Hiking the Appalachian Trail
May 7, 2013 3:14 PM Subscribe
Ordinary special elections rarely merit wide attention, but tonight features no ordinary special. Republican Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch face off in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District tonight. Sanford, famous for resigning in disgrace after abandoning his state in search of an Argentine mistress while claiming to hike the Appalachian Trail, faces Colbert Busch, sister of Stephen Colbert. Latest polling shows the race within 1 point, with Green Party candidate Eugene Platt potentially playing spoiler. Stretching along five counties on South Carolina's Atlantic coast (PDF), the district is primarily in the mustard-based barbecue sauce region, one of four in the state.
But electable is the saddest part (no offense South Carolina); that said, I found this argument interesting.
Mark Sanford might win on Tuesday. That’s good news for Democrats.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:23 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mark Sanford might win on Tuesday. That’s good news for Democrats.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:23 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
South Carolina's 1st is a very, very red district. As always, this race will come down to turnout. Unusually, though, the question is will the people who cannot forgive Mark Sanford turn out more than the people who cannot vote for a Democrat, ever?
It's going to be an interesting evening.
posted by ambrosia at 3:23 PM on May 7, 2013
It's going to be an interesting evening.
posted by ambrosia at 3:23 PM on May 7, 2013
The Runaway Gov thread is one of my all-time favorites on MeFi. A slowly unfolding story that became more and more absurd until Mark Sanford appeared to make one of the most hilariously bad press conferences ever. The man is a sociopath. A goofy, entertaining sociopath, which means he will probably win.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:24 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:24 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
You could apparently run a turnip in South Carolina and win, as long as it was a Republican turnip.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:27 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:27 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Needs a link about Sanford's current legal issues. He's accused by his ex-wife of trespassing into her home.
Yes, he is accused of trespassing into the home of the same ex-wife that he asked to manage his campaign.
"I got a solution! You're a dick! South Carolina, what's up?"
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 3:30 PM on May 7, 2013
Yes, he is accused of trespassing into the home of the same ex-wife that he asked to manage his campaign.
"I got a solution! You're a dick! South Carolina, what's up?"
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 3:30 PM on May 7, 2013
Sanford was ahead of his time. A Republican reaching out, getting in touch with Hispanics and women, talking up the environment and the glory of our National Parks.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:36 PM on May 7, 2013 [17 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 3:36 PM on May 7, 2013 [17 favorites]
It's utterly bizarre to me that someone who just up and bugged out of the highest office in his state and lied about why thinks he can get elected again....and he's got a shot. And we say cats are weird. They got nothing on us.
posted by rtha at 3:37 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by rtha at 3:37 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]
I'm most troubled by this claim of mustard-based "barbecue" sauce.
posted by cmoj at 3:41 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by cmoj at 3:41 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
A story about Colbert Busch being jailed for contempt of court has been spreading around today, which just sounds like a desperation play to me. There was also some dirty push polling.
I don't think getting Sanford in Congress would be a long term benefit for Dems. Everybody already thinks Congresspeople are terrible, throwing one more terrible Republican in isn't going to alter the national landscape.
Hope she wins. Will be good for Congress and for the Colbert Report.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:44 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't think getting Sanford in Congress would be a long term benefit for Dems. Everybody already thinks Congresspeople are terrible, throwing one more terrible Republican in isn't going to alter the national landscape.
Hope she wins. Will be good for Congress and for the Colbert Report.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:44 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Runaway Gov thread is one of my all-time favorites on MeFi.
God, I had forgotten about that; that thread really is a joy. And there's something so wonderful reading it knowing the outcome. For the first day and a half, everybody guesses and makes the jokes you'd expect. Then there's an (US) overnight break) and all the suddent in the morning, CunningLinguist posts "It turns out he was in Argentina" and it just hangs there like BOOM. Even when you know the end years later, I'm still tempted to click the link because it is just so ridiculous. You couldn't script that thread better.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:46 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
God, I had forgotten about that; that thread really is a joy. And there's something so wonderful reading it knowing the outcome. For the first day and a half, everybody guesses and makes the jokes you'd expect. Then there's an (US) overnight break) and all the suddent in the morning, CunningLinguist posts "It turns out he was in Argentina" and it just hangs there like BOOM. Even when you know the end years later, I'm still tempted to click the link because it is just so ridiculous. You couldn't script that thread better.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:46 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
Hope she wins. Will be good for Congress and for the Colbert Report.
I'm pretty ambivalent, it's going to result in someone pretty right wing no matter which letter happens to be next to their name. Colbert-Busch took the time the other week to denounce teh horrors of Obamacare, for example.
posted by indubitable at 3:47 PM on May 7, 2013
I'm pretty ambivalent, it's going to result in someone pretty right wing no matter which letter happens to be next to their name. Colbert-Busch took the time the other week to denounce teh horrors of Obamacare, for example.
posted by indubitable at 3:47 PM on May 7, 2013
You can look forward to a lot more of that from Democrats going forward. The implementation is going to be extremely rough and the Republicans are going to try and ram it down Democratic throats. The bill had to be a problematic, distorted monster in order to pass but voters aren't gonna wanna hear that.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:53 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by Drinky Die at 3:53 PM on May 7, 2013
I will always resent Mark Sanford for making it hard for me to go hiking on the actual Appalachian Trail without having to listen to people making jokes about the how good the food is in Buenos Aires.
posted by deadmessenger at 4:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [14 favorites]
posted by deadmessenger at 4:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [14 favorites]
I'm most troubled by this claim of mustard-based "barbecue" sauce.
Well, I'm hung up on the idea that there are four regions in South Carolina that are identified by the stuff.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:34 PM on May 7, 2013
Well, I'm hung up on the idea that there are four regions in South Carolina that are identified by the stuff.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:34 PM on May 7, 2013
Live results and a nifty map (D3.js, I presume?) from HuffPo.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 4:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 4:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's utterly bizarre to me that someone who just up and bugged out of the highest office in his state and lied about why thinks he can get elected again....and he's got a shot.
There have been a lot of reprehensible people who have managed to get elected to Congress. To this day I'm astounded that Alcee Hastings did it. What were the people in FL-23 thinking?
Whatever it is, they've been thinking it for 20 years.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:47 PM on May 7, 2013
There have been a lot of reprehensible people who have managed to get elected to Congress. To this day I'm astounded that Alcee Hastings did it. What were the people in FL-23 thinking?
Whatever it is, they've been thinking it for 20 years.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:47 PM on May 7, 2013
Well, I'm hung up on the idea that there are four regions in South Carolina that are identified by the stuff.
In South Carolina, politics and religion may shift with the wind, but barbecue style is as unmutable and unmovable as the mountains. You are born into one, and you will defend it until the day you die. To defect is to die to your friends and family.
Mustard based, represent! I live in a land now with tomato-based sauce and it's like living among savages. They may be smart, but are certainly not wise... even the vinegar-based folks look down on them.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 4:58 PM on May 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
In South Carolina, politics and religion may shift with the wind, but barbecue style is as unmutable and unmovable as the mountains. You are born into one, and you will defend it until the day you die. To defect is to die to your friends and family.
Mustard based, represent! I live in a land now with tomato-based sauce and it's like living among savages. They may be smart, but are certainly not wise... even the vinegar-based folks look down on them.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 4:58 PM on May 7, 2013 [7 favorites]
Sounds like Louisiana. Anybody remember the year we had bumper stickers in the governor's campaign saying "Vote for the crook; it's important"? (Convicted felon Edwin Edwards vs the KKK leader David Duke.)
posted by Anitanola at 5:11 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Anitanola at 5:11 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
Looks like Sanford has it. Oh well.
posted by Drinky Die at 5:23 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by Drinky Die at 5:23 PM on May 7, 2013
This means the Wiener dude has a shot!
posted by cjorgensen at 6:13 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 6:13 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
According to that HuffPost results link, Sanford is winning easily (9 point margin, 100% reporting). So, IOKIYAR I guess?
Anybody remember the year we had bumper stickers in the governor's campaign saying "Vote for the crook; it's important"?
Vividly. It was a high water mark for Louisiana politics in my lifetime so far. (Seriously. They're stuck with Bobby Jindal now, what a nightmare. Edwards was a crook and a bastard, but at least he knew that public education needed to be adequately funded and that only science should be taught in science classrooms and etc.)
posted by LooseFilter at 6:24 PM on May 7, 2013
Anybody remember the year we had bumper stickers in the governor's campaign saying "Vote for the crook; it's important"?
Vividly. It was a high water mark for Louisiana politics in my lifetime so far. (Seriously. They're stuck with Bobby Jindal now, what a nightmare. Edwards was a crook and a bastard, but at least he knew that public education needed to be adequately funded and that only science should be taught in science classrooms and etc.)
posted by LooseFilter at 6:24 PM on May 7, 2013
This means the Wiener dude has a shot!
Yeah, not so much.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:26 PM on May 7, 2013
Yeah, not so much.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:26 PM on May 7, 2013
Ok, so dick pics are bad, and cheating on your wife is cool.
Got it.
posted by XhaustedProphet at 6:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Got it.
posted by XhaustedProphet at 6:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mustard-based barbecue sauce tastes amazing with pork, and in any case it is objectively superior to ketchup-based sauce.
(No, I am not biased from being raised in Charleston.)
posted by aw_yiss at 6:38 PM on May 7, 2013
(No, I am not biased from being raised in Charleston.)
posted by aw_yiss at 6:38 PM on May 7, 2013
Ok, so dick pics are bad, and cheating on your wife is cool.
Er... What Weiner did was also cheating. It's not like and Abedin had an open marriage or anything. From an honesty and relevancy to the office standpoint, their actions were pretty much equivalent. Of course Republicans know how the game is played -- Sanford left office because of term limits, not his infidelity, and David Vitter is still around, too.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Er... What Weiner did was also cheating. It's not like and Abedin had an open marriage or anything. From an honesty and relevancy to the office standpoint, their actions were pretty much equivalent. Of course Republicans know how the game is played -- Sanford left office because of term limits, not his infidelity, and David Vitter is still around, too.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm most troubled by this claim of mustard-based "barbecue" sauce.
posted by cmoj at 6:41 PM on May 7 [2 favorites +] [!]
Are you some sort of communist? Mustard BBQ fo' lyfe, yo.
posted by chiababe at 7:07 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by cmoj at 6:41 PM on May 7 [2 favorites +] [!]
Are you some sort of communist? Mustard BBQ fo' lyfe, yo.
posted by chiababe at 7:07 PM on May 7, 2013
Just not Maurice's because that dude is crazy.
posted by chiababe at 7:08 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by chiababe at 7:08 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]
We gotta go in under the radar next time. The national coverage woke up local GOP voters. Soon as they saw we wanted to win, they jumped in. Plus Sanford ran as an underdog, hard, with dozens of appearances. Put his own cell number in the paper. Bet he called every in-state number back.
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by Ironmouth at 7:29 PM on May 7, 2013
with Green Party candidate Eugene Platt potentially playing spoiler putting forward a platform of issue positions that some people agreed with, and then voted for
posted by threeants at 7:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by threeants at 7:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]
You could apparently run a turnip in South Carolina and win, as long as it was a Republican turnip.
The traditional example here in the South is the yellow dog, which has followed Strom Thurmond's lead and become a Republican.
posted by TedW at 8:24 PM on May 7, 2013
The traditional example here in the South is the yellow dog, which has followed Strom Thurmond's lead and become a Republican.
posted by TedW at 8:24 PM on May 7, 2013
Threeants: Please see Duverger's law. What you're saying may well be true, but it doesn't change the fact that he was a spoiler.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:52 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:52 PM on May 7, 2013
No, he wasn't, not with that margin of victory.
posted by Drinky Die at 11:05 PM on May 7, 2013
posted by Drinky Die at 11:05 PM on May 7, 2013
Whether or not the case in question constitutes a "spoiler" as some or most people define it, the term itself is extremely slanted language that purports to ask-- and then unilaterally settle-- an important debate, within the space of a word.
posted by threeants at 11:16 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by threeants at 11:16 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
With three quarters of precincts reporting, Sanford led 54 percent to 45 percent for Colbert Busch, and the Associated Press called the race.
No Green Party spoiler in this result.
posted by three blind mice at 2:31 AM on May 8, 2013
No Green Party spoiler in this result.
posted by three blind mice at 2:31 AM on May 8, 2013
This "dick pics vs. cheating" and "are or are not dick pics cheating" thing is absurd. No, their actions were not pretty much equivalent from the standpoint of relevancy to the office. Not in the least. The problem with Sanford, from the standpoint of relevancy to the office, is not that he cheated on his wife. The problem with Sanford, from the standpoint of relevancy to the office, is that he abandoned the office.
posted by Flunkie at 6:12 AM on May 8, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by Flunkie at 6:12 AM on May 8, 2013 [7 favorites]
I work in this congressional district, but live across the river in Savannah. This morning I'm looking at my coworkers wondering which ones voted for this sleazebag. I need a new job.
posted by mareli at 6:46 AM on May 8, 2013
posted by mareli at 6:46 AM on May 8, 2013
Sanford was ahead of his time.
This. We need more people in Congress with secret Argentine lovers. Particularly in this era of incipient surveillance.
posted by Twang at 6:50 AM on May 8, 2013
This. We need more people in Congress with secret Argentine lovers. Particularly in this era of incipient surveillance.
posted by Twang at 6:50 AM on May 8, 2013
You could apparently run a turnip in South Carolina and win, as long as it was a Republican turnip.
No apparently about it, you can put a Republican turnip in a South Carolina office—as long as the turnip isn't too smart.
It needs to be said: South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum. Just as true today as it was 150 years ago.
Anyway, this should be fun: tomorrow Representative Luv Gov gets to show up in court to answer trespassing charges. Cameras will be permitted.
(Also, MUSTARD FOREVA. Except from that racist wacko Bessinger.)
with secret Argentine lovers
Someone should follow Sanford everywhere with a boombox blasting Atlantic Starr.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:59 AM on May 8, 2013
No apparently about it, you can put a Republican turnip in a South Carolina office—as long as the turnip isn't too smart.
It needs to be said: South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum. Just as true today as it was 150 years ago.
Anyway, this should be fun: tomorrow Representative Luv Gov gets to show up in court to answer trespassing charges. Cameras will be permitted.
(Also, MUSTARD FOREVA. Except from that racist wacko Bessinger.)
with secret Argentine lovers
Someone should follow Sanford everywhere with a boombox blasting Atlantic Starr.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:59 AM on May 8, 2013
It needs to be said: South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum. Just as true today as it was 150 years ago.
I prefer to refer to this as "Petigru's Curse."
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:29 AM on May 8, 2013
I prefer to refer to this as "Petigru's Curse."
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:29 AM on May 8, 2013
Heh.
Q: When he gets to Congress, on what committee should you put Rep. Mark Sanford, R-South Carolina?
A: Foreign Affairs.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:59 AM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
Q: When he gets to Congress, on what committee should you put Rep. Mark Sanford, R-South Carolina?
A: Foreign Affairs.
posted by Drinky Die at 10:59 AM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]
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I am amazed Sanford believes he's even employable let alone election worthy.
posted by cjorgensen at 3:20 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]