Dirty Tricks in South Carolina State Primary
How positively ... Rovian:
Republicans battling for the party's nomination in a South Carolina State House primary stooped to unbelievable lows, even for the GOP.
Sources are telling FITSNews that a black woman calling herself "Shaniqua" has placed telephone calls to several Republican voters in Beaufort County urging them to vote for Shannon Erickson in today's GOP State House runoff election. According to individuals who have received them, the calls say, "My name is Shaniqua, and I be voting' for Shannon Erickson 'cause she gonna give me all the money I need sos I don't hafta work." Another phone caller, alleging to be Erickson herself, tells voters that she will "spend money like a drunken sailor" if elected. [...]
The phoney phone calls have some Beaufort insiders pointing fingers at [primary opponent, Randy] Bates' political consultant, Rod Shealy, particularly given their overtly racial overtones. Shealy pled guilty to election fraud years ago after hiring an unemployed black fisherman to run against his sister in an effort to frighten white voters.
Rod Shealy, Jr., who is managing Bates' campaign, told FITSNews, "our campaign knows nothing about this, period."
"Any campaign worth its salt would be much smarter than to send out something that transparent," Shealy said.
Luckily, the utterly transparent push polling didn't have the intended effect. Shannon Erickson won the runoff yesterday.
Republicans disgust me more and more everyday. Just when you think they couldn't possibly sink any lower, something comes along like this to prove you wrong.
Excuse me while I go wipe the vomit off my monitor,
The GOP just makes me nauseous.
Well you know, as we say in show biz, "You play to your audience".
wow... you guys are seriously in desperate need of independent oversight in your electoral process...
Ahh, yes...(W.C. Fields Impression)
When in doubt about losing your primary, haul out your racist stereotypes to smear another one's campaign....;-P
SHOCKING!!!
This county is just a hop, skip and a jump from me. In fact I can go downtown (4 miles), get in the top of the tallest building (15 stories) and see Beaufort, SC. Is it really any wonder to anyone how Lindsey Graham got elected?
Sounds like Rod Shealy, Jr. needs to find a new career. And its sounds like the GOP needs a new country...Iraq perhaps.
Hmm...what would the equivalent be if the democrats did something similar. "Hi, I'm Bob Schultz and I'm voting for..." Meh, not even worth the brain cells. Fucking republican scum.
conservatoire @ 2:
Funny how I've just had the same reaction about the Dems as well... Twice the vomit, twice the disgust.
Here's how you get elected in "The South"! Get a black couple into a beat-up old car and plaster it with your opponents bumper stickers, then send them out to the white neighborhoods on a Sunday, looking for "OPEN HOUSE" signs!! See a sign, pull up in front, just stop and look for 5 or 10 minutes, move on to the next one!!
Taaa-daaa! Instant lifelong political career!
(it'd be funny, if it weren't true... actually, no. no it wouldn't)
.
Fuck The South
(and I mean that in the nicest possible way!)
George Allen is kicking himself for not trying that.
How come I get blamed for everthang, when I ain't done nuthin'. Heck I wuz jus lettin' my fangers do the walkin, and they didn't know where they wuz goin'.
The GOP is just doing what it can to increase it's knuckle dragging, redneck hillbilly demographic.
Have any of you considered that perhaps Erickson set the whole thing up?
Would that be a double-reverse-rove or something? :)
I thought Rove went to Texas.
Szin @ 15:
Either that or Shealy tried to do the most pathetic Rove move in history.
Kinda sad really when the only way your party can win is for you to break the law. They seem to have a lot of practice doing this sort of thing. What the hell does that say about their party and their attitude toward our laws?
And I wonder how these calls showed up on caller id? Isn't it illegal to misrepresent a campaign...I seem to recall that calls made to voters have to identify who's electoral committee is calling at the beginning of the call. Otherwise it is election fraud. So...a federal investigation by the FEC is warranted in this case. Somebody needs to file a complaint and get to the bottom of it.
That's funny because I was just in South Carolina for two weeks on business (and I live in San Francisco). It was right in the bible belt, and I drove by Bob Jones University several times. I was expecting to see signs of racial tension, segregation, animosity.
But in several industrial factory situations and in lots of nights out, I've never seen more mingling and intermixing of kind, easy going black and white people.
So maybe there just aren't enough people who respond to this sort of thing there.
the repubs eugenics never stops
TheGreek @ 10:
OKay, sooooo. the repubs have a standing court order against them to not cage voters, yet they do it anyways. The NH phonejammer not only "got off" but has been given a promotion by NH repubs, he's a paid consultant/speaker for election strategy! Yeah, the dems suck.... If just looking at bigoted idiots makes you ill, then be glad your toilet doesn't have a mirror in the bottom. You'd never stop puking if it did!!!!
I'm curious. About every other thread here features a new story about the Republicans hitting "a new low". By my calculation they are now approaching the center of the earth.What will happen when they transit the earth's core? I don't mind telling you I'm frightened.
It's so ridiculous, you'd think it was actually some Democrats trying to sabotage the Republicans by posing as a Republican who's posing as a Democrat. But knowing that surely not even the Republicans would do something that transparent, we must assume that even the Democrats wouldn't be so stupid as to imitate a Republican dumb enough to imitate a Democrat who is not believably a real Democrat, which means I clearly can't choose the wine in front of you. Furthermore, Iocaine powder is from Australia, which is full of criminals, and criminals can't be trusted, so I obviously can't choose the wine in front of me!
Say! What could that be?! ....*points*
Not surprising. I am in South Carolina and know of Rod Shealy's reputation.
Biggus Diggus @ 20:
It's according to where you go. I live here and know that racism is definitely alive. There are a lot of places where you will find interracial mingling, but there are plenty more where racism is prevalent. There were stories just last year here that certain bars in Columbia,SC were not allowing blacks in. A lot of locals say this is not new and bouncers do it all the time. Maybe you shouldn't base something like this on a stroll through the place and instead listen to the people who live here.
Gee, too bad the police can't get a warrant, investigate things via the phone records, and catch some *real* terrorists. (Political goals, fear-based tactics to influence public opinion ...)
navyswan @ 25:
A real standup guy, huh?! Makes his kids and parents real proud?? It's beyond me how this type of person actually thinks, thank Christ!
expect the gop's tactics to go lower and lower. they are sinking in the septic tank they built.
I don't know. This sounds so ham-handed and ill-conceived that I can't believe a professional political operative would do it. Need to see more substantiation.
Hello!Please vote for Shannon Erickson because she promised to fund my 1st annual Communist Party "Flag Burning for Allah" community picnic.Punch Jesus in the face and win a prize!
Shaniqua don't live here no mo'.
Rusty Shackleford @ 30:
Oh sweety, you have no idea of the corruptness of Rod Shealy. He is infamous in this area.
This is interesting. Every time I read a thread like this, I see the stereotyping of the South comments, followed by offended Southerners. I personally don't know what to think, having only been in the South a few times. I do know that when I was in New Orleans, there certainly seemed to be some tension. We were in the street playing frisbee and blaring Parliament, and a young white women asked if we were crazy (I assume referring to our musical choice). Also, I noticed black people would get out of our way on the sidewalk when we walked past them, which I found weird. That was about 20 years ago, though. I also know from experience that the South hardly has the market on racist rednecks cornered. Does this crap really work on a sufficient number of people to make the difference?
navyswan @ 33:
I have no doubt he's a corrupt douchebag, but is he also stupid? I mean, this blatantly racist phone call is apt to backfire even with many Republicans. Hell, I live in Mississippi and if I were a Republican dirty trickster I wouldn't try this. Right-wingers in the modern era know that race-baiting must be more subtle.
Old Billy @ 32:
Dave's not here, man.
Rusty Shackleford @ 35:
If I didn't know about this guy already, I would be right there with you. I would be skeptical. But it is really hard for me to be when I know his reputation and have heard numerous stories about him that make this too believable. He may not be stupid, but the people who listen to him are.
The GOP, trying to out do...themselves, again. WTF!
Rusty Shackleford @ 30:
It does seem calculated to make us piss ourselves.
“Any campaign worth its salt would be much smarter than to send out something that transparent,” Shealy said.
----
Listen to that guy!
He doesn't criticize the act, but the act's "transparency." He doesn't say "that's sleazy and we would never have anything do to with something like that." He says "We'd do it a lot more cleverly than that!"
Man!
navyswan @ 25:
So, since election was held on Tuesday, Sept. 18th, do you know who won the
run-off election between Shannon Erickson and Randy Bates?????
Opps....never mind, I just saw an update indicating Erickson won by 53.9
percent of total votes cast...
pinkobait @ 31:
---
Good thing they didn't go the anti-Muslim route, it might have worked.
"This is Muhammad and we are hoping you vote for xxxx xxxxx, who promised to get us funding to build a mosque in your fine district."
Shealy's racist pitch is just behind the times.
anon @ 40:
He's a Republican political operative. He has no moral sense.
Biggus Diggus @ 20:
Welcome to my world of SC (although I live on an island in Colbert country aka Charleston, viewed by the rest of SC as a foreign country). BD @ 20 is quite observant in his wonderment at the relative day-to-day racial harmony with only occasion side trips into the old ways. And this is in the upstate...problem is that the Repubs in SC are the most vicious sort of thug operatives in the country. The "Democrat" party should win more contests with a majority black population. It's crap like this that keeps good candidates from running and hence keeps voter turnout down...the ultimate goal.
Sounds like a rather poorly executed Rove dirty trick. Remember the whisper campaign about McCain's "black" child? That was Rovian in origin and won the SC primary for the Usurper-in-Chief.
It's not unique to SC though. Here in Franklin County, Maine, a Democratic state legislator voted for a bill extending ordinary human rights to (gasp) gays. A former state senator and gubernatorial candidate - a Republican - followed Charlie around the district whispering that he was probably gay.
Charlie won the election, but is now a judge. If there is a God, the Republican wannabe Rove will appear before him. :-)
they've got the media and the justice system locked so why the hell not?
That's good old fashioned republican racism. And they wonder why blacks don't vote for them. Bigoted bastards.
"Shealy pled guilty to election fraud years ago after hiring an unemployed black fisherman to run against his sister in an effort to frighten white voters."
Against his sister? Oh, boy...what a winner this guy sounds like.
Gus @ 34:
Things haven't changed all that much in 20 years, sadly. I am unlucky enough to live in the south.
hate to bust ya'lls bubbles,but the word down here is now that there were no phone calls. That's right -- not a single confirmed call. It was a hoax.
Gus @ 34:
Follow this link to an interview (top of the page, 128k and 512k realmedia treams) that is part of DemocracyNow!'s ongoing coverage of the prosecution of the "Jena 6*". Check out the forrmer high school football coach, and current school board member, Billy "Bulldog" Fowler, and tell me how you think he'd react to such calls...
*(Jena, Louisiana, 6 black high school students were originally charged with attempted 2nd degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder after a black freshman student, with permission from the principal, sits under the "whites only" schoolyard tree in September 2006, which leads to a series of off-campus fights, the appearance of 3 rope nooses in the tree - placed by white students and called a "harmless prank" by school administrators, a peaceful protest under the tree by the black students, a trip to the shool by the district attorney who informs the black students that he "can end their lives with a stroke of his pen", and ultimately ends in a schoolyard fight in December 2006, where a white student recieves a minor concussion. In the trial of the first student, the charges were reduced to aggravated assault, his court appointed public defender failed to present a single witness to testify in the student's defense, and he was found guilty by an all-white jury, picked from an all-white jury pool after 2 days of deliberation. this conviction was recently overturned by the Court of Appeals because the student, who was 16 at the time of the incident, had been tried as an adult. the local district attorney, who also happens to serve as the attorney for the Jena School Board, insists that his prosecution of the 6 students is not motivated by any racial prejudice)
How many of you heard of the Jena, LA barbershop where black patrons are not allowed. Whitey's afraid the same implements may be used on his precious hair!
Shocking and sickening! My sentiments exactly
Indeed! The one of the highlights of above mentioned interview, is the prideful defense of "our town", by explaining that the complaints of racism are being made by only a small number of the town's black residents, while the rest have responded that they have no such complaints. Then he goes on to explain that theirs has the lowest percentage of black people of ANY parish in the state, a mere %8, while their 10-member school board includes one black member, implying that the black community might be OVER-represented in the school board.
Well, shit howdy, y'all!
And let us not forget the Tulia, Texas drug sting scandal of 1999 where 46 black citizens of Tulia were arrested and convicted of drug charges without a shred of physical evidence, just the say-so of an undercover police officer, hired specifically for the purpose going undercover and producing the arrests. All of the defendants were accused and convicted of dealing cocaine, yet there was never any actual cocaine found on them or in their homes, no cocaine was ever gathered as evidence, in fact, nobody in Tulia had ever been found in posession of any cocaine at all. 46 dealers, and no buyers! Just the testimony of the officer that he had purchased cocaine from them. On defendant had not even been in the state of Texas at the officer claimed he had purchased cocaine from her!
Some defendants spent over 3 years in prison, completely innocent of the charges, before their convictions were overturned and they were finally pardoned by the governor. And eventually, they were awarded a shared settlement of $6 million dollars.
BTW, I read recently that legendary singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and all around master of pop-celebrity, David Bowie, has donated $10,000 to the Jena 6 legal defense fund!
I was manning the phones on election day 2000 at Jon Corzine for Senate headquarters.
We got tons of complaints that white voters were getting phone calls in the middle of the night urging them to vote for Corzine because he was going to take care of black folks; some of them thought they were from his campaign and were pissed. He won easily but who knows if he lost votes.
That same day we got calls from minority voters in one district who had been wiped from the rolls. Some of them were brave enough to ask for a provisional but many walked away. There had been a Republican incumbent and it was a close race. Luckily the good guys won and we now have the wonderful Rush Holt.
There were investigations but I am not aware that anything came of them. I believe penalties for this crap should be stiffer including jail time.
The Republicans are disgusting. Duh.
were
Funny thing about the police state that the GOPers are working to set up is that this type of telecommunications crime is pathetically easy to track down and prove, should anyone care to investigate. Ironic.
Paul @ 56:
'Problem is, the easier it is to get access to the information, the easier it is to alter, fake, or even remove the information altogether!
a person @ 49:
So Miss South Carolina (Like South Africaaa...) isn't that unusual!
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