Judge Dismisses SC Republican Closed Primary Lawsuit

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UpstateSCHokie
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Judge Dismisses SC Republican Closed Primary Lawsuit

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It seems that SC GOP is something of a microcosm of the national GOP. The SCGOP is very much an old boys club littered with RINOs and establishment types, while the Greenville county GOP is pretty much dominated by the Tea Party. Its no coincidence that true conservatives like Jim DeMint, Trey Gowdy, and Jeff Duncan all hail from the upstate, while the squishy moderate Lindsey Graham is from the middle part of the state. The old guard of the GOP in this state have no intention of implementing a conservative agenda, and Graham is part of that club.

As an aside, I heard an appalling radio ad for Graham today that starred non other than Mike Huckabee. I was never much of a Huckabee fan, but Ive grown to like him some over the last few years, but his endorsement of Graham reminded me of exactly why I was not a fan to begin with.

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Judge Dismisses Republican Closed Primary Lawsuit

Status quo Republicans and democrats will do everything they can to help two-term incumbent Senator Lindsey Graham in the upcoming primary.

Case in point: The South Carolina GOP dropped out of a lawsuit intended to create a closed primary, meaning that to vote in the Republican primary, a voter would have to be a member of the Party. Now, the status quo continues. Any registered voter can vote in either primary, meaning that a weaker candidate whose views don’t reflect the majority could get a boost by scamps, using their votes as a weapon.

Even South Carolina outsider Glenn Beck sees the writing on the wall. He said on his show: “I’ll tell you right now. The best friend the progressive democrats have is Lindsey Graham, and they can’t lose that seat. … They will do everything they can to help Lindsey Graham.” Stu Burguiere, Beck’s co-host, questioned why South Carolina Republicans have not stopped democrats from voting in their primaries yet.

Beck even goes as far as calling South Carolina: The Soviet Republic of South Carolina.

If Beck can see all of this, why don’t our Republican officials want to stand strong against those progressive democrats and their special interests?

Is it because Lindsey Graham is powerful voice within the South Carolina GOP and, they’re protecting their friend Lindsey?

When Chad Connelly was the Party chairman, he withdrew the South Carolina GOP from the lawsuit the day before he resigned without the approval of the State Executive Committeemen, severely undermining the lawsuit.

Stephen Brown, Greenville GOP activist and attorney on the case told theState.com,

“The exit, orchestrated on Chad Connelly’s watch before he resigned as Party Chairman last weekend for a gig with the Republican National Committee, leaves the Greenville County GOP alone in fighting the Party’s dilution by “Democrats, communists, independents” and others who now can vote in GOP primaries.”

Connelly told theState.com,

“The lawsuit has poor chances of winning against an “Obama judge,” and only would have added to the Party’s legal debt of more than $300,000, money owed from lawsuits that followed the ouster of more than 200 mostly GOP candidates from the ballot last year.

The simple truth is that Mary Geiger Lewis, Judge for the District of South Carolina, is a “Lindsey Graham judge.” She was confirmed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (Sen. DeMint voted against her nomination).

The South Carolina GOP’s action was used against the Greenville County GOP’s case today.

This was filed by the defendants in U.S. District court on July 2, 2013:

“With the withdrawal of the State Republican Party, this claim is being asserted by the local Republican organization and individuals in Greenville County. Under the authority set forth below, it is respectfully submitted that these plaintiffs lack standing to assert a claim that the associational rights of the Republican Party, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, have been violated.”

In a similar case in Idaho in 2007, it was held that the right to challenge the state’s open primary could only be asserted by the State Republican Party, not a group of members purposing to sue on its behalf.

So since the South Carolina GOP dropped out as plaintiffs and refused to enter back into the lawsuit, the federal judge did in fact dismiss the case due to the “standing” issue – similar to what happened in Idaho.

The state executive committee also refused to hold a special meeting to decide whether they should enter back into the lawsuit even though they know it would cost the Party $0 to do so, ignoring the pleas of the Greenville County Republicans.

Sources state that there were boxes of evidence and testimony proving that democrats vote in Republican primaries. Sadly, none of this evidence was presented in court because it was dismissed.

The upcoming primary could be, and most likely will be, skewed by democrats. Ultimately, if true conservatives had their way, maybe Lindsey Graham wouldn’t even move past the primary. Like Beck said, the democrats are going to make sure that Graham’s legacy of being a John McCain-style moderate doesn’t end soon enough. Like McCain, Graham champions unprincipled leadership and everything that’s wrong with the modern Republican Party.

The primary field is widening with Tea Party-backed candidates and true conservatives are throwing their names into the race. State senator Lee Bright, Richard Cash and Nancy Mace are a few of the patriots trying to dethrone Graham in Washington.

Bright said, “Graham has let us down on so many issues. A lot of folks thought he would follow in the footsteps of Strom Thurmond (R), but instead, we got another Fritz Hollings (D).” Except I would argue that Hollings was more conservative on fiscal issues than Lindsey Graham is. He has not done what we thought he would do. He is not the Graham that went after Bill Clinton at the impeachment hearings. He is the Graham that has fallen under the tutelage of John McCain.”

True conservatives in the Palmetto State are tired of being embarrassed whenever Lindsey Graham opens his mouth or votes in favor of legislation his constituents most definitely don’t want.

In October of 2009, Graham was publicly quoted making derogatory statements about the South Carolina Republican Party, including “We’re not going to be the Party of angry white guys.” Graham vowed to continue working with democrats in building bipartisan coalitions to address global warming, health care, Afghanistan and other key challenges, and telling Republicans who resisted his policies that “If you don’t like it, you can leave.” For a person intent on “broadening the base,” he certainly is callous about dismissing his current base.



Republicans have suffered under the reign of RINOs (Republican in Name Only) for too long in South Carolina. Due to the years of abuse, many Republicans suffer from a form of Stockholm syndrome and will defend these RINOs just because they have an ‘R’ behind their names.

Most Republicans say they want closed primaries but when they have the opportunity to have them they fail to execute and some even fight against the effort.

Beck and other outsiders do not realize that the reason South Carolina keeps electing liberal Republicans like Graham is because the Party suffers from trickled up corruption from the county level to the top. The simple truth is our elected leaders at every level have failed us. Not because they are not informed but because they do not have the courage to stand up to the enablers of the status quo and the political elites.

http://www.thegreenvillepost.com/2013/0 ... y-lawsuit/
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“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” ― Voltaire (1694 – 1778)
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