TPM Reader NL remarks from on the ground …
I just returned from a weeklong beach trip to South Carolina, and while I was there, I thoroughly enjoyed TPM’s coverage of the state’s primary mess. Driving home the other day up I-26, I realized that South Carolina may be even more conservative than I knew (and I am a lifelong North Carolinian – please never, ever confuse the two states).
I expected some strange campaign signs like the gigantic “Take Back America” yard signs that greeted us. What I didn’t expect were the massive billboards. One depicted a candidate with a Bible scripture and verse on it. There were anti-abortion billboards about every 10 miles or less. There was a huge board with Rush Limbaugh’s face with the caption “Saving America’s Soul” on it. Then, there was a creepy, malevolent sign depicting what looked like a ninja on it with the warning to beware of Islam and a website for the Islam Rising film on it. (Didn’t the Dutch guy in that film actually win some seats in the latest Dutch election?) All of this craziness coupled with the bizarre Alvin Greene story and the rise of Nikki Haley and the “raghead” comments of the state senator make me wonder if South Carolina is simply ground zero for the conservative movement or is it more complex? Most frighteningly, I wonder if much of Nikki Haley’s success is due not just to her charisma but to the Palin endorsement. Given South Carolina’s strategic place on the primary calendar in 2012, does this mean Palin has a good chance of winning the state and maybe even locking up the nomination? I guarantee this woman would do very well there. As someone who lives very close to the state line and who has travelled to the state many, many times, I was surprised at the level of open rightwing propaganda there. When one crosses into North Carolina, it is almost a palpable change.
