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Floyd growing into new role as S.C. GOP Chair

May 22, 2009 By

Karen Floyd has been on her new job as Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party for a little more than a week and she says she feels like she is “trying to drink water from a fire hydrant” but she is growing more comfortable daily in her position as the first woman to lead the State GOP.Floyd says she knows she has some big shoes to fill following outgoing Chairman Katon Dawson who served for seven years. The State GOP won 82 percent of the races in which they filed a candidate and raised $19 million dollars during Dawson’s tenure. Floyd says she does not feel intimidated following the success of Dawson, on the contrary she sees her new position as a great opportunity.

“We must operationally do some reorganization and some more focused and grassroots work, as well as recruiting. There’s a whole component to recruitment. I’d like to see a very diverse  array of candidates, the very, very finest candidates in the state.”

Floyd lives in Spartanburg and is the owner of a marketing firm.

Floyd says one of her important tasks is making sure that the party creates the ground work that leads to a steady influx of youthful enthusiasm. “the Republican Party has great opportunities with the 18 to 29 year olds. We have a new third vice chairman who is young and energetic and our first vice chairman as well. They are both Y-R’s, Young Republicans and so our outreach efforts will be more focused and more concentrated going forward.”

Floyd lost her bid for the State Superintendent of Education post in 2006 by a mere 455 votes to JIm Rex. Floyd says she experienced a lot of personal growth during the highly contested race. “I think I learned a great deal about team building and resilience. I learned a lot about messaging. I learned just a tremendous amount through that whole experience. My takeaways would be much more introspective that what actually transpired.”

Floyd says she is not gearing up for a run for a statewide office in the foreseeable future. She envisions herself as a person who can help the State Republican party grow and expand to greater heights in South Carolina.

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government

Poll shows Southerners not affected by trends

May 22, 2009 By

Southerners don’t always follow U.S. trends, a new poll shows. Winthrop University and South Carolina Educational Television (ETV) polled almost a thousand registered voters across the Southern U.S. Dr. Adolphus Belk, Jr., director of the African American Studies program at Winthrop University, was one of the researchers.

“Regional identity in general and Southern idenitity, in particular, is playing more of a role in national politics,” according to Belk. “And at a time when people are wondering, aloud, about the viability and strength of the Republican Party in the state and nation.”

Belk says they they found that party distinctions still run strong when it comes to national politics. “Overall, 48.8 percent of Southerners in our survey approve of the way the president is handling his job,” Belk noted. “But when we look at the by party, Democrats approve of the president’s handling of his job at a level of 87.2 percent.

“For Republicans though, the level of disapproval was 65.2 percent.”

The poll asked southerners about everything from their level of confidence in his ability to handle threats against the United States, who the potential Republican presidential front-runners might be, to the willingness of African Americans to get ahead in today’s society.

Belk says it may be no surprise as to what the top issue is, no matter the party lines. “The current economic crisis, economic crisis, is issue number one, number two, number three for many people in this sample. Almost a majority said that it was the most important issue and it ranks very highly with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.”

The Winthrop/ETV poll found that almost 71 percent of southerners feel that African Americans don’t need special treatment in order to get ahead, and 49.7 percent don’t feel that generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work their way up.

Another interesting finding, topping the list of potential Republican presidential nominees in 2012 was “Can’t think of anyone” at almost 63 percent among all respondents. Tied for second were Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin with 7.6 percent each. The same trifecta appeared when asked of Republicans only, with percents of 50.8, 11.9 and 9.8, respectively.

No significant mention of Governor Mark Sanford as a presidential candidate.

View poll results here

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Politics & Government

DeMint’s foreign bailout amendment rejected

May 22, 2009 By

In a 64-30 vote, the U.S. Senate turned down South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint’s amendment to strike the provisions relating to increased funding for the International Monetary Fund. This fund, that amounts to $108 billion that would be borrowed from China, will be used to bailout other countries.

“We don’t have this money, it’s crazy to borrow this much money and give it to other nations when we have so many needs here at home,” says DeMint.

Senator DeMint says now is the worst time to ask struggling families to bailout foreign countries. On top of that, this bill was “dovetailed” with a war-spending bill that supports U.S. troops, in which DeMint says isn’t right.

“That’s kind of legislative extortion and no one wants to vote against troops and getting them the supplies they need, so they stick it on there and if you vote against the bill, you vote against the troops,” says DeMint.

Senator Demint’s amendment may have failed on the Senate floor, but he still hopes to have gotten a message across.

“Americans just need to know that this place is out of control, that money doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Just think about this, I mean, this $100 billion that’s more than we spend at the federal level for education for a whole year, it’s more than we spend for veterans’ benefits, or for transportation. I mean, it’s a big, big figure,” says DeMint.

DeMint says he knew he would probably lose the amendment, but he wanted the Senate to hear the Republicans voice and say “enough is enough.” Senator Lindsey Graham voted in favor of DeMint’s amendment.

Filed Under: Economy, News, Politics & Government

Sanford questions legislative power in SC

May 22, 2009 By

Governor Mark Sanford says that his federal lawsuit against the state is quote” not about the vetoes, and it?s not about the stimulus. He says there is a greater issue over balance of power.

“Do you now want to have legislative bodies, in essence, be given the power to undo a federal law?,” said Sanford. “I think that’s a pretty big question because it goes back to this heart turning on its head 200 years legislative tradition and the ways that things are done.”

Sanford says the state’s governor ,in a regular basis, administers a host of federal grants. “Nobody thinks twice about this, again, executive function of administering federal law,” he said. “I mean, nobody from the legislative branch come in and says, ‘I tell you what, we’re going to administer Appalachianal regional monies.’ It is not done.”

The Governor says part of the problem is what he calls “the unusual structure that we deal with in South Carolina.”

“You know we’re the only state in the union with a Budget and Control Board that handles the administrative functions that are handled by the other 49 governors in the United States of America. We’re the only state that actually has the Public Utility Regulatory Agency elected by the legislative body. We’re the only state that actually has the Work Force Agency elected by the
legislative body. We’re one of only three states where a majority of the members of the state university boards are elected by the legislative body. We’re one of only two states where in judges are elected by the legislative body. We’re one of only two states where the Supreme Court is elected by the legislative body.”

The governors opponents in the state legislature, late last evening were still trying to sort out how to respond to the Governor’s suit, which they expected to be filed in state court.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Economy, News, Politics & Government

Cyclists supported across SC

May 22, 2009 By

Charleston joins Columbia and Spartanburg as “bike friendly” cities in South Carolina. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley adopted a plan from the League of American Bicyclists to express the significance of becoming a bicycle friendly community. Riley has formed a task force to coordinate bicycle planning and promotions with the community and city government. One message the veteran mayor wants to get across is for motorists to share the road to reduce safety hazards for these cyclists.

On May 20th, cyclists peddled into downtown Charleston to participate in the worldwide “Ride of Silence” that honors cyclists injured or killed while riding. Cyclists took a six and a half hour bike ride through downtown Charleston to remind drivers to share the road. Cyclist Jane West was there.

“When there’s a bicycle on the road, give them some space and be careful, ya know, we’re out here because we love to ride but it’s a great exercise. But, a lot of people are out here just because it’s a great form of transportation. It would be great if people didn’t have to be afraid to ride their bikes,” says West.

Other cities in the state that participated in the “Ride of Silence” were Rock Hill, Columbia, and Hilton Head.

Mayor Riley announced May as Bicycle Month in the City of Charleston.

Filed Under: News, Recreation & Entertainment, Transportation
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