Thinking Citizen Blog — South Carolina — Governor Henry McMaster (1947 — ), Republican, US Senators Lindsey Graham (1955 — ), Tim Scott (1965 — ), both Republican
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: South Carolina — Governor Henry McMaster (1947 — ), Republican, US Senators Lindsey Graham (1955 — ), Tim Scott (1965 — ), both Republican
Last time, Georgia. Two weeks ago, New York. Three weeks ago, Michigan. This is the fourth episode in a new series — a review of politics state by state ahead of the 2024 election — the goal being to be a little less ignorant when the election rolls around than I would otherwise be.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MAP OF 2020 PLUS A LITTLE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1. Trump 55%, Biden 43%, The margin of Trump’s victory was slightly narrower than it was in 2016 (11.7% versus 14.3%).
2. “Since the election of 1964, South Carolina has voted for the Republican party in every presidential election, with the exception of 1976 when Jimmy Carter a southern Democrat, was elected president. However, in state-wide and local elections, conservative Democrats still won many races until the end of the 20th century. The last conservative Democratic governor to be elected in South Carolina was Jim Hodges in 1998, and the last conservative Democratic U.S. Senator to serve was Fritz Hollings until 2005. Until the 1990s, South Carolina had a majority Democratic representation in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the General Assembly of South Carolina. While South Carolina has shifted between the Democratic and Republican parties, politics in South Carolina has consistently been conservative.”
3. “As of 2023, the Republican Party controls eight of nine state executive offices, both US Senate offices, offices, six of seven representatives to the US House of Representatives and a majority in South Carolina General Assembly.”
NB: “Like most Southern states, South Carolina consistently voted Democratic in the 19th century and much of the 20th century as a part of the Solid South. The Democratic block was largely maintained by the disenfranchisement of most black voters from 1865 to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Republican Party became competitive in the 1960 presidential election when Richard Nixon lost the state to John F. Kennedy by just two percentage points. In 1964, Barry Goldwater became the first Republican to win the state since Recontstruction.”
GOVERNOR HENRY MCMASTER (1947 — ), Lieutenant Governor under Nikki Haley, succeeded her when she resigned in 2017; re-elected in 2022
1. Graduated from the University of Carolina School of Law in 1973, worked as a legislative assistant to Strom Thurmond for a year and then “practiced law for almost 29 years, both as a federal prosecutor and in private practice, representing clients in the state and federal courts, trial and appellate.”
2. Attorney General of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011, Lieutenant Governor under Nikki Haley from 2013 to 2015, was head of the Republican Party of South Carolina from 1993 to 2002.
3. He succeeded Nikki Haley in 2017 when she resigned to become the UN Ambassador to the United Nations.
NB: He won re-election in 2022 by a margin of 58% to 41% against Democratic candidate Joe Cunningham.
US SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (1955 — ) once harsh critic of Trump, more recently strong supporter
1. Graduate of the University of South Carolina Law School, served as a lawyer in the Judge Advocate’s General Corps, earning a Bronze Star for meritorious service, and rising to the rank of Colonel in the US Army Reserves.
2. Served one term in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1993 to 1995) before serving four terms in the US House of Representatives (1995 to 2003) before winning the US Senate seat vacated by Strom Thurmond. He was re-elected to a fourth term in 2020.
3. A harsh critic of Donald Trump in 2016, he became a staunch supporter. In foreign policy, he is an ardent interventionist.
NB: Despite his support of Trump, he has a reputation for bipartisanship — for example, having supported both of Obama’s nominees for the Supreme Court — Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
He is one of 8 US Senators who have never married.
US SENATOR TIM SCOTT (1965 — ) — Republican, First African American US Senator from the Southern United States since Reconstruction
1. South Carolina House of Representatives (2009–2011)
2. US House of Representatives (2009–2011)
3. US Senate (2013 — Present) 2022 vote: 63% to. 37%
NB: Declared his candidacy for the US Presidency in April 2023 but “suspended his campaign in November due to low poll numbers.”
“Love is always stronger than hate, and God’s love is stronger than anything. If we want to move forward, we must anchor ourselves in the powerful, transformative, and genuine love of God.” (Tim Scott) “Simply put, most of us have most things in common, so let’s focus on that.” (Tim Scott) Is he right?
South Carolina government and politics — Wikipedia
2020 United States presidential election in South Carolina — Wikipedia
2022 United States Senate election in South Carolina — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to political process or campaign strategy or 2020 candidate selection or anything else for that matter.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day or change their thinking. Or to consolidate in your own memory something worth remembering that might otherwise be lost. Or to clarify or deepen your own understanding of something dear to your heart. Continuity is key to depth of thought.
