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Noble: How Democrats can win S.C. back in four years
Today, S.C. Democrats are at our lowest level since we ran out the Yankees in 1876 and Wade Hampton and the boys took back control. As delusional as it sounds, I am convinced that the Democrats can come back — and come back quickly. If we do the right things, a big if, we can win back the governorship and the major statewide offices in four years.
Alcoholics Anonymous has a 12-step plan for recovery, but I think we Democrats can do it in five steps.
First, we have to be brutally honest with ourselves about where we are. Like the drunk taking the first step in AA, we need to look ourselves in the mirror and say, “Hi, I’m a Democrat, and we’re losing.”
Tucker Eskew, Gov. Carroll Campbell’s spokesperson, said it best: “South Carolina is a 55-45% default Republican state unless the Democrats change the game.” In the last election, the numbers for the statewide ticket were 56 percent to 41 percent, about the same as in the two previous state elections. We must change the game.
Second, we must ruthlessly reinvent the party from the grassroots up. And when we do, we need to listen to the voices of Democrats who are winning on the local level and not the Columbia insiders and those folks who hang around the Capitol cutting deals with lobbyists.
We have good Democratic mayors in Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, Florence, Orangeburg, Columbia, Sumter, Rock Hill, Greenwood, Anderson, Gaffney, Camden, Clemson and elsewhere. Despite the miserable results in statewide elections, Democrats still hold a majority of the 46 county councils, and Democrats won 167 of the 190 contested county races in November, a whopping 87 percent. These local Democrats are winning because they are accountable, they deliver, and the voters trust them.
Third, we must focus on new people, new solutions and new technology. We must attract and hold new people. In 2008, President Obama brought hundreds of thousands of new people to our party, especially the young and black folks. In November, 232,000 fewer South Carolinians voted Democratic than two years before. We did not give them a message they could respond to or a reason to turn out to vote. If only one in four of these folks had voted, for us, we would have a Democratic governor.
President Obama also revolutionized campaigns with his use of the Internet and new technology. We need to do the same. It is not rocket science, but it will not happen without a real commitment.
Fourth, we must hold Nikki Haley and the Republicans accountable. They are in charge. They literally have everything: all nine statewide offices, the House and Senate and the whole Budget and Control Board.
They say they are for government reform, tougher ethics laws, more on-the-record voting. Fine, pass it all today; you have the votes. Quit whining about “taking back our state,” and take responsibility. If voters are angry that our schools are failing, our tax system is broken, politics as usual is corrupt and political insiders run our government, then take it up with Nikki and the boys. They are in charge. They are the status quo, and they have been in charge for years.
Fifth, Democrats need to stand for some big and bold ideas and solutions that can make life better for the average South Carolinian. The best example was the last Democratic governor. In 1998, Jim Hodges said vote for me and you will get a lottery, and we will use the money to help your kid go to college. He was elected, and he delivered.
Just a few new ideas: an educational laptop for every child for only 1.7 percent of what we are spending per child; unlimited learning with guaranteed access to all post-high school education with a new system of loans, grants and community service; a moon-shot-like project to develop wind energy and green jobs to power 1.7 million homes and provide 32,000 jobs. We can lead the nation in all three areas. We can literally go from breakdown to breakthrough.
Most importantly, Democrats must focus first on doing what we need to do to fix our state, and put rigid partisanship and narrow ideology last. This is not a game about simply switching their politicians in the State House for ours; it’s about changing the basic direction of our state, radically improving education and making our state competitive in the global marketplace of the 21st century.
If we as Democrats do these things, we will win in four years, and we will deserve to.
