to which speaker Murrell Smith and his merry band of establishment disciples are unwilling to sink in order to keep the status quo functioning at full speed? Apparently not, as their latest effort includes sacrificing a cornerstone of representative government – holding elected officials accountable to their masters, The People.

Not content to purge any Republican who refuses to toe leadership’s line, GOP caucus bosses are now channeling their inner Kim Jong Un. They steamrolled (literally) a package of rules changes last week that reshaped House debate in their favor – and they did it in what amounted to a private committee hearing with no public testimony. By stacking the legislative deck against conservatives, they made it next-to-impossible for these members to force roll call votes that put Smith and his uni-party lackeys on the record. In other words, they made it harder for folks back home to see specifically how their tax dollars are being spent. Or, more accurately, wasted.

Look, if House GOP honchos want to increasingly mandate “my way or the highway” as the order of the day, that’s their prerogative. But if they do, it’s probably time to change the body’s title from the House of Representatives to the Supreme People’s Assembly.

Are you listening, Dear Leader Smith?

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SCETV CENSORSHIP

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STOCK: RISING

How could anyone make a memorial service for The Holocaust, one of the 20th Century’s greatest tragedies, controversial?

And why would South Carolina’s state-sponsored broadcaster compound matters by aligning itself on the side of censorship — and then deny ever doing so?

Things started innocently enough at last week’s University of South Carolina ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp’s liberation. Then, rabbi Sam Rose injected a huge dose of 2025 politics into the service.

Rose bashed what he claimed are attacks on LGBTQ rights and refugee aid, drawing parallels with the Nazi era in 1930s Germany. That was when things turned into a free-speech question. S.C. Educational Television (SCETV) live-streamed the event in its entirety. But afterward, the state-sponsored S.C. Council on the Holocaust, which hosted the event, instructed the network to deep-six Rose’s remarks from its archived recording… and the public broadcaster obliged.

The council, which calls itself “apolitical,” said in a statement it was inappropriate for “political statements” to be made during the service. For his part, Rose is decrying what he calls “state-sponsored censorship.” 

So, who’s right here?

Actually, both are. Rose’s judgment can rightly be called into question for intentionally infusing modern hot-button issues into a moving service meant to honor the victims of a different era. But SCETV’s hands are equally dirty in this messy matter as well. It said in a statement, “As a public media entity, we do not engage in any form of censorship without consent.”

The evidence begs to differ…

What a private broadcaster chooses to do is its own business decision. But a public broadcaster operating on the public dime (and an excessively generous dime at that) must be held to a higher standard. SCETV dropped the ball on this one… which will no doubt revive calls for it to be privatized.

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WANNA SOUND OFF?

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3 comments

Nanker Phelge February 4, 2025 at 12:07 pm

Wilson vs Mace– 3 boobs running for governor.

People in Florida can’t get insurance anymore. If Trump’s dream of dumping FEMA, and letting states fend for themselves comes true, lower taxes for any hurricane prone state will go down the drain…

Reply
J Doe February 4, 2025 at 1:50 pm

Why does the section about SCETV talk about Sam Rose, a rabbi from Greenville, but have a link to Sam Rosen, who appears to be a rabbi in New York? Extremely sloppy, even by FITSNews standards.

Reply
RC February 4, 2025 at 4:40 pm

“Some people grow into the office they occupy. We sincerely hope Ellen Weaver will eventually prove to be one of them.”

Weaver is a great example of what right wingers think “DEI” hires are. A right wing university had to make a program just for her so she could meet the qualifications for office.

Reply

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