The powers-that-be have (in perhaps an overt act of desperation) allowed
me to begin writing a periodic political column. In the course of any given
week, I attend a number of events and conduct a number of interviews that never
make it into “official” editorials, simply because they don’t warrant the
newspaper’s taking an “official” position on them. But they still represent
other people’s legitimate opinions, so I hope a column might give them some audience
– after all, that’s why they call and invite me.
My column won’t have a regular run date; it’ll be kind of
catch-as-catch can, which somewhat reflects the state of the industry these
days. It’ll be more observational than ideological, and I hope it’s better than
nothing.
It was a rule begging to be broken:
each office-seeking Democrat had four minutes to explain to a crowded Pawleys Island
living room why he should be the next governor of South Carolina.
I wasn't keeping time, so I don't
know if anyone actually kept it to four minutes – but it was striking how
quickly contrasts emerged between the four candidates for the Democratic
nomination. Unlike the top-heavy Republican field (which includes two statewide
officers and a Congressman), most of the Democrats are new names for most S.C.
voters, giving them the added hurdle of forging an identity as they pitch their
ideas.
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