I’m getting confused on the recent editorial in the Anderson Independent Mail’s editorial. The author insists that the issue raised by Councilman Bob Waldrep about a recent democrat vote by his opponent is not important.If you have been following the run-off campaigns of Bob Waldrep and challenger Raymond MacKay, you probably know about a post card that was mailed by Bob. The post card exposes the fact that Raymond voted in this year’s Democrat Presidential Primary and criticizes Raymond for filing for office in a Republican Primary a few weeks later.

I see this as a legitimate public record certainly allowable in a political race. I don’t live in this district, yet I know several voters in County Council District 1. Some are voting for Mr. Mackay, citing this recent vote makes no difference, and some are voting for Mr. Waldrep. Whether this issue is important is in the eyes of the voter. A voter can look at the issues brought up by candidates and judge for themselves. I don’t appreciate anyone telling voters to look at these issues, but for goodness sakes you are forbidden to look at those.

The interesting observation I see in the editorial is that the Anderson Independent sees this as a non issue and voters should disregard this as “meaningless”. If this issue is so meaningless, why has it been a news story in the Anderson Independent all week? Why has this one postcard dominated the news for the whole run-off ? I’m sure Bob’s campaign wished to bring up a single issue, then move on to others issues important to this county like transparency, wasteful spending, accountability to name a few. But many would rather beat this very dead horse (especially MacKay backers on the cocklebur blog here, here, & here) which by the way is their constitutional right of course. I’m certainly not criticizing Mr. MacKay’s supporters not letting go, just don’t quite understand it. They’re basically saying “This issue doesn’t matter, but we’re going to keep talking about it.”

A predicted court challenge has been issued on the “I Believe” license tag recently passed by the Legislature. As you know, Governor Sanford did not sign this bill, yet allowed it to pass into law without his signature citing the court challenge would occur. Senator Yancy McGill (D-Williamsburg) introduced this bill and I signed on as a cosponsor. The problem I have with this lawsuit is that the state is not forcing this plate on anyone, simply offering it as a choice. I can’t imagine how this license plate can be interpreted as the establishment of Religion and unconstitutional. Besides, the constitutional amendment referring to the establishment of religion is directed towards congress, not the states. Unfortunately, liberal activist judges have stretched the first constitutional amendment requirement to apply to all government entities.Interestingly, I’ve been approached by 2 news outlets from Yew York concerning this issue on 3 occasions. The NY Times called twice (once on 06.19.08 and quoted me)

I guess I’d have to admit I could support a plate for the Jewish community, yet would be very uncomfortable with a plate for scientology. This is inconsistent, I’ll admit. Anyhoo, this issue is out of our hands, so let’s wait and see what the courts and Attorney General Henry McMaster decide.

I couldn’t find a picture of the South Carolina plate, but here’s a sample of what we may see on Florida plates:

by schotline on June 18th, 2008

Cindy Knocks Another One Out (by guest blogger Lee Cole)

You can say what you want to about Anderson County Councilwoman, M. Cindy Wilson, but she knows how to win an election. For the sixth consecutive time since she first took office in 2000, Ms. Wilson whooped up on yet another opponent in last Tuesday’s primary like the woman in the above video. She has no opposition in November as of yet, but there are rumors of a possible petition candidate who undoubtedly will face the same fate of her previous challengers.

As a resident of Ms. Wilson’s district, I am firmly convinced that she is unbeatable. The people of County Council District 7 which includes Williamston, West Pelzer, Pelzer, and Honea Path, are very conservative and supportive of Ms. Wilson’s quest for lower taxes and open government. Also, many of the people in our area of Anderson County feel a strong disconnect between the “Anderson Crowd” and our area out in the country. The people of our area are fiercely independent, mostly of Scots-Irish descent who detest the thought of a government in Anderson or anywhere else pushing unwanted “progressive” programs down their throats. Ms. Wilson understands the differences between the people of District 7 and the areas around the city of Anderson because of her deep family roots here and uses this to her advantage while her opponents marvel at her popularity. I believe their main problem is that they simply do not understand the people of District 7.

Conservative supporters of Ms. Wilson throughout Anderson County won big last Tuesday as well and will have a majority on county council next year. It remains to be seen whether or not they will work together and pass some conservative reforms to make our county a better place, but whatever the future has in store for Anderson County, Cindy Wilson will remain the representative from County Council District 7 for as long as she chooses.