More ‘Inappropriate’ Stuff in S.C. UPDATE: Larry Marchant Claimed 2008 One-Night Stand With Nikki Haley! UPDATE: Video; Bauer ‘Desperate’?

Posted on Comments

8:55 p.m. ET: John O’Connor is covering the gubernatorial debate tonight in South Carolina and Tweets:

Haley to Bauer: “Y’all were fishing the story last night and you didn’t fire him yesterday.” Only fired when no one took story seriously

8:10 p.m. ET: Haley campaign statement to WLTX-TV in Columbia, S.C.:

“This is a false and outrageous desperate attack from a losing candidate’s campaign consultant in the final week of the race.”

11:15 p.m. ET: A longer version of Jim Davenport’s AP story includes this useful information:

Bauer had paid Marchant’s Black Label Strategies $21,361 since he formally opened his campaign account for governor in October. He also paid Black Label $29,099 in 2009, according to campaign finance reports.

And the Columbia (S.C.) State reports:

Folks, Marchant and Bauer have had business relationships. Long-time Bauer advisor Rod Shealy hired Folks in 2006 to work for former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s campaign. Folks said Wednesday that Marchant also hired him to work on school-choice issues but that work ended in 2005.
The political ties between Folks and Marchant make their claims tougher to believe, said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon. . . .
“More names with no more proof is certainly going to make it look like Nikki Haley is under attack,” Huffmon said. “It’s probably going to end up, in the mind of the public, needing a higher level of proof.
“What we have irrefutable evidence of in South Carolina is political incest.”

Melissa Clouthier comments:

Nikki Haley has a family; and her family, her children, hear these stories. These political operatives show an absolute callous disregard for her life. A friend of mine mentioned the deep misogyny involved here and that Will Folks, in particular, has a history of misogyny and objectification of women in both his writing and his actions.
Where are the feminists? Oh right, she’s a Republican.

Dan Riehl wonders if this is some kind of political pornography.

6:54 p.m. ET: Jim Davenport of the Associated Press:

A lobbyist who resigned from a rival political campaign is claiming to have had a tryst with a South Carolina lawmaker trying to become the state’s first female governor. . . .
Marchant says their one-night stand happened in 2008 during a trip to Utah.

7:20 p.m. ET: OK, as readers might guess, this was the “very interesting report” I’d heard earlier about Larry Marchant’s resignation from the Andre Bauer campaign: Marchant had gone to media outlets telling them this story and, when Bauer found out about it, Marchant got the ax.

We’ll wait to see how this plays out, but frankly it looks to me as if Haley’s enemies have become desperate to destroy her. It seems to me that voters in South Carolina now must ask themselves which of two things was true: Either (a) Haley was just spreadin’ the love around to every GOP operative in South Carolina, or (b) she is the victim of a vicious smear campaign.

My guess is that they’ll believe (b).

7:45 p.m. ET: A South Carolina reader sends me this photo:

According to the reader, this shows Bauer’s campaign bus parked in front of Larry Marchant’s office at 4 p.m. Wednesday — four hours after Marchant supposedly resigned from the campaign.

Say this about South Carolina Republicans: They’re world champions at campaign shenanigans.

7:55 p.m. ET: In December, Larry Marchant was busted for DUI. Of course, just because he’s a drunk driver doesn’t mean he’s the kind of backstabbing scumbag who would lie about shagging a Republican gubernatorial candidate, but . . .

8:50 p.m. ET: Allahpundit:

At this point I half-hope that all these charges against her are true, just because that’d actually be less depressing than the thought of this many lying scumbags running around South Carolina smearing innocent people.

PREVIOUSLY: Dare we suspect this is connected to the Folks-Haley saga? Oh, yes, we do. We do dare indeed!

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Andre Bauer said today he has asked for and received the resignation of a political consultant for “inappropriate conduct” but would say little more.
Lt. Gov. Bauer announced that adviser Larry Marchant gave him his resignation at noon today.
Bauer said he had become aware of a situation several days ago, and reached the conclusion that decisive action was dictated.

Astute readers will recall when it was  first suggested those close to the Bauer campaign had a role in pushing the Folks allegations against Nikki Haley. It was a commenter who pointed me to one connection, and now the same source blogs:

Evidently the connections we made here and here are started to get some heads rolling.

Of course, we don’t know that Marchant was involved, but absent any other explanation, the shadow of suspicion now looms.

UPDATE: Traffic indicates renewed interest today in the Jake Knotts/Rod Shealy connection to the Bauer campaign, and remember that it was Will Folks himself who wrote in March:

Bauer is currently being advised by longtime confidant Rod Shealy, Sr. and Columbia lobbyist/ consultant Larry Marchant.

So now, amid the Folks-Haley imbroglio, Marchant is asked to resign for “inappropriate conduct.” To quote Allahpundit: Hmmmmm.

UPDATE II: If what I just heard about Marchant’s resignation is true . . . oh, boy. But I got it third-hand, so I’ll have to keep you wondering. When I told one source that I’d heard a very interesting report, the source replied, “Well, whatever it is, I won’t be surprised. It’s South Carolina.”

UPDATE III: Linked by Moe Lane at Red State. Thanks!

Report: Bottom Falls Out of Housing After First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Expires

Posted on Comments

Home sales enjoyed an uptick in April, but Diana Olick of CNBC reports that sales are now in freefall:

[Y]ou had to sign your contract by April 30th and close by June 30th in order to get your $8000 if you’re a first time buyer and $6500 if you’re a move up buyer.
And then came May, traditionally the height of the spring housing season.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home began to sink. Now, four weeks later, mortgage purchase applications are down nearly 40 percent from a month ago to their lowest level since April of 1997. . . .

Read the whole thing. The point is that this one-time injection of federal money into the housing market is like “Cash for Clunkers” — essentially buying short-term economic “good news” that won’t last because such artificial intervention does nothing to address the underlying economic fundamentals. And to once again borrow Michelle Malkin’s famous phrase, the fundamentals suck.

It is profoundly discouraging that we’ve returned to this kind of Keynesian gimmickry, which so obviously didn’t work in the 1970s and isn’t going to work now.

What’s the point of winning the “war of ideas” when the guys who lost that war are now running the government and acting as if the war had never been fought?

Will Folks Story Doesn’t Hold Water; Nikki Haley Undamaged by S.C. Rumor

Posted on Comments

Republican blogger/consultant Will Folks’ unsubstantiated claim of an affair with GOP gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley was raised in last night’s televised debate. Haley once more denied the accusation — as she has all along — and “None of her opponents attacked her over the claims.” Haley features her husband Michael in her latest ad:

Meanwhile, Alex Pappas of the Daily Caller reports this:

Will Folks claimed he was pressured to admit his extramarital affair with South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley last week because of a soon-to-be-broken news story detailing his “inappropriate physical relationship” with the Republican. But, a week later, that damning newspaper article is nowhere to be found. . . .
On his website, Folks insinuates the Columbia Free-Times newspaper was about to break a story about his affair with Haley, and indeed the newspaper itself has admitted one of its reporters did investigate such a rumor. But according to one knowledgeable source, while a Free-Times reporter did talk to Folks on May 13, no story was ever budgeted to run that week.
The reason? The Daily Caller has learned that around the time Sarah Palin endorsed Haley at a Columbia rally, an attorney for the paper advised editors not to run the story because the paper only had one source alleging the affair.

So, as I’ve said all along, Folks’ panic over the alleged story doesn’t make sense. Ed Morrissey calls this “the shoe that didn’t drop.” It all strikes me as profoundly suspicious, but I can’t prove anything.

Oh, and speaking of stories that didn’t pan out, Pappas interviewed Erick Erickson at Red State, who explained that his”we know who paid Will Folks” non-story fizzled because South Carolina sources stopped returning his phone calls.

I’ve had a similar problem the past few days. People in South Carolina who seemed ready last week to dish dirt on Will Folks have stopped talking. Maybe they decided there’s no need to take the scorched-earth approach, since Folks has done such a fine job of discrediting himself.

UPDATE: Ace of Spades:

Will Folks: I Shan’t Ever Speak Of This Unfortunate Circumstance Again, But, FYI, I’d Like a Book Deal

What a douchebag — Will Folks, that is, not Ace. And this transparent attempt to hustle a book deal (tentative title, Honey, I Shtupped the Candidate) out of his own rumor-mongering is pathetic. Ace hat-tips Jim Geraghty’s Twitter.

UPDATE II: A suspicious resignation from a rival campaign. The mystery grows ever more intriguing . . .

Charlie Crist’s Buddy Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer Faces Felony Charges

Posted on Comments

Breaking news:

The former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida has been arrested for allegedly running a scam bilking money from the party.
The Florida Department of Law enforcement took Jim Greer into custody Wednesday at his Orlando-area home.
The 47-year-old has been charged with six counts of organized scheme to defraud, four counts of felony grand theft and one count of money laundering.

Also, Greer is guilty of backing two-faced crapweasel Charlie Crist.

UPDATE: The Orlando Sentinel reports:

Greer was arrested by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents this morning at his Oviedo home about 9:15 a.m. and booked into the Seminole County jail about 45 minutes later.
At a lunchtime press conference in Orlando, Statewide Prosecutor William Shepherd said Greer developed a scheme to take money from the Republican Party through a shell company he created, Victory Strategies. He used the money for his personal expenses — at least $100,000, Shepherd said. . . .
Greer was backed for the chairmanship job in 2006 by then-Gov. elect Charlie Crist, and an Orlando Sentinel analysis of party spending found Greer dramatically increased spending and the use of American Express charge cards during his three-year tenure.
The high spending, frequent national travel, and Greer’s decision to endorse Crist in his U.S. Senate primary against Marco Rubio ultimately prompted party leaders to seek his ouster.

Pat Austin links an earlier article about Greer’s lavish lifestyle:

His $465,000 home, finished in early 2006, is a showplace: 3,700 square feet, with a wine cellar, swimming pool and a two-story entry that features a sweeping, curved staircase and chandelier. He also owns two others: a $240,000 condo and $125,000 town house, both at the beach in Brevard County. He bought a plane, although he’s not a pilot. His children . . . had a live-in nanny. He drives a black Mercedes-Benz, his wife a white Lincoln Navigator.

More at Memeorandum.

Obama-Endorsed Rep. Hank Johnson to Participate in Segregated Forum? UPDATE: Johnson Will Not Attend

Posted on Comments

UPDATE 3 p.m. ET: Da Tech Guy reports that Rep. Hank Johnson’s office says the congressman will not attend tonight’s “Newsmakers Live” forum due to a scheduling conflict.

PREVIOUSLY (11:55 a.m. ET): When Dan Riehl told me about this I couldn’t believe it, but it’s apparently true: Georgia Republican congressional candidate Liz Carter was told by organizers of a “Newsmakers Live” 4th District candidate forum tonight that the event is for black candidates only:

Just informed “Black Candidates” Only Tonight” So because I’m white I’m not invited to participate even though it is a Democrat and Republican debate?

While the organizers have invited Democratic incumbent Rep. Hank Johnson and his two Democratic primary challengers, as well as black Republican candidate Cory Ruth, they have reportedly excluded not only Liz Carter but also two other Republican primary candidates, one white and one Hispanic.

It’s a private event and the organizers are free to invite whoever they want but it’s hard to believe that Hank Johnson — who has been endorsed by Barack Obama — would participate in a segregated event.

Liz Carter is asking her supporters to call the event sponsor, WAOK 1380 AM, at 404-892-2703 and ask why she has been left out of this event.

UPDATE: Da Tech Guy is on da story:

I tried to call the radio station the mail box of the news department is jammed. I reached another person and was told that the station had nothing to do with the event although there were aware of it. It turns out the event is being organized by something called the Newsmakers’ Journal.

If anybody can get to the bottom of this, Da Tech Guy will.

UPDATE II: Twitter friend Kurt Schlichter:

1956 just called, it wants its anachronism back.

Somebody needs to ask Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs about this.

UPDATE III: In the comments, Georgia blogger Obi’s Sister reports:

WAOK claims they are not a sponsor for the event. But they are more than helpful in passing on additional contact information.
Mr. Maynard Eaton, of Newsmakers Live (404.223.5910 and 404.254.8322) claims he’s never heard of Liz Carter. He said the forum had nothing to do with color, even though it is a “blacks only” private event. He said they would have a Republican event later, when when asked why he invited Cory Ruth, a black Republican, he didn’t have an answer.
When I asked if he’d reschedule the event to be able to include all the candidates, he asked, “Why?”
Evidently HopeNChange has nothing to do with making things right.

Eugene Talmadge and Lester Maddox could not be reached for comment.

Barber Makes AL-2 GOP Runoff

Posted on Comments

Tea Party candidate Rick Barber was outspent 7-to-1 by the GOP establishment’s choice Martha Roby in Alabama’s 2nd District Republican primary but was able to force the Montgomery councilwoman to a runoff.

Roby got 48 percent in Tuesday’s primary — less than the majority needed to avoid a July 13 runoff — while Barber got 28 percent and state school board member Stephanie Bell got 21 percent.

“This experience has been thrilling, overwhelming, exhilarating, but, most of all, humbling,” Barber said in a statement. “When I entered this race, nearly all of the pundits were saying that I had no chance. To force a runoff with an opponent who had national endorsements behind her is just amazing.”

Barber noted that Roby, backed by the National Republican Congressional Committee, had spent more than $500,000 on her campaign.

“Throughout the campaign, we’ve been broke . . . We’re not intimidated by Martha’s money,” said Barber, a former Marine.

“Being forced into a runoff won’t help Roby’s image on the campaign trail,” Congressional Quarterly commented, adding that Roby “had been a highly touted candidate.”

Now the Republicans have a six-week campaign for the runoff, with the winner to face “Blue Dog” Democrat Rep. Bobby Bright in November.

UPDATE: Elsewhere in the Alabama primary, Rep. Artur Davis lost his bid to become the state’s first black governor, losing the Democratic primary to agriculture commissioner Ron Sparks. In the GOP gubernatorial primary, Bradley Byrne advanced to the runoff, but a recount may be needed to determine whether Byrnes’ runoff opponent is Robert Bentley or Tim James.

In the 5th District GOP primary, party-switching Rep. Parker Griffith was defeated by Madison County commissioner Mo Brooks. Former Navy pilot Les Phillip placed third.

Dale Peterson, whose get-tough ad made him an Internet hero, finished third in the GOP primary for agriculture commissioner.

State attorney general Troy King lost the GOP primary to challenger Luther Strange.

Bush? Homewrecker? That’s Just Sick

Posted on Comments

by Smitty

Powers at Malkin points to CBS News and Sally Quinn blaming the 2000 election loss as a negative impact on their marriage.

If there is shred #1 of truth to Wikipedia’s stating that Al Gore is a Baptist, then the reasons for the separation are between them and the Almighty. Were I to counsel any Christian man in this situation I’d counsel three things:

  1. Repent
  2. Repent
  3. Repent

While Pagans go around treating marriage like a garment to be changed at will, a Christian man who has been joined by God to a woman and is one flesh with her had better understand that the evil of divorce will be required of him.

What profiteth it a man to gain the White House and lose his soul? Did Al Gore have such anyway, or did stints in the Senate and as Vice President leech it out of him? If this was a marriage of convenience that was built on the sandy foundation of a Presidential hope, then tut, tut, Al. The highest honor with which you can depart life is “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Sure, we can’t support an electoral system navigable by less than a megalomaniac, but that’s supposed to be a jest.

Al, you and Jimmy Carter are two men whom I really would like to be able to respect, but who have debased yourselves, your country, and your faith. I’ve personally ripped your actions mercilessly, but I pray for you that you repent and return to the Christ who is the only meaning you can find in this sick and dying world. An Oscar, a Nobel prize. If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive them. The public will forgive you, too, if you show a pattern of sincere repentance. It may not trust you with anything more substantial than a lemonade stand, but, well, forgiveness was never an abdication of the future. When you have cleansed your soul, hopefully you can return to the wife of your youth.

I truly hope you get better, Al.

This post makes scant mention of Tipper, and there is a reason for that. In my chauvinistic view, the man is slightly more responsible to the Almighty for defending the marriage. A lady blogger is welcome to critique Tipper; that’s not my task.