Sanford, became a household name when, as governor, he disappeared from the state for nearly a week. On his return, it was discovered that the married governor, had left the country to visit his new paramour in Argentina. Even in complete disgrace Sanford refused to resign his position instead choosing to speaking publicly, and continuously, of his new found soul mate…the woman who was not his wife.

Today, the divorced, but newly engaged Sanford wants to rehabilitate his image by returning to politics. Rollcall says his name recognition gives him immediate front runner status.

Here’s hoping the people of South Carolina look beyond the political image portrayed by his election campaign staff. Surely, there is a candidate whose face did not grace the cover of National Enquirer and who does espouse conservative values who can better represent the people of the state. Republicans…and the state of South Carolina…do not need a candidate who is immediate fodder for late night television comedians.

NYT: Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina on Monday selected Representative Tim Scott to replace Jim DeMint in the United States Senate, an appointment that will make Mr. Scott the first black senator from the South since the late 19th century.

“It is a historic day in South Carolina,” Ms. Haley said, announcing her decision at the Capitol in Columbia with Mr. Scott at her side. She added, “He earned this seat for what I know he is going to do to make South Carolina and our country proud.”

The governor said that she chose Mr. Scott for his business vision and commitment to conservative principles.

Tea Party favorite in 2010, Scott was born and raised in South Carolina and grew up in a single parent home where his mother worked 16 hour days to make ends meet. His personal story should bring empathy and understanding to others who were raised poor and want to work for the American Dream and a better life.

Scott will be sworn in with the rest the newly elected senate in January. His seat will come up for election in 2014.

Many of the races will be little more than going through the motions. Orin Hatch (R-UT) will likely fend off a primary challenge by a wide margin – others are not so clear-cut.

Investigated for ethics violations and censured by his colleagues, Rep. Charlie Rangel(D-NY)  is looking at the possibility of losing his seat after 42 years in Congress. Rep. Rangel is facing a tough challenge from state Sen. Adriano Espaillat. Rangel will be tested in this primary due to a combination of his unethical behavior and a redrawn congressional district that now contains more Hispanics that will likely vote for Espaillat. Other primary challengers to Rangel include Clinton White House aide Clyde Williams, Harlem community organizer Craig Schley; and Joyce Johnson.

In Colorado, Conservative Republican Doug Lamborn (CO-5) is facing a challenge by wealthy businessman Robert Blaha. Unlike other Republican primary challenges where the incumbent was deemed too moderate, Lamborn’s far-right voting record would seem to suggest that the district that contains Colorado Springs may actually want a less Conservative representative in Congress.

Lamborn concedes he has a fight on his hands. His unflinching conservatism comes with a price. In three terms in Congress, Lamborn has seen none of his bills become law. But he says his record shows that he doesn’t sacrifice his principles to get bills through the process. – Real Clear Politics

Creating Issues like these are the only way the democrats will have a chance to win in the November Election.   It may create a problem for Republicans in the General Election,  if the voters are so upset about the primary and the Republican party, that they may think it was the fault of the Republican Party and not look any further into the issue.  However, it may cause such a problem across the state, that it may give President Obama an upper hand. In a state that is suppose to be conservative, with a firestorm as this issue is sure to cause, South Carolina may become a possible swing state if this issue becomes much larger than anyone expected it to be.  With the Political realm and all the problems that politicians have caused over the past decades, it would not be a surprise if something so troubling actually caused South Carolina to become a swing state for the General Election.  The only problem is that the conservative movement is alive, just not well here in South Carolina.  A good majority of the Republicans, are RINOs.  They do not represent what Republicanism stands for, which is another cause for concern, not just here in South Carolina, but across the country.   Conservatives are fighting battles on two fronts in order to preserve our nation.  We not only have to fight the RINO party, but we also are battling the Progressive party, which has swallowed up what use to be the Democratic Party.

Now, trying to figure out exactly what I should do is the problem.  I would have to gather 5% of the voters here in my district, which would amount to only about 500 signatures, however, I would need those names by Noon on July 16th. My outcome is still unknown.  I am also not sure if I am willing to register as an Independent, I am a strong conservative, I believe, and I will not change what I call myself or consider myself to be, just because some Progressive decided to use Judicial Activism to achieve their goals.  I have other avenues that I may be able to utilize in order to make change in this county, and ultimately in this great nation.  We conservatives must fight this massive machine anyway that we can.  It is our JOB to stand up and defend what has made this nation great.  We must UNITED across this country and STAND TOGETHER to defend our LIBERTY.  Stand with me, join me in this fight against TYRANNY.  LET US DEFEND THIS NATION TOGETHER.  Spread the word of what has happened here in South Carolina.  We must protect other states from running into this very same problem.  We must work TOGETHER, WE MUST DEFEND LIBERTY AT ALL COSTS. STAND WITH ME!

Some of us here in the county have thought about starting a 3rd party.  Maybe it is finally time, at least at local levels, who knows, we do need to start fixing these problems.  If we do not fix them here in the local levels, we cannot fix them in Washington. Starting local is the only course we have to restore America to the great country she once was, frankly still is, we are just running out of time.  Our nation is facing some of her most perilous times right now, and the Progressive Party will never give up, we must also stand our ground.  The bigger question remains, what impact will this have come November?

To read the cases for more in depth information, click HERE!

NRA News’ Cam Edwards speaks with Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright about a story from Landrum, South Carolina where a woman defended herself against two attackers who were sexually assaulting her. The woman had her concealed-carry permit and a gun in her back pocket that she used to surprise the two criminals early in the altercation. Sheriff Wright says he thinks the gun saved her life.

Whether or not an American agrees with the organizations, a citizen must decide that seeing the federal government decide what a religious groups may or may not believe in is exactly what the Constitution was intended to prevent.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been using the first amendment to slowly, but surely, dismantle religion by removing its influences from anything remotely related to government. The ten commandments have been pulled from court houses, the golden rule yanked from schools and prayer not allowed on school grounds or at athletic events.

Most may not find trouble with the action the government is taking. It won’t be long until the government decides that another group must do something for the common good. Maybe it’s gun ranges, maybe it’s steak or pork – once Americans allow the government to oppressively decided what one group can or cannot do, it is not much longer until it is telling all groups what they may not do.

In a total bastardization of the Constitution, progressives have decided that the needs of the government outweigh those of the individual – fight this or your prized right may be next and there will be no one left to fight beside you.

This is not blogger Jimmie Bise

Tonight on the Dark Side we’ll talk about Newt, South Carolina and what happens next with special guest Jimmie Bise from sundriesshack.com and the popular podcast The Delivery. Also, have we lost the culture war in America?  And I’ll make my always accurate predictions for the upcoming week in news. Don’t miss what is sure to be the most incredible 90 minutes of internet radio you’ve heard all night. 10 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. Pacific on the CDNews Radio Network on BlogTalk Radio.

As in the last debate there were no new revelations to be made on each of the remaining candidate’s positions.  The real drama in South Carolina revolved around Newt’s surge and how it would affect Romney. With polls showing the two in a near dead heat, Romney seemed to be on the ropes from the start to prove that he is still a front-runner.  He was not up to the task.  This was clearly Romney’s worst show to date.  Gone was his typical confidence and composure as he stuttered through responses on when he would release his tax returns and Romneycare.  Romney produced many cringe-worthy moments during the debate, but none so noticeable as when he actually referred to his own controversial healthcare legislation as ROMNEYCARE!  No doubt Romney will be chastising himself relentlessly over non-alcoholic, decaffeinated beverages for the next two days. Rule number one in politics: you NEVER repeat the meme your enemy has pinned on you. Yikes!  There was blood in the water on that Charleston stage and all three of Romney’s opponents sensed that.  He was attacked more directly than he has been all season and he did not fare well.  The combined onslaught may just turn out to be Romney’s downfall in South Carolina.  This was not his night.

Santorum started off the evening a bit weak but seemed to pick up steam as the debate progressed.  It was clear that this stage was his last stand. He pulled no punches and went after both Newt and Romney with targeted attacks.  Santorum is polling last in South Carolina now with Perry out of the race.  This is most likely his last chance to seize some of that Iowa momentum and make a case that he is the best choice for the nomination.  Santorum worked hard to establish himself as the best conservative alternative to both Romney and Newt.  It will be up to the voters of South Carolina to decide if he accomplished that or not.  Regardless, Santorum let it all hang out.  If he goes down, it won’t be because he didn’t throw everything he had at his opponents.

Ron Paul was…Ron Paul.  What is left to be said about Ron Paul?  Ron Paul hates the Fed.  Ron Paul hates big government.  Ron Paul is passionate about the constitution.  Ron Paul wants to end all wars/conflicts and all involvement in foreign affairs.  Ron Paul wants to pay down the debt by cutting military action.  You may love Ron Paul.  You may hate Ron Paul.  Whatever your opinion of Ron Paul may be, it cannot be denied that Ron Paul is always consistent in all things Ron Paul.  But Ron Paul won’t win.  Because he’s Ron Paul.  Sorry, Ronulans.  Cue the crazy hate mail in 4..3..2..1.

Newt won this debate in the first three minutes, but his Achilles heel has always been his intellectual arrogance and perhaps that arrogance was a bit too pronounced at points.  Some voters may be turned off by that.  Santorum was a close second.  He fought like a man with nothing left to lose. Even if he goes home after Saturday the man deserves major kudos for going from someone who most Americans had never heard of to one of the final four candidates in a particularly bloody GOP primary battle.  He has earned my respect in this process.

Mitt Romney lost this debate if for no other reason than the expectations have been so very high for him for so very long.  It was a lackluster, stilted performance that will be sure to weaken him as the primaries get underway on Saturday.

The big loser of Thursday’s debate was John King and CNN.  I suppose he had to ask the question he did at the top of the show but surely he walked away from that spanking he received from Newt with some very red buttocks.  Tsk, tsk, CNN…you should have known better.  Newt is not perfect, but he is perfectly articulate. He was ready and you weren’t.  Checkmate.

 
crossposted at kiradavis.net

Huntsman officially bowed out of the race earlier in the day, bringing the number of men on stage down to five.  He wasn’t missed.

It was obvious from the start that Newt was fired up and ready to go after Romney.  He has made it his mission since Iowa to tear down Romney every chance he gets.  Newt is angry about Romney’s Super PAC and he made sure everybody knew it Monday night.  As a matter of fact, it seemed every candidate had finally decided to attack Mitt’s record on stage.  It may be too little too late, but it was almost refreshing to see Mitt being forced to defend himself with nearly every question/comment.  The only way any one else will become the nominee is to attack the front-runner directly.  If Mitt does win, he’ll be attacked like that every day in the generals.  Either way, it’s a win for Republicans to have the former Massachusetts governor challenged relentlessly.  Mitt seemed thrown off his game a bit by all the attention. He stuttered and dodged more than he previously has in any debate. This was clearly Romney’s worst debate performance to date.  That being said, it was still a performance worthy of at least a satisfactory rating from Romney fans.  Not-Romney candidates take note: Mitt is not accustomed to attacks.

I really hate to draw the ire of Paulistinians (as Levin calls them), but he really did seem kookier than normal in South Carolina.  Oh sure, the typical Paul crowd was in attendance, whooping and hollering with every Ron Paul-ism Ron Paul uttered.  But Ron Paul’s Ron Paul act is getting tired, and weird.  He made some vague distinctions between military spending and defense spending, complained at length (again) about useless wars and battle-happy Americans who “can’t wait” to start more wars; then he told the audience that he has more military support than any other candidate on stage. The Ronulans were clearly and typically impressed, but I suspect Paul did nothing to sway anyone else.

And what was up with Juan Williams? Did he just use the list of questions Stephanopolous rejected from the last debate? Williams spent a good amount of his moderating time race-baiting and giving typical left-wing talking points in the form of questions.  Diane Sawyer was proud, I’m sure.  We may hear a bit about Santorum regarding this tomorrow. He did step in it a bit when talking about the issues of letting felons vote and how it affects African-Americans.  His point was salient, but no doubt Media Matters and Rachael Maddow will have lots of fun with the old “conservatives are racist bastards” meme for the rest of the week.

Perry continues to turn in strong debate performances. He’s sunk a lot of capital into South Carolina and this could be his last stand. If Perry doesn’t poll well here, its questionable as to whether or not he stays in the race after this.  Perry was up to the task and took every chance to paint himself as the last “outsider” candidate – pro military, pro capitalism, pro small government, anti-Obama.  I’ve noticed the quality of Perry’s debate performances has increased as the height of his shirt collar has decreased.  Coincidence?

Santorum looked very confident and perhaps tied Newt as the winner of this debate.  He stumbled a bit, but only a bit and he received big applause for direct and strong attacks on Mitt Romney.  It is obvious Santorum is ramping up and with the news that he may have won Iowa after all, it is no wonder.  It was a good night for Santorum supporters, but the question remains: did he convince any new voters to lend him their support?

The primary train rolls on, considerably lighter but also much faster.  Tuesday’s primary vote in South Carolina will only bring the race into sharper focus. The process is tiring, but we are getting closer to the endgame. I’ll be honest, though  – the first man who promises to rid America of Flo from those damn insurance commercials gets my vote.

crossposted to kiradavis.net

New Hampshire is home to all of 12 total delegates in the GOP nomination fight where 1,144 are required to secure the republican spot which means having won the state doesn’t put Romney much closer to the end goal.

With no one changing anything in their election plans after New Hampshire, did it matter?

Conservatives are still searching for an alternative to Romney that will more closely line up with their principles which the Granite State was unable to define – being a mainly moderate-to-liberal area it should be no surprise.

South Carolina is the first primary in a Conservative state and will likely present Conservatives with the candidate that will be the anti-Romney – or if Romney runs away in the southern state, perhaps no alternative exists.

Look for Huntsman’s New Hampshire showing to fizzle in S.C., Paul and Perry will fight a place in the bottom half and Santorum/Gringrich will have another neck-and-neck battle, but this time for second. Romney will likely take South Carolina, but the question remains how decisive a win he manages.

Recently the Justice Department blocked South Carolina’s latest voter registration law requiring voters to present a valid state i.d. before being allowed to vote at the polls.  Governor Nikki Haley says the law is needed in order to prevent voter fraud and secure safe and fair elections, but critics claim voter i.d. laws disenfranchise minorities, particularly Black people.  In a letter to South Carolina officials Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said, “The absolute number of minority citizens whose exercise of the franchise could be adversely affected by the proposed requirements runs into the tens of thousands,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said in a letter to South Carolina officials.”  Really? Tens of thousands of South Carolina residents have no form of i.d.?  In 2012? This is nothing more than a political ploy to continue to allow the Democrat party to steal elections through voter fraud. It makes no real sense, no matter how many big words Mr. Perez uses to describe the law.

To add insult to injury, the National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People has decided to take their objections to the United Nations and request that they send an official observer to monitor elections.  That’s right, the NAACP wants the United Nation to monitor our elections! “It’s been more than a century since we’ve seen such a tidal wave of assaults on the right to vote. Historically, when voting rights are attacked, it’s done to facilitate attacks on other rights. It is no mistake that the groups who are behind this are simultaneously attacking very basic women’s rights, environmental protections, labor rights, and educational access for working people and minorities.  Voting rights attacks are the flip side of buying a democracy. First you buy all the leaders you can, and then you suppress as many votes as possible of the people who might object.”, says NAACP President Ben Jealous.

Black people are getting tired of being treated like ignorant, uneducated babies who haven’t the ability or will to care for themselves or function properly in modern society.  The idea that somehow there are scores of Black people wandering around this country with no identification whatsoever is patently ridiculous.  It is literally impossible to live an even semi-modern American life without some form of official i.d.  Am I to believe that there are thousands of Black citizens right now who have never cashed a check, opened a bank account, applied for government assistance, purchased alcohol or tobacco or firearms, bought cold medicine or picked up a prescription, registered for school, rented a car, applied for a credit card, flown on an airplane, or…you get the idea.  If identification is needed to buy cough syrup for your baby than why in the hell wouldn’t it be required to engage in the most important privilege we have as American citizens?  Is it racism that requires you to have proper identification when buying beer?  Why isn’t Ben Jealous asking the UN to monitor liquor sales in America? I’ll tell you why: because Jealous knows that his party depends on an easily defrauded system to win elections.  Dead votes, repeat votes, illegal alien votes – these are the voting base of the Democrat party.  Jealous knows damn well Black people have i.d.’s these days.  I would bet my savings account that he doesn’t know anyone over 18 without one.  This is Democrat trickery and minority victimization at its worst.

On the eve of the South Carolina GOP primary this month Black conservatives, led by Anita MonCrief (among others) will converge on the state with their photo i.d.’s to protest this gross injustice perpetrated by the DOJ and NAACP.  All are welcome, but the hope is that the administration and their media minions will be forced to see that not all Black people are willing to go along with just anything that the DOJ slaps the term “social justice” on.  We understand that leaving elections open to fraud hurts all Americans…and last time I checked Black people in this country counted as Americans.  Using our race to perpetrate a gross violation of law and common sense is simply unacceptable.  Governor Haley and other South Carolina officials have vowed to fight the DOJ’s intrusion to the highest level, but it is up to the rest of us to make our voices heard and to help restore reason and sanity to our voting process. If you have the ability, join MonCrief and company in South Carolina later this month.  If you aren’t able to make the trip, blog, post or talk about it as much as you can.

If you have no birth certificate or photo i.d. of some type than you probably aren’t a citizen, which means you definitely should not be voting.  Jealous, the National Association for the Advancement of COLORED People and this current regime know that.  They don’t care about justice.  They only care about votes.  what they don’t care about is where those votes come from…and that is most certainly more un-American than any voter i.d. law.