The Destruction of Archie Parnell's Congressional Campaign

Democratic Congressional Candidate Archie Parnell

It looks like this blog is going to start with, yet again (you guessed it), another round of elections. This time they were held in Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas. The results that I found most interesting came from Kentucky and Georgia. A lot of media attention has gone to the gubernatorial race in Georgia since incumbent Republican Governor Nathan Deal has reached his term�s limit. Since there has been a surge in Democratic voters specifically in Georgia and a surge in Democratic enthusiasm nationwide, there are many eyes watching this previously secure Republican seat. Stacey Abrams defeated Stacey Evans in the Democratic primary on Tuesday (every mom in this race had it going on) meaning that for the first time in Georgia�s history, a black woman won the nomination of a major party. If she wins in November, she will be the first black female governor in US history.

           

Amy McGrath and Jim Gray

In Kentucky, the Democratic primary surprised me a little bit. The outsider in the race, Amy McGrath, beat Jim Gray by eight points, giving her the opportunity to face incumbent Republican Representative Jim Barr. I was surprised by this race because of Gray�s popularity in the Lexington area which accounts for 40% of the district�s voters. In addition, McGrath only recently moved back to Kentucky so a lot of voters were unfamiliar with her. She painted Gray as the establishment candidate and her victory shows a rejection among Kentuckians to the establishment. While that particular district is prime Republican country, there are 100,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in that region which could give them the edge in the general election, depending on party enthusiasm. That is another race to watch going into the midterm elections.

            This week�s main story is about a candidate and a race closer to home: Archie Parnell who is running in South Carolina�s 5^th Congressional District against Republican Ralph Norman. It was recently revealed that Parnell allegedly abused his wife while he was in college in 1973. This abuse led to their divorce and had been silenced for over forty years. I will not go into the details of what the allegations entailed because that is not my purpose in discussing this subject but you can read more about it here.

            The response from Democrats all across the state was swift and cold. Every influential Democrat in South Carolina all expressed the same sentiment towards Parnell, �Get out of the race.� Brady Quirk-Garvan, Chair of the Charleston County Democratic Party, tweeted that the allegations were, �Awful and inexcusable.� Parnell has yet to drop out even after his campaign manager resigned and his staff took down his website, creating an uncomfortable situation for the state party seeing as he was one of the most popular candidates among the Democratic slate in South Carolina. His lighthearted campaign announcement video and the enthusiasm he generated in the 5^thdistrict made me pay attention to the race, especially considering the recent controversy surrounding incumbent Ralph Norman who brought a loaded gun to a constituent meeting earlier this year.

            This is a major blow to the South Carolina Democratic Party and the chances of a blue wave washing up on our shores statewide. But the fact that the leaders of the party responded in the way they did knowing the impact it would have speaks volumes about the integrity of the party. There is a clear disparity in response among the parties when a Democrat is accused of committing heinous acts and when a Republican is accused of committing heinous acts. Take Roy Moore or Donald Trump for example. Both of these candidates smeared and rebuked the allegations against them and their party was relatively silent when the information broke. The RNC waited a few weeks for Roy Moore�s pedophilia scandal to quiet down before they resumed running their ads across Alabama and endorsing him. For the Democrats, look at Al Franken and Archie Parnell. In both cases the politician was pressured by the party to exit the scene for the sake of decency and the party�s image.

            It�s clear that the Republican party, as an organization, cares more about winning elections that their image or common decency. However, there are many Republicans who criticized Roy Moore and Donald Trump. I am merely talking about the party as an organization. That�s all for this week.