by Joe Kasko
Florence Morning News
March 11, 2010
COLUMBIA – Every Thursday, Dr. Neal Thigpen provides his insights on the week’s top political stories. Today we discuss a new poll in the governor’s race, a big endorsement for two of the candidates, and another candidate that has dropped out of the race.
...
Question: Things are a little closer among Democrats in the governor’s race, according to the Rasmussen poll of likely Democratic primary voters. S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and state Sen. Vincent Sheheen each were favored by 16 percent of those surveyed. State Sen. Robert Ford was supported by 12 percent of those polled. Most people, 37 percent, were undecided and 15 percent said they support another candidate. Dwight Drake, who dropped out of the race last week, garnered 5 percent. What are your thoughts?
Answer: Unlike the Republican race, this shows that at least one candidate on the Democratic side, is moving very rapidly upward, and that’s state Sen. Sheheen. In a fairly creditable poll a few months ago, Dr. Rex had a fairly sizable lead, and Sheheen was in third. This indicates to me with Sheheen now tied with Rex, that Rex is standing still and Sheheen is moving like a Mack truck. A lot more people know who he is than knew a number of months ago. He has been the one on the Democratic side that has run a really exceptional and well-reasoned campaign. He got an early start, he’s raised the most money, and he’s put together a network of supporters.
Question: The S.C. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gresham Barrett and Democrat Vincent Sheheen in their respective bids for governor. The Chamber is the state’s largest business advocacy group and this is the first time they have endorsed candidates for governor. What do you think of these endorsements?
Answer: Coming from the business community, it’s a plus obviously for any candidate. It’s a more routine type of endorsement on the Republican side with Congressman Barrett. He had as good a chance as the other (Republicans) in the field to get an endorsement from the Chamber, but the fact that Sen. Sheheen got the endorsement on the Democratic side is very good for him. It means the business community isn’t afraid of him just because he’s a Democrat, they must detect something in his record and his pronouncements. That suggest on business matters that he would be very conservative and businesslike on the conduct of state affairs it’s a much bigger catch for Sheheen than for Barrett.
Question: As previously mentioned, Columbia attorney and former lobbyist Dwight Drake has ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. The 64-year-old said last week that he wasn’t able to raise enough money to stay in the race. Drake has not endorsed any of three remaining Democrats in the field. What do you think his departure from the race?
Answer: I know Dwight and I’m sorry he’s going out. But I think he got to the point where there were a couple of things that were hurting him. The biggest thing was the fact that he had spent his entire work career as a lobbyist, and to voters, being a lobbyist invokes negative connotations. It’s unfortunate because I think, as the top lobbyist in South Carolina, he’s a man that probably knows more about how the state government operates in Columbia than any other candidate. But it wasn’t just the money, what really made him decide to drop out was when Sheheen got the endorsement of 60 percent of the state Democratic House members and 50 percent of the Democratic state senators. It wasn’t that completely, but when all of these Richland County Democratic state legislators endorsed Sheheen, that happened right under Drake’s feet. With him going out, you can bet all of the big Democratic leaders in and around Columbia, who were backing him, will all move very quickly into Sheheen’s camp.
Dr. Neal Thigpen is a longtime political analyst and former political science professor at Francis Marion University, where he served as chairman of the department for 25 years. Active in state and local politics, Thigpen has served numerous times as a delegate to both the state and National Republican Conventions. We talk with Thigpen every week to discuss the latest in South Carolina politics.
Florence Morning News
March 11, 2010
COLUMBIA – Every Thursday, Dr. Neal Thigpen provides his insights on the week’s top political stories. Today we discuss a new poll in the governor’s race, a big endorsement for two of the candidates, and another candidate that has dropped out of the race.
...
Question: Things are a little closer among Democrats in the governor’s race, according to the Rasmussen poll of likely Democratic primary voters. S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and state Sen. Vincent Sheheen each were favored by 16 percent of those surveyed. State Sen. Robert Ford was supported by 12 percent of those polled. Most people, 37 percent, were undecided and 15 percent said they support another candidate. Dwight Drake, who dropped out of the race last week, garnered 5 percent. What are your thoughts?
Answer: Unlike the Republican race, this shows that at least one candidate on the Democratic side, is moving very rapidly upward, and that’s state Sen. Sheheen. In a fairly creditable poll a few months ago, Dr. Rex had a fairly sizable lead, and Sheheen was in third. This indicates to me with Sheheen now tied with Rex, that Rex is standing still and Sheheen is moving like a Mack truck. A lot more people know who he is than knew a number of months ago. He has been the one on the Democratic side that has run a really exceptional and well-reasoned campaign. He got an early start, he’s raised the most money, and he’s put together a network of supporters.
Question: The S.C. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Republican Gresham Barrett and Democrat Vincent Sheheen in their respective bids for governor. The Chamber is the state’s largest business advocacy group and this is the first time they have endorsed candidates for governor. What do you think of these endorsements?
Answer: Coming from the business community, it’s a plus obviously for any candidate. It’s a more routine type of endorsement on the Republican side with Congressman Barrett. He had as good a chance as the other (Republicans) in the field to get an endorsement from the Chamber, but the fact that Sen. Sheheen got the endorsement on the Democratic side is very good for him. It means the business community isn’t afraid of him just because he’s a Democrat, they must detect something in his record and his pronouncements. That suggest on business matters that he would be very conservative and businesslike on the conduct of state affairs it’s a much bigger catch for Sheheen than for Barrett.
Question: As previously mentioned, Columbia attorney and former lobbyist Dwight Drake has ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor. The 64-year-old said last week that he wasn’t able to raise enough money to stay in the race. Drake has not endorsed any of three remaining Democrats in the field. What do you think his departure from the race?
Answer: I know Dwight and I’m sorry he’s going out. But I think he got to the point where there were a couple of things that were hurting him. The biggest thing was the fact that he had spent his entire work career as a lobbyist, and to voters, being a lobbyist invokes negative connotations. It’s unfortunate because I think, as the top lobbyist in South Carolina, he’s a man that probably knows more about how the state government operates in Columbia than any other candidate. But it wasn’t just the money, what really made him decide to drop out was when Sheheen got the endorsement of 60 percent of the state Democratic House members and 50 percent of the Democratic state senators. It wasn’t that completely, but when all of these Richland County Democratic state legislators endorsed Sheheen, that happened right under Drake’s feet. With him going out, you can bet all of the big Democratic leaders in and around Columbia, who were backing him, will all move very quickly into Sheheen’s camp.
Dr. Neal Thigpen is a longtime political analyst and former political science professor at Francis Marion University, where he served as chairman of the department for 25 years. Active in state and local politics, Thigpen has served numerous times as a delegate to both the state and National Republican Conventions. We talk with Thigpen every week to discuss the latest in South Carolina politics.
