Tag: 2012 Republican Primary

Tom Rice and Jobs, A Lotta Talk With Few Results

Tom Rice and the Failed Campaign Ploy

Obvious campaigning with the Horry County budget didn’t work for county council chairman and 7th Congressional District candidate Tom Rice Wednesday as his fellow council members saw through the attempt.

During a council Committee of the Whole meeting, Rice suggested a series of proposed budget changes that appeared to be designed more for their voter appeal than county fiscal stability.

The county budget for FY2013 has passed two readings and will be up for third reading at the regular council meeting scheduled for June 19, 2012.

During budget discussions, workshops and readings since January, Rice has opposed proposed pay raises for county workers while he advocated building a reserve fund for projected budget deficits beginning with FY2014.

Candidate Differences Highlighted in Burgess Forum

We are now down to the final week in the primary campaigns with the candidates attempting to separate themselves from their competition.

Recently, the Burgess Community hosted a candidate forum for Republican primary candidates for House District 106 and Horry County School Board District 5. The differences in the candidates were apparent.

The House District 106 race pits incumbent Rep. Nelson Hardwick against Surfside Beach city council member Rod Smith.

In his opening remarks, Smith said Hardwick was not “conservative enough” in his approach to government. Yet, it was Smith who voted for a government monopoly that has caused the loss of jobs in the private sector of the economy in Horry County.

Ballot Controversy in Georgetown County

We continue to receive evidence of the Republican Party picking and choosing which candidates were to be left off the June 12, 2012 primary ballots, despite a very clear decision by the S.C. Supreme Court on May 2, 2012.

The latest information we have received comes from Georgetown County where auditor candidate Rod Stalvey was left off the ballot while others who followed the same instructions he did are included on the ballot.

Stalvey sent a letter to the South Carolina Republican Party questioning his exclusion from the ballot, but did not receive an answer to his questions.

The Masquerader, He’ll Lie and Doesn’t Care

One month before the Republican presidential candidates will be in Myrtle Beach for an important debate, Newt Gingrich has opened a double digit lead over his closest challenger Mitt Romney in South Carolina voter polls.

In a recent NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll, Gingrich holds a 40 percent to 23 percent lead over Romney while a recent Reuters poll had Gingrich leading 28 percent to 18 percent. Yet, even with Gingrich leading, the same polls show Romney as the man most capable of defeating President Obama in November.

Gingrich is a conundrum for Republican voters. Often hailed as a visionary by supporters, Gingrich seems to leave a trail of broken dreams wherever he goes.