Monday, January 05, 2009

Sanford/Palin 2012?

A great post on Kos about my benighted governor (who's going to be running for prez in 2012):

As 77,000 unemployed citizens of his state watched in despair, Governor Sanford trumpeted tired free market mythology to defend subverting his state's efforts to pay unemployment compensation. His refusal to request federal funds to help laid off South Carolina workers was unprecedented by any Governor and had even drawn sharp rebukes from fellow Republicans:
"It's absolutely unheard of, it's insane, for a governor of any state not to request those funds," State Senator Hugh K. Leatherman, a Republican who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said last week. "I can't believe anybody would be this heartless, and create such a heartless act on these people."
Adding to the mounting evidence that Governor Sanford has no soul, he further flaunted his disdain for workers by politically targeting the very agency tasked with assisting South Carolina's unemployed:
For weeks, Mr. Sanford, newly elected as head of the Republican Governors Association and known for being a fierce free-market foe of government spending, stuck to his stand, questioning the probity of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission and demanding a new audit of the agency.
Of course, it was all theater. He knew the legislature would "force" him to request the funds. But it will make a great story for his 2012 campaign.

As I noted at Kos, the guy is cynicism personified. He's just as plausible and phony as Mitt Romney, but with more brains and no icky religious problem.

He'll be a powerhouse. Especially because I'm sure he's going to be running on how Obama broke the budget, with the unspoken subtext that the budget went out of control because of the demands of ---shhhh!--- BLACK PEOPLE.

That will play like gangbusters here, and if Obama can't get the economy back on track fast enough, it'll probably play elsewhere.

People just love the "low taxes = more money for ME!" line, especially when the negative effects of waterboarding the government will not cause any consequences that affect ME!

My friend Terry remarked to me privately:
I can't help but think there are probably a lot of people who were/are "fierce free-market foe(s) of government spending", who now want their unemployment checks.
Ya think? But Sanford's not thinking of getting re-elected here in SC. He's term limited in 2010. He's thinking of bigger and better things.

The 2012 campaign begins in January 2011. Gotta schmooze a shitload of donors and muckety-mucks to even get started.

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