PoliTick-Tock

November elections on the chopping block

South Carolina might have to scramble to figure out how to pay for November elections now that new economic figures are showing that South Carolina made even less than previously expected during the fiscal year that ended in June, a state representative said today.

The Board of Economic Advisors revised their predictions again on Monday.

S.C. Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, said the money is going to have to come from somewhere, and the supplemental budget - which includes funding for the November elections - is likely to be cut drastically, if not completely.

Filings for office

Filings with the Horry and Georgetown political parties began on Sunday and will continue through the end of March. Although most of the filings have been incumbents at this early stage, there have been a few challengers and surprises. We'll continue to post new filings on Politick-tock and on C2 of the print edition until the filing period closes. The following is a list of people who had filed as of 4:00 p.m.

Obama: Politics no dirtier in S.C. than elsewhere

DILLON | Though his tone at the debate in Myrtle Beach early this week took a strident turn away from its usual hope-filled pitch, Barack Obama said it is a reflection of the entire Democratic contest -- not a reaction to South Carolina's reputed dirty politicking.

"The main thing we wanted to do was just to set the record straight,'' Obama said Wednesday in an interview with The Sun News. "For about a month, I think the Clinton camp started to feel like it could just say anything."

During some well-publicized and heated moments in the Myrtle Beach debate Monday, Obama and Clinton exchanged bitter words and specific allegations about each other's record and truthfulness. Clinton said she was trying to focus attention on Obama's record, but Obama said she was distorting it.

"I think anybody that's watched how I've conducted myself in this campaign knows I don't try to score cheap political points. We've been running a postive campaign throughout,'' Obama said in Wednesday's interview. "We've taken a lot of incoming over the last month from both Sen. Clinton and President Clinton and their camp. I know that's certainly typical of Washington politics, and I think part of their strategy has been to drag us into the muck.''

The fierce tone of the debate, Obama said, was intended to show that he wouldn't let anyone take advantage of him.

Particularly before the Republican primary a week ago, much was made in the national press of South Carolina's supposed dirty political tactics. Countless news items recounted John McCain's narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000, after a telephone campaign made false suggestions about McCain's morals.

The Obama campaign has lately been responding to emails that accuse him of being Muslim, or of refusing to pledge allegiance to the American flag. Describing a 20-year membership to a Christian church and his leading the pledge on the Senate floor, Obama denounced the allegations as "scurrilous
lies'' but said they did not originate in South Carolina.

"Clearly there are some political tactics that are being used right now to spread these false rumors, but we saw that to some degree in Iowa and New Hampshire as well,'' Obama said. "This is clearly part of a national smear campaign. Fortunately, I trust the American people to be able to sort out what's true and what's false.''

See Friday's print and online editions of The Sun News for more from Obama's campaign stop in Dillon, and his discussion about the days ahead on the campaign trail.

If you're registered, you get one vote to use anywhere

Robert Morris tried this morning with his piece above the fold in today's paper to explain South Carolina's quirky primary voting rules.

Seems people are still confused. (Probably not those of you reading the blog, truth be told.)

So let's try this again:

It does not matter whether you are registered Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green, Blue or Brown. You can vote in either primary.

But you only get one shot.

The Republican primary comes first on Saturday. Anybody can vote, as long as they registered before the deadline 30 days before the primary. But if you vote in the Republican primary, you can not vote in the Democratic primary on Jan. 26.

Think of it. When you vote in the Republican primary, they put a little checkmark or other notation next to your name in the voter books. They use the same books for the Democratic primary. So if you go to vote on Jan. 26 and there's a check mark by your name, you're out of luck.

No word yet on whether the dead will be allowed to vote.

Caitlin Upton continues to be the face of S.C.

Caitlin Upton, the Miss Teen USA contestant who made national news by botching a question, is still the face of South Carolina, in the eyes of Wonkette, the snarky Washington D.C. gossip blog.

Thompson: S.C. will determine fate

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has chosen South Carolina as his Alamo.

Thompson told reporters today in Greenville that the state will be "determinative"

"This is where we make our stand - this is where I have chosen to make my stand," he said. "There's no question about it. It could prove at the end of the day that South Carolina is determinative as far as I'm concerned, but we're not there yet."

One of his regional chairmen, state Sen. Larry Grooms, put it bluntly:

"If he does not do well here, it's pretty much over," Grooms said.

Truth squads and phone calls

Even before the N.H. polls close, campaigns have been stepping up their forces in South Carolina.

Sen. John McCain's campaign announced a "truth squad," which it said would counter any negative attacks. At the same time, the campaign drew attention to what it called negative attacks in New Hampshire and Iowa.

Here's what Adjutant General Stan Spears, co-chair of McCain's S.C. campaign, said in a statement:

"We saw what happened in Iowa with the negative attacks. We see what's happening in New Hampshire, and I can tell you for certain, we won't stand for it here in South Carolina," he said. "Some candidates are spending more of their campaign war chests on telling voters why John McCain shouldn't be president rather than telling voters why they should. Voters in South Carolina need to be on the lookout for these kinds of negative attacks."

The rest of the squad includes: Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy; S.C. Rep. Bobby Harrell; and S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster.

Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign announced it would go on a phone call blitz to push the message that she can lead America and create change.

Supporters of Clinton, D-N.Y., will gather at the campaign's regional field offices in Columbia, Spartanburg, Orangeburg, Charleston, Florence, Rock Hill and Greenville. The campaign will welcome the media into the offices at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Former state rep endorses Obama

Former S.C. Rep. Robert Barber today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., according to a release from the Obama campaign.

Barber, who also ran for lieutenant governor, said in a statement that Obama is "the candidate who can deliver change we can believe in,  put an end to politics as usual and bring Democrats, Republicans and Independents together to win in November 2008.”

Barber lost to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer in the 2006 race. Barber also lost to now-Gov. Mark Sanford in the 1994 race for a seat on the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tickets sold out for GOP debate

UPDATE # 2: Tickets to the Republican presidential primary debate in Myrtle Beach are now completely sold out, though the party has set up a waiting list in case any tickets trickle back, a party spokesman said this morning.

At first, tickets to the Jan. 10 debate were selling for $150. Then when those sold out, the party still had some available through packages that cost $500. Now, even those are sold out, state party spokesman Rob Godfrey said.

E-mail sunny@scgop.com or jamie@scgop.com for more information or to get on the waiting list.

Tickets for the Democratic presidential primary debate never were available to the general public. That debate, on Jan. 21, is invitation only.

Godfrey said party chairman Katon Dawson tried to make this debate more affordable than the last one held in Columbia. At the Columbia debate, there were 2,100 seats in the debate hall and tickets were sold for $250 each, Godfrey said.

"We've seen with the response it has seemed to be a reasonable price," he said. "There's a lot of manpower, a lot of hours and a lot of stuff that goes into planning and pulling off [the debate.]"

Also, more than 100 students from across South Carolina have accepted the party's offer for tickets, Godfrey said.

The party is still selling tickets to a celebration dinner with conservative talk show host Sean Hannity and the First Ladies Luncheon.

The price to get into the debate hall for the Republican presidential primary debate has skyrocketed.

That's because all the single, $150 tickets to the Jan. 10 debate in Myrtle Beach are gone, and now the S.C. Republican Party only has $500 package deals left that include a ticket to the debate, as well as tickets to other events, a state party spokesman said Saturday.

That package includes tickets to the First Ladies luncheon, a dinner with Sean Hannity and a pre-debate VIP reception, spokesman Rob Godfrey said.

There are around 350 packages left, Godfrey said. The maximum number of tickets to the debate is 2,500, he said.

Godfrey did leave open the possibility that more single tickets might be available if some people decline reserved tickets.

UPDATE: Godfrey said there is a waiting list for individual tickets that might become available. He wrote in an e-mail: "Anyone on the wait list will be able to secure tickets on a first-come first-served basis (in the order in which they place their name on the list) as tickets become available (should extra seating be secured or patrons have to cancel ticket orders at the last minute)." Same contact info above applies.

Former S.C. Gov endorses Obama, becomes nat'l co-chair

Former S.C. Governor Jim Hodges today endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president and the campaign named him a national co-chair.

The Democratic governor, who defeated Republican incumbent Gov. David Beasley in 1999 and who was then defeated himself by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2003, said he was attracted by Obama's plan for education - improving early-childhood education, teacher recruitment and making college more affordable.

"I think he does indeed have a plan that will help make American schools stronger," said Hodges, who staked his 1999 run on education, creating the state educational lottery.

On a conference call with reporters, Hodges said he waited to make an endorsement because he wanted to see how the different candidates did over the long run, rather than putting his weight behind someone who was only hot for a few weeks. In the 2004 election, Hodges endorsed retired Gen. Wes Clark, who is now with the Hillary Clinton campaign.

Hodges said Obama's appeal to independents and moderate Republicans will make him a competitive Democratic nominee in states such as South Carolina that might usually be taken for granted by Republicans.

"I only wish I had that kind of charisma," Hodges said of Obama, calling him a "once-in-a-generation" candidate.

by Lisa Fleisher and Robert Morris