South Carolina: Outlier or National Precursor?

The great Pat Caddell and Kendra Stewart survey the recent South Carolina elections over at Real Clear Politics:

Perhaps nothing better illustrates the historic change brought on in these June elections than the nomination – and all but certain election – of Tim Scott. In the first Congressional District – the very cradle of the Confederacy (a.k.a. the “Fort Sumter” district) – the over 90% white GOP primary runoff voters, elected the black conservative Scott in a 68-32% landslide over the son of South Carolina legend Strom Thurmond who was endorsed by all of the unsuccessful white candidates from the primary including the son of former governor Carroll Campbell. For South Carolina it was truly a “when hell freezes over” moment.

Clearly change and reform are in the saddle – and boy does this state need it. For a state seemingly inured to its multitude of problems of terrible schools, an under supported higher education system, the nation’s 7th highest unemployment rate, and undisputedly dysfunctional state politics this moment has not come too soon. Despite its many attributes and resources, South Carolina has stagnated for three decades while its coastal neighbors, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have achieved startling progress.

For decades, first as a one-party Democratic state and now as a one-party Republican state, South Carolina has been ruled by a self-serving good-ole boys power structure which has blindly catered to the demands of special interests and insider deals. Nothing better illustrates its contempt for reform than the continued resistance of the legislative barons to the radical notion of recorded votes. From the era of segregation to the latest day, the good-ole boy system has protected its power by winning elections with the twin weapons of fear and smear. Enter Nikki Haley.

The amazing triumph of Nikki Haley was achieved despite multiple allegations of sexual affairs on the eve of the first primary and an occasionally overt and a truly ugly whisper campaign as to her religious beliefs and Indian heritage. Palin’s endorsement of Haley doubtlessly brought her attention, but we are convinced that her natural charisma, substantive grasp of issues and appealing message of change that in this South Carolina electoral hurricane the voters would have found her anyway. If successful she clearly has the potential of becoming a national political figure (indeed some people believe that Nikki Haley may actually have the substance that they feel Sarah Palin is lacking).

But it is Nikki Haley’s advocacy of reform that has earned her the enmity of the good-ole boy insiders. As a result they unleashed their consultant cadre of professional slime merchants against her. All to no avail. For the first time in memory, these tactics backfired and helped fuel her momentum. The heyday of dirty politics may have passed in South Carolina – hallelujah!

The nominations of Scott and Haley have dealt a crippling blow to the smug assertion that the public revolt against the political class in general and the Tea Parties in particular are nothing but the manifestation of narrow-minded, bigoted racists.

Read the whole thing here.