A powerful argument can be made that Dawson has far more cred with SC's African-American community than Michael Steele with any black constituency anywhere.
Yeah, there's Dawson's whole "got into politics 'cuz of busing thang." And there's the "all-white country club" thang. (Note that SC's Black Legislative Caucaus leader defended him).
But in the (im)plausible deniability dept., the country club's black "guests" policy may have given the perception it was inclusive...Dawson's golfed w/black folks there... Blah...Yak...Blah...Yak.
Dawson did try to get this club to change its charter before his membership became public. He publicly campaigned the change. Publicity stunt? Perhaps, nevertheless a huge risk for a white Republican Southern pol.
He failed. He quit.
I have no clue where the spin ends & truth begins. However, despite these controversies, Dawson's outreach to SC's minority voters has been impressive. He's promoted African-Americans to leadership positions in the state party. He's backed a number of minority candidates too.
Per ABC's The Note, Dawson has recruited the following successful candidates: Nikki Haley, the first Indian-American elected to the SC House of Representatives. Tim Scott, the first African-American elected to the SC since Reconstruction, as well as Glenn McCall, the first African-American to represent SC on the RNC.
In contrast Steele's record is, well, invisible.
]]>-AF
]]>That's really messed up.
]]>But Bruno is as crooked as the day is long. Any connection between the two gives me great pause.
]]>What the fuck does that mean? It's simply not possible every other Merril office had "parchment waste baskets" and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of silly crap Thain bought for his office. Nor is there any way the lack of such pretentious knick-knacks would cause Thain's job performance to suffer.
I spent decades in the music business so I know about big stupid wastes of money. But how anyone would expect they'd keep their job very long after paying their personal office's interior decorator $800,000 is beyond me.
]]>-AF
]]>Rush Limbaugh is an ass. We can't reach him. We can't reach those who still listen to him. His listeners are the x% that still loves Bush. Our energies are better spent elsewhere.
Andrew Sullivan is a fool. How someone so smart can be such an idiot astounds me (see: Thomas Friedman). His batting average sucks. He'll hit a beautiful long single now and again but he'll rarely make it around third to score.
Sullivan is untrustworthy -- both intellectually dishonest and classically dishonest. He's repeatedly lied about his inability to become a US citizen because of his HIV status. It's just not true. Andy can afford to pay an immigration lawyer to push his case through. He'd rather play the martyr instead.
It's worked so well for him. Remember, Sullivan was originally largely irrelevant. Mainstream conservatives never accepted him. Andy was an oddity: The "gay" conservative pundit.
Sully's much ballyhooed "conversion" followed months upon months of enthusiastic drum beating for Bush and war. After his "come to Jesus" moment, Sullivan's embrace by "liberals" made him far more relevant & marketable. It's no coincidence he landed in the pages of Time.
Look. He's one man crush away from changing his stripes. If the right candidate came along Andrew Sullivan would flip sides so fast he'd throw his hairy back out.
]]>In related news, CNBC actually does something relevant and funny: John Thain’s Decorating Spree slide show shows how one big piggy could have saved tens of thousands on his remodel.
]]>The Republicans have lost too many seats in the last two elections. Cornyn does not want to be the NRSC Prezzie that handed the Dems a filibuster-proof majority. This no matter what the cost to our country.
]]>-AF
]]>I'm from NY too. The same concerns you voice re: Caroline Kennedy recall those raised over Hillary Clinton's candidacy. Overall Hillary represented NY well.
It boils down to this. We need more bright, compassionate and reasonable people in the Democratic Party and less politicians. But when push comes to shove, I don't think you'll find anyone pushing Caroline Kennedy around.
-AF
]]>That's not really a problem for me. I hate my sister.
-AF
]]>-AF
]]>Of course it did. Even in its last few days the Bush DOJ is working overtime to provide some defense for the indefensible.
It's no coincidence that Bruce M. Selya, the judge who wrote the position, is a Reagan appointee. He probably shoots lil' furry animals on weekends with Dick Cheney & Justice Scalia just for fun.
]]>Cheers,
-AF
That's odd. Any deets as to why?
-AF
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