Primary day for Grahamnesty; Update: Grahamnesty cruises to victory as expected
It’s primary day in South Carolina. GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham has spent more than $3 million to stave off longshot Republican challenger Buddy Witherspoon. All of Grahamnesty’s opponents–GOP and Dem–have blasted his leading role with McCain and Kennedy in the illegal alien shamnesty debacle last year:
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham looked to fend off a Republican challenge during primary elections Tuesday that will test what South Carolinians think about his strong ties to John McCain and their work on a failed illegal immigration measure.
Challenger Buddy Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National Committee member, has criticized the one-term incumbent as too liberal for this conservative state. Graham has even taken heat on the immigration reform from the Democratic side of the ballot; two newcomers to state politics also seek their party’s nomination for the seat Tuesday.
But Graham has a dominating war chest and name recognition and few observers believed his re-election bid was in danger. McCain, after all, did win the January primary here and Graham has used his endorsement in television ads.
“My re-election, I think, will benefit South Carolina because if he gets to be president, South Carolina’s interests will have a receptive audience due to our relationship,” Graham told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I want to help him do the hard things.”
It’s a description that fits the immigration measure, which would have provided a path to citizenship. At the state GOP convention a year ago, the crowd booed and shouted “No” at Graham’s explanations of the bill.
And yet, Graham is expected to win easily today.
La Raza is cheering.
***
Update: Sigh.
See what others have said
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and thats a bad thing!
I hate Grahmnisty as much as McAmnesty. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two losers on the same presidential ticket.
Really need to set up an alternative to the RNC right now because its making a mockery of the GOP
Let’s hope that the people of South Carolina aren’t stupid enough to re-elect Gramnesty.
“And yet, Graham is expected to win easily today.”
And then he’ll go on to lose the general election. Another RINO down. No big deal.
Boy, I almost wish I lived in SC instead of AZ. This is a real test of the MEMORYof the VOTERS. They (the pols) think we have a very, very short memory… Maybe today we will prove them WRONG. Remember, there is a RAMIFICATION to your VOTE. YOU GET THE GOVERNMENT YOU DESERVE… GO South Carolina…
Oh, but I bet they will. Politics is local, and when he promises to bring home the bacon…
In other words, Johnny will help him bring the cash home to share. That’s how Robert Byrd has stayed in power all these years.
I hate to double-post, but to add to my comment about Graham and pork…
Everyone hates pork, unless it is their congressman bringing it home to their home state. Then, it’s just fine.
I pray SC has the sense to throw the bum out. He was the most vocal of the rino’s pushing amnesty. But the uninformed masses go into the booths and vote for whomever they recognize. I really hate that guy and he is the poster child of what is wrong with the republican party today. I tell ya, if he wins the nomination, I hope a dem with a no amensty platform cleans his clock in the election. Uh oh, I must be a lib b/c I won’t support any loser with an “R” beside his name as the RNC and it’s minions have instructed me to do.
And gee, that cool Governor of SC was on Cable last night (I’m not sure, i think Lou Dobbs), the Governor that walked into the state house with two porky pigs under his arms when they were working on the budget; anyway they have some new enforcement on illegal immigration that they put in place in SC that Dobbs (it must have been dobbs since no one else would be applauding him on it) was patting him on the back for.
How can the people of SC even hold their nose and let Graham win a Primary???
“an alternative to the RNC” Wow. I bet the democrats would love to see more infighting within the republican party.
How about voting out the bums and voting in better people. That’s the way it’s been done for 200 years.
The bums keep winning the primaries with support from the top. The RNC has lost its way under Bush’s compassionate
conservatismliberalism.I’ll be voting against Grahamnesty in SC today and hope enough of my fellow South Carolinians join me to get him out of office. The primary is the place to get him out because come general election time he would become the lesser of two evils. I have followed his voting record enough to know he votes the right way much more often than any Democrat I’ve seen, but not often enough to be my first choice for Republican candidate.
I just got back in from voting for Witherspoon. It seems that those who are paying attention are voting against Graham (at least in the Lowcountry). He ran as a conservative in his first run for the office and so many of us were duped! Please remember, we’re the same people who have given the nation Jim Demint and Mark Sanford (who is now at war with our state legislature, see : http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/05/budgetweb43524/ ). I was singing the praises of Mark Sanford to one of my business clients who considers himself a good Republican, and he made the comment that “Mark Sanford isn’t a Republican, he’s a goddamn Libertarian!” Well I never said he was a republican (even though he runs on that ticket}, but he’s one hell of a Conservative!
Good luck to Buddy. Hope you S. Carolinians can make it happen.
Thats awesome. I hope you win.
I have to agree with wise on this one. Its the sheep at the bottom who keep voting the same people into office….that people complain about later as having done a crappy job.
Would a 3rd party alternative (and one thats VIABLE) be a good thing. Sure.
But as much as we muse about it, and i’ve personally joked about on the threads here, its not the fix for the problem.
If people would quit with the “imma sheep, must vote for name i know” mentality..this could be avoided.
If the people in SC vote him for the primaries, and he wins…then its their own fault.
I have to agree with wise on this one. Its the sheep at the bottom who keep voting the same people into office….that people complain about later as having done a crappy job.
Would a 3rd party alternative (and one thats VIABLE) be a good thing. Sure.
But as much as we muse about it, and i’ve personally joked about on the threads here, its not the fix for the problem.
If people would quit with the “imma sheep, must vote for name i know” mentality..this could be avoided.
If the people in SC vote him for the primaries, and he wins…then its their own fault.
It is truly the end of the Republic. The MSM and left leaning looney liberals have convinced the citizens that they deserve the dole that government passes out. The end is nigh.
I went and cast my vote this morning…against Lindsey! Intresting side note…you have to claim your party when you register. I was # 20 on the republican sheet while next to it, the democrat sheet was BLANK. (Now it’s possible that they had started a new sheet for the dems, but I don’t think that was the case) I was fouth in line when I walked in at 8:30 this morning.
I kinda don’t like the tone some have been commenting here about us South Carolinians…we’re not dumb enough to vote Graham in, he showed his spots on illegals after he was voted in. Hopefully after today, we’ll have a better choice for the Senate.
And if we’re so dumb here in South Carolina, it’s probably because of all the Closet Liberal Northern Yankees who’ve moved down here that have dumbed down the Conservative Gene Pool. Meanwhile you can count on South Carolina to always hug their guns, pray loudly in Church, and run RHINOS out of office at every chance.
I really don’t think that it’s about pork. Heck, I follow politics pretty closely and I can’t tell you how much, or what, pork my Congressman brought to my district. I think that it has more to do with incumbency and name recognition. In Graham’s case, his name recognition should be a liability. Let’s hope so anyway.
My contempt for the righteous Graham (”tell all the bigots to SHEWT UP”) who has his ambitious nose up McCain’s butt…well, I can’t really express all my thoughts on that topic here. To do so would expose MM to criticism for the baseness of the commentary and might also open me to criminal and civil liability. My feelings go far beyond simple anger and contempt.
Doesn’t say much for the people of South Carolina if they re-elect this bozo. Aren’t they paying attention to what has been going on with the clown?
This will be just a case of the electorate getting what it deserves.
An excellent point, Bob. At the time we voted him into the Senate, the big thing sticking out in our minds was his impressive performance in the
Clinton impeachment hearings–”The White House is the bully pulpit, but it should never be occupied by a bully.”
Up until the Gang of 14 and shamnesty, he had been a good man to have. Somewhere along the line he lost his way. Now we have to show him the way–out the door.
I take heat frequently from people who say about “improvements” around town, Don’t worry, it is a grant paying for it — DUH, who’s taxes created the grant? GET REAL PEOPLE.
Pork is pork even when it is YOUR town receiving it.
Unfortunately not all voters are political junkies such as many of us here. They vote for more reasons that an informed, logical choice … sad to say.
Do they realize that there is a WAR going on between the illegal invaders and our citizens? I stand corrected to a post I had yesterday stating 12 people Ganged Down (not gun down). Well I was wrong it was 14.
Is the L.A. P.D. worried about the gangs? No, to them 14 dead is just a BLIP! Thanks Mcamnesty and Graham.
Wise words, wise man.
Tiptoeing up to the edge, let me just ask, “Who could say that it was not a sort of ironic rough justice if sometime the political leaders most identified with the go-easy approach to illegal immigration were found among the victims of all this LA gang-style violence.”
The reason America is falling apart…
No one can unseat the Pork riddled, corrupt, cavemen who have made treating American Citizens with distain and relugated Birth Right Citizenship to a 2nd class status a typical Polical move.
Gov’t of the People, By the People??? Where the hell is that place… I want to move there…becasue it sure as Hell isn’t here in America anymore!!!
Ignatius Reilly #29, Oh I’m so tempted to just going on a rant and running right off that edge. I think that’s the only way the politicos will pay attention to the cancer. When it hits them, all the treatments will apply.
Thanks SC voters. Hope Graham is voted out. This is a place to start.
L
I see abstractmind is in tune with my thinking. The biggest problem we have in America is the sheep mentality of many voters. Yes….everyone has the right to vote and I hope they do. But please, give it some thought, do a little research, come to a logical conclusion, don’t just pull the lever for the most familiar name, or the liar who promises you the most kickback from the public treasury.
This is what Graham is pushing on the American people. Do we need this in our towns?
I voted against him….. then I got home and emailed him and told him that I voted against him:
I’ve been making phone calls all morning to get out the vote against him.
VOTE THE BUMS OUT!
He lost the straw vote in upstate SC on may 24th:
http://www.greenvillegop.com/
For my two cents I also hope SC voters do the right thing even though it is a long shot. It is amazing how many people just go with the flow and vote for the incumbent with an R after their name in most conservative states without bothering to get educated on how the RINO has been hurting you. I’m still disappoint I am stuck with an aisle crosser in Congress critter Simpson (S-CHIP bill veto override collaborator) after our primary. I don’t forget when my elected representatives are trying to screw me too bad many of our fellow citizens do.
It’s sad that Witherspoon doesn’t have a chance.
Michelle, I was in SC last week and you wouldn’t believe the number of Witherspoon signs I saw. How many Graham lawn signs did I see? None.
As a South Carolinian you can rest assured that I voted for Witherspoon. But remember, we kept Hollings and Thurmond well past their expiration dates. For the record: I never voted for Hollings.
The Raging Republican said: #36, Great Letter. Hope he gets it.
Incumbents Need Not Apply!!!!
I did once, following the recommendation of my local newspaper. Shortly after that my paper printed a letter from Hollings in which he spoke of all the things the federal government just had to spend money on. I then recgnized him for the tax and spend liberal he was and never voted for him again. I also learned a lesson about putting too much stock in the opinions of my local paper.
By the way, the same paper is backing Graham and Inglis in today’s primary, both of whom I just voted against.
I am hoping that Graham loses. However, I find that most of the voters look for their party affiliation not what the candidate actually has done or has proposed. I think that many see either Democrat or Republican and just vote according to the affiliation. When it comes to Primaries they see a recognizable name and they check it and move on to the next. All I can hope is that the Republicans in S.Carolina are p.o.’d enough to have noticed Graham’s Amnesty stance and have decided to vote anything but Graham.
Umm.. there are some things that the federal government has to spend. Such as defense. And things like federal highways and infrastructure. And everything else that is their responsibility until the state and local jurisdictions come into play.
What was his list of things that weren’t applicable?
Wise_man, the infrastructure stuff you mentioned was on his list, and I have no problem with that. I don’t remember whether defense was or any other details. This letter was about 30 years ago. I just remember that it was way too long a list for my comfort, and I would have felt much better about him if he had included a discussion of things the federal government could do without spending money on, which he didn’t.
His thinking didn’t seem to allow for the possibility that our taxes could ever be lower, either.
Yikes. I love being able to look up news stories and other facts on the internet, but there’s no way to be able to find something on line from that long ago. If it was your recollection, then I understand. I would really be interested to see what else was added. But hey, that’s okay.
McCain/Kennedy has caused more than one Republican voter here to state they are going to sit out this election. More than just a few of our usual donors and volunteers are still missing. Reaching accross the isle, working with the other side and calling people who opposed McCain/Kennedy dirty names has not helped McCain.
He really thinks this legislation helped him with ‘Hispanic voters’. The clown has no idea how many people with Hispanic surnames consider themselves American and are not pro amnesty. Quite a few younger Hispanics and their parents realize this last flow of illegals drives down entry level wages. McCain’s arrogance is astonding.
And thank you backwoods conservative.
—-
2008, we are so screwed.
No problem, wise_man. After all these years it isn’t the exact words of the letter that stuck in my memory, it was the tone of it; which was “We can’t lower your tax burden because there are too many things we have to spend money on.” Pretty much the same tune Democrats are still singing today.
Just when I thought the ACLU Sank to their lowest level, they prove me wrong.
What’s the “A” stand for? Need a little help after reading this:
Glad they had the translation, after all, this is America, right?
BC — I still read my local paper for their opinions when it gets close to election time. If there is a race where I don’t know much about the candidates (which is unusual, but it can happen in the smaller local races), I make sure to vote against the one they endorse. heh.
… due to our relationship,” Graham
Would that be reaching across the aisle and instituting ….
GREATER GOVERNMENT CONTROL? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LESSER OF TWO EVILS ___ANYONE???????????????
I too hope that NC voters have the cahonees to throw out Graham today. On the other hand the battle could go on in November-unless McCain taps him as VP.
Otherwise I have no disagreements with anyone today.
love2rumba - If he gets thrown out, I doubt if McCain would tap him for VP.
Joy,
If this were any other election year that I’ve seen..I’d agree.
But considering how John McCain is busy p@#sing off Republicans and sounding like Democrat lite….I dunno…After all Lindsay Graham was second worst Republican fiddle after John McCain with repsect to McAmnesty.
John McCain and Linsay Graham are kind of like a nefarious version of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock…so I wouldn’t put anything past them….
Oh, I dunno. The way they’ve been upsetting many Republicans, I’d see them as being more like nefarious version of Lloyd and Harry.
I wish the good people of SC would vote this bum out.
One more vote for Buddy Witherspoon here.
Nobody trumpets the primaries around here. I forgot that it was today until I read this post. That’s why my wife didn’t vote today, she forgot. Otherwise I would have been reporting two votes for Buddy.
You can see the results as they come in here.
Hate to be a bringer of bad news but on the local paper website they’ve reported that Graham leads Witherspoon 68% to 32% with the first of the state’s 46 counties reporting.
Darn it! 25% of precincts reporting 71% to 29% favor Graham.
This sucks!
And now he’s the projected winner!!!! Double Darn!
Really. It’s not looking too good on getting Bob Inglis out either. The sheeple are carrying the day again.
Look at the dead heat between the democrat candidates Conley & Cone…50/50 at 50% reporting…THAT looks weird.
Yeah it does. But in SC neither would have much chance against a Republican incumbent.
Simply DISGUSTING! Well, I did my part and voted for Buddy. The writing was on the wall when SC went for McCain in the Prez primary.
That Democrat race may be headed for a recount. It’s hanging too close for the loser to take the loss easily.
I did my part. I cast a protest vote for Witherspoon over Graham and Charles Jeter over Bob Inglis(otherwise known as the idiot who voted for the cowardly, non-binding surrender resolution).
The Dem. sign in sheet in my precinct was up to line 17 on page 1 when I voted. The Republicans were finishing up page 5. Amazing that in a state this conservative, we seem to produce so many RINO’s. At least we have Sen. Demint.
“God must be happy: He is playing with us.”
Crap. What the hell is wrong with republican voters?
Linseed Graham, one of the fresh new faces of the Republican party.
Fiddlesticks.
I live in Clemson. And I am ashamed of my fellow South Carolinians.
What the #$!* were they thinking…
I don’t believe they were.
What the hell is wrong with the people in S.C., oh wait i know, same thing that’s wrong with the people in Orygun and everywhere else that keep electing these RINO’s
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STUPID VOTERS??? Please email this link to everybody you know (along with a link to here too of course!)
In SC.u canvote for theDemocrat, Bob Conley, a former Republican, but a true CONSERVATIVE!!!!!