The Democratic Side of Things

Rep. James Smith (left) and Phil Noble (right)

There is a lot of energy in the Democratic party right now. Inspired by the �dark days� as one speaker called it, a wave of momentum is building within the party following key victories in New Jersey and Virginia earlier this month. This wave of momentum has given the South Carolina Democratic Party a chance to overturn seats previously regarded as impossible to flip.

Joe Cunningham

One of those seats is currently held by Mark Sanford who is being challenged by Joe Cunningham, a young and energetic Democrat. I watched him speak in Charleston on Saturday along with other local Democrats at an event known as the Blue Jamboree. Cunningham established himself as the people�s candidate, making a point to come down from the stage and speak right in front of the audience of about 200 people.

Joe Preston

There were other notable speakers there, displaying the diversity within the party. Joe Preston, who is running for South Carolina�s House of Representatives District 112 and Marvin Pendarvis, who recently won the seat for District 113. Both politicians called for action and encouraged members of the audience to run for office if they had ever considered doing so.

   

Marvin Pendarvis

One race that is particularly unique is the gubernatorial race. For the first time since the 1990s, the Democrats have a chance to win the governorship. Within the Democratic primary, James Smith and Phil Noble both tried to win support from the crowd at the Jamboree. Smith touted his endorsements and talked of bringing about, �a second education renaissance.� The first renaissance occurred under Dick Riley in the 1990s. Smith looked commanding from the stage and nailed all of the correct punchlines to get the audience cheering.

Noble, on the other hand, spoke from the floor in a more conversational manner to lay out his plans and give the audience an alternative to the impressive political resum� held by James Smith, a well-known Democrat and major in the Army National Guard. While Noble is not as well-known, he won the support of the crowd with his lighthearted jokes and detailed explanations of his policies.

The two main issues that came up in the speeches of both Smith and Noble were education and the debacle at SCE&G. I asked both men about those two things. On education Smith laid out a plan that he called, �looping.� He described it as a system where, �You get this team, a team of five teachers, two with more experience and three that are younger and they are with kids, not just for a year, but they stay with that class first through fourth.�

He compared the system�s effect on a child to the effect that a coach has on the team that he coaches. He stated, �We want teachers to have a more regular involved role.� He also mentioned that he wanted to elevate the status of teachers and suggested increasing their salaries as one of the ways to do so.

Noble had a different approach to the issue. He noted that the graduation rate in South Carolina has gone up four points but, �What they don�t tell you is that they have lowered the standards to now we have the 48th lowest standards in the country.� He claimed that, �that�s a fraud on the students because they get out of high school and they think it means something. But it doesn�t.�

On the issue of SCE&G, Noble took a hard stance, vowing to fire the entire board at Santee-Cooper and find a way to force the heads of SCE&G to resign on his first day in office. He also said that he would not pass a resolution on the issue unless it was in the best interest of South Carolina. He said, �I don�t care if the board or the senior management lose their jobs because they ought to lose their jobs.�

On the subject of the general election, both candidates said that they were not concerned with who they were running against. Smith said that, �I�m not running against anybody. I�m running for South Carolina.�

            I also asked them how they planned to attract independent voters. Smith stated that his reputation as a moderate with previous Republican support will help him attract voters on the fence. Noble pointed out that voter dissatisfaction with the current leadership would help his campaign since he is an outsider and no PACs or special interest groups have contributed to his campaign.

            My final question to both Smith and Noble was, �Do you think Senator Al Franken should resign?� Franken has recently been accused of sexual misconduct and many have called for his resignation. Both men said that they trusted the senator�s judgement and to leave it to the voters to decide. Smith made an additional comment, making known his policy of no tolerance for sexual misconduct of any kind. He stated, �We certainly should expect our elected leaders to exhibit behavior that is far above and beyond any of that. And wherever it is, it should be condemned.�

            Noble pointed out a difference between Al Franken and people like Roy Moore. He contrasted the two saying, �I don�t put [Franken] in the same category as Roy Moore, who�s a pedophile essentially. There�s a difference between occasional stupidity and deliberate immorality.�

            James Smith is definitely the more popular candidate in this primary, with his many endorsements and instant name recognition among many Democrats. Noble is more of an outsider, not completely loyal to the Democratic party and admitting, �I am not the chosen candidate of the Democratic Party establishment.�

            I will be following this election very closely over the course of this next year and I will continue to talk to voters and candidates. The full interviews that I had with Smith and Noble will be available on Wednesday night. That�s all for tonight.