Politics: The Palmetto Way & the Ocean State Way

Well, I’m currently in South Carolina working on a campaign to elect Elizabeth Colbert Busch to Congress so she can represent South Carolina’s first district in the House of Representatives.  I’ve never worked on a campaign in South Carolina.  I think South Carolina has a better understanding of what “southern hospitality” is all about.

     The district itself is only twenty percent rural, or so I’m told.  The President won this district in both 2008 & 2012.  I think based on that information, my candidate should win; however, this isn’t my first election and it is really up to the constituents of the first Congressional district of the Palmetto State.  I believe Elizabeth Colbert Bush is a strong candidate against the former governor of the state, Marl Stanford.  After watching them debate, I think she has what it takes to win over the district.  She is a tough individual and knows the issues that matter to the district.  She tends to put the district first, as any respectable member of Congress should do.  She knows that the district still has pockets of conservative values and understands they still need a voice in Congress.  There is a term for an individual who is liberal on social issues; yet conservative on fiscal matters…the new term is “Blue Dog Democrat.” Another term, slightly older, is a “Dixiecrat” which is essentially a newer generation of a Republican post-Civil War. (At least, that is how I look at it.)

     I guess after really thinking about politics and the issues, I would be considered a Blue Dog in many ways. First, I was a Republican in high school and growing up.  I tend to focus on issues instead of party politics. I also believe that we need to be in control of our own monetary funds and other things that we earn; however, I believe we need to have safeguards to help those in society that are less fortunate or cannot help themselves.  I believe everyone should be equal under the law of the United States.  If you are a citizen, then you deserved to be treated like one and equally as others.  With only some of those beliefs I hold, I feel that I would cast an affirmative vote for Elizabeth Colbert Busch to represent my voice in Congress (and if I lived in South Carolina’s first Congressional District).

In other political news, the state of Rhode Island [and Providence Plantations] became the tenth state in the United States to pass Marriage Equality.  I am extremely proud of this accomplishment.  I drove up to the Ocean State to help out this successful campaign and met a bunch of wonderful individuals (both on the campaign team and the citizens who contacted their state representatives to pass the legislation).  This win in Rhode Island completes all of the states in New England to have Marriage Equality! I hope this will be the positive model for other parts of the United States to adopt, implement, and pass this historic trend to include Marriage Equality into a basic American right.  Hopefully in June, the United States Supreme Court will render their verdict on the right side of history.