The Republican Remains a Total Joke With The Election of Mark Sanford

[DainBramaged]

There is something to be said for any human being who makes a gallant effort in the face of adversity and expects success, especially when they must comprehend their determination to succeed is futile despite the energy, forethought, and resources they invest in a crusade. It is pathetic, really, to watch a valiant effort to succeed come up short when anyone with half a brain knew all along that there was no more chance of success than expecting the Sun to rise in the West, but hope springs eternal and intelligent people often underestimate the power of stupid people; especially when religion is part of the equation. Such an effort was on display over the past few weeks in the congressional race between Elizabeth Colbert-Busch and former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford.

It is important to get one thing straight; Colbert-Busch never had a snowball’s chance in Hell of winning a congressional seat representing South Carolina, and it is not because she was unqualified, but because her opponent represented everything the 93% Christian population holds near and dear to their hearts. It is true that a strong intelligent woman who also is a Democrat is toxic to the Christian community, but it was more that her opponent epitomized what Christians love most; a sinner who lost his way, came groveling back full of repentance, and found redemption in the lord and therefore the people.

Apparently, voters in the district were unaffected by Sanford abandoning his elected office, his wife, his children, and his god for an adulterous affair with a foreigner, and threw their support behind the lying cheater because he humbled himself before god with prayer and supplication and sought forgiveness. The fact Sanford is a white Christian male and Republican didn’t hurt either, because South Carolinians have demonstrated profound affinity for white male politicians who represent everything wrong with America so long as they profess American-style Christianity, bigotry, and apathy for fellow Americans who fall outside the “real American” ideal. It does not matter if it was serial racist Strom Thurmond, homophobes Lindsey Graham and Joe “you lie” Wilson, former Senator and Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint, or Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer who compared hungry Americans to stray animals with a tendency to over breed; they are coveted by the “good folk” of South Carolina.

A strong intelligent woman who just happened to embrace tolerance and show empathy for all Americans is an aversion to conservative Christians, and her famous celebrity brother did not help her chances to prevail over a penitent fornicator one iota. It is true, Stephen Colbert has a strong national following, but his national audience was not a part of the electorate who chose a lying adulterer over Colbert’s sister, and although he parodies the typical white Christian “real American,” even bible thumping yokels know when they are being mocked mercilessly. Colbert-Busch would have been better served if her famous brother disavowed any familial relationship with her, but alas, he championed her candidacy while disparaging the very people she needed to defeat the repentant Christian adulterer.

http://www.politicususa.com/republican-remains-total-joke-election-mark-sanford.html

The people who elected Sanford typify the segment of America that prevents the nation from ever moving out of the 19th century,

[CincyDem]

1. Seeing that "Who's Who" list is a sobering comment...

...on the character of South Carolina's electorate.

I'm sure there are many good progressives in SC but the majority of SC seems to be the gift that keeps on giving - from the first shots of the Civil War to this most recent reminder that the only things that matter down there are being white, male, and christian in words.

My sympathies to the SC progressives. Hopefully the golf and the weather down there makes up for it.

[Savannahmann]

3. You know that Tim Scott was African American don't you?

He was elected to the House from that district, was appointed to fill out the term in the Senate when DeMint Retired/Resigned to run Heritage.

So claims of Racism are best tossed softly. Oversimplification is a mistake that makes us all look bad.

[Savannahmann]

2. Sanford won without any help from the National Party.

First, assume that the opponents we are facing are at least as smart as we are. If you do, then you find it is no accident that Nikki Haley selected Tim Scott for the Senate Seat left vacant when Jim DeMint retired/resigned.

Haley managed to do several things with that pick, and if you're silly enough to pretend that it was accidental, you're deluding yourself. First, she appointed one of only two African American to the current Senate, and he's a Republican. Second, she opened up a seat for the special election that leaned so far Republican that a Poly Sci student's dream campaign opponent managed to win because the district distrusts Democrats. Third, she caused a lot of DNC money to go up in smoke chasing the dream of picking up a seat in the House that would have been meaningless even if we had won. The Rethugs would still have a 16 seat majority, and they're probably going to pick up a few in the midterm, the party out of power traditionally does.

Those were the results of a single appointment to the Senate. When I first heard that DeMint was resigning/retiring to take over the RW Heritage Foundation. I assumed that Haley would appoint herself, and was surprised when she didn't. Apparently she feels her political future is strong enough to get a second term as Governor. But appointing Scott has won the Rethugs big so far, and obviously, unless he is primaries by a serious Republican challenger, he's got the job as long as he wants.

So why do the people from that district vote Republican? The problem for them is not what the candidate says, but what the faces of that candidates party say. Representatives from po dunk districts where they have to pipe in sunshine never get to speak on the national media unless their district explodes from an industrial accident or otherwise makes national news. Even then they come in behind the local leadership. The people in that district believed the RW talking points about Nancy Pelosi/ Harry Reid and their nefarious plans to take guns and throw the Rethugs into the re-education camps run by FEMA. Good news, Romney won that district with a 17 point advantage. We lost by 9 points, so we were able to cut the advantage about in half, at a stretch. Even when our "Moderate and Conservative" Democrats buck the party, it does no good, because the people back in the district know that Democrats led by Pelosi/Reid passed this legislation or that policy. So every candidate becomes a surrogate of Reid/Pelosi to the RW talking points.

The future. The Republicans will primary Sanford. They'll throw money and backing to get a more palatable candidate in there, and even in that situation, with the Republican infighting, they'll win, because that district doesn't trust Democrats.