[Note: This is a new version of a previously published diary, updated to reflect the results of the primaries.]
Talking Points (a full description below the fold):
- Linda Ketner is a liberal Democrat running against a solidly conservative and ethically questionable Republican in a district that is itself highly conservative.
- Linda Ketner is fundraising at an unusually prodigious rate for a Democrat in this district, trouncing the incumbent Republican.
- Prospects for the Democratic party are high enough this year that Linda Ketner has a real chance of winning, but only if South Carolina Democrats put their all in.
- The DNC needs to support Ketner, so Democrats should make sure they’re doing their part.
- Visit
Ketner's official website to learn more, donate, buy promotional merchandise, or volunteer. Or
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I'm currently aiming for 25 contributors, so please give what you can afford. It may only be a few dollars, but I still remember Barack Obama's reference to a woman who sent him $3.01. Every little bit helps.
South Carolina is a tough state for Democrats. We’re undoubtedly one of the reddest states in the union. So for a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, it can be depressing to live here. Not only are our presidential prefereces irrelevant in a state that has only voted Democratic twice since 1960 (and never since 1980), but viable candidates rarely run for other major offices. In 2004, a Green Party candidate was the only challenger to Republican congressman Henry Brown. He’s never faced any serious challenge since his 2000 election. This year, though, we’re lucky enough to have a viable candidate in Linda Ketner.
Ketner is a Democrat running for U.S. Congress in South Carolina’s first district. The first district consists of most of the coastal areas of SC, including most of Charleston, Georgetown, and Myrtle Beach. Ketner hopes to take the seat of Congressman Brown. She is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and former High School and college teacher. Her position on the issues is a dream for liberal/progressive Democrats. Education: "Save what is good out of No Child Left Behind and scrap the rest. Under-funding, uneven implementation and measures have crippled No Child Left Behind. Students cannot simply be test-taking machines. Teachers cannot simply be test-giving machines." Economy: "Accelerate minimum wage to reach $7.25 by November 2008... Require American made cars to meet a standard of 40 mpg by 2015... Increase the speed of the Renewable Energy Sector with tax incentives to create more jobs of the future..." Energy: "Offer tax incentives for the development of renewable energy companies and technologies... Sign the Kyoto agreement...Strengthen anti-trust laws on anti-competitive actions by oil companies." Iraq: "Iraq has failed to meet 13 of its 18 benchmarks... The cost of the war is 4,000 brave men and women as of the fifth anniversary of the war: fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. Forty-six from South Carolina... I would support withdrawal over an 18 month period from Iraq while U.N., NATO partners, India and friendly Arab countries prepare to work together to assume responsibility for the stability of Iraq and the Middle East." Health Care: "Government's role in our country's healthcare system should be that of watchdog and policy-maker with the responsibility to reduce costs and increase the numbers of insured Americans...Revamp the system to reward prevention and health rather than illness, and require basic preventive treatments to be insured... Insure all children 18 and under under SCHIP in families making 300% of poverty level... Bottom line, we must reduce the costs of healthcare to a level where we can guarantee access for every working American."
What of the incumbent, Mr. Brown? His voting record is available on votesmart.com, along with ratings from numerous interest groups. Congressman Brown has, in various years since 2000, received ratings of 0 from NARAL and Planned Parenthood, Citizens for Tax Justice, the ACLU, the NEA (National Education Association), the Sierra Club, the Children’s Defense Fund, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the American Public Health Association, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the Secular Coalition for America, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, Disabled American Veterans, and a 4% rating from the AFL-CIO. He voted for the Iraq war and most continuations and funding of it, against the Electronic Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Review Act (which would investigate and limit the administration’s wiretapping actions) twice, against the Sexual Orientation Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), for the PATRIOT Act three times (with two abstentions), for the Military Commissions Act (which established secret military tribunals for trying "enemy combatants" and denied them the right of habeas corpus), and against the recent GI Bill expansion. In other words, he’s not just red, he’s maroon. It would be hard to find someone more conservative than Henry Brown. Even our Senator Lindsey Graham, also up for reelection, occasionally broke step with the White House, which is something I can’t find Mr. Brown doing on any significant occasion.
Brown also has at least one scandal that ties him into the Republican Party’s culture of corruption. In 2004, Brown started a controlled burn on his property, which jumped to the Francis Marion National Forest, burning twenty acres of it. Representative Brown was issued a $250 ticket for the fire. Jerome Thomas, the Francis Marion/Sumter national forests supervisor, and Forest Service employee John Sadler jointly called Brown about the ticket as a courtesy. According to the Washington Post, " ‘Brown stated that if the Forest Service persisted and issued a (ticket), Forest Service programs might need to be scrutinized more closely.’ Sadler said there was no mistake in the meaning." Eventually, Mark Rey, a Bush appointee to the post of Environmental Undersecretary, ordered that no ticket be issued. In addition to the ticket that wasn’t, there was also a $7,000 cleanup fee that was ratcheted down to less than $5,000. The Forest Service reports spending over $100,000 in staff time to collect the fee. While this is not on the same level as some Republican scandals, it is still a clear cut abuse of power. Full story: http://www.lindaketner.com/...
So South Carolina’s first district is held by a dark red congressman who is being challenged by a bright blue woman. Certainly SC 1st would be a terrific pickup, symbolically as well as actually. All this would be for naught, of course, if Linda Ketner doesn’t win the election. Could she? Last spring, she raised $413,000, three times Brown’s total in the same period (despite the overwhelming advantage incumbency tends to provide), and far more than the embarrassing $15,000 raised by challenger Henry Maatta in 2006. The last serious Democrat to run was Andy Brack in 2000, who did not reach $500,000. Ketner has nearly doubled that total. She is within site of the $1 million dollar mark, which would be historic for this district and give her a strong opportunity to win the election. Henry Brown still has a lot of previously raised cash on hand, but Ketner’s shown she knows how to put up a fight. Ketner has been endorsed by many SC Democrats, including Charleston mayor Joe Riley, who endorsed Barack Obama back in mid-January. On June 10, she won the Democratic primary with two-thirds of the vote and carried every county ("an ass-whupping," as she put it in a candid moment). So Ketner’s doing very well for herself. She has a well-organized campaign extremely devoted to her success. They worked hard to win the primary and are working even harder today.
South Carolina Democrats need to get energized. We cannot wait another two years when we have a unique opportunity this year. We know Democrats have strong prospects in 2008 across the board, but there’s more. In January, Barack Obama carried this state’s primary with 55% of the vote (and keep in mind there were still three viable candidates at the time, making it a two-to-one landslide). The possibility of SC voting for Senator Obama in November is remote, but even if it doesn’t happen, Obama will still have long coattails in SC, likely exploding voter turnout. One disappointment I have is that the DNC does not even mention Linda Ketner’s name on its website. I was looking for SC Dems to support months ago, and was unable to find any candidates. As a result, I didn’t find out about Ketner until a week before the primary. I hope Howard Dean’s rightly praised fifty state strategy has not forgotten that we are one of those fifty states. Democrats should contact the DNC and ensure that Ketner receives critical support. Likewise, Daily Kos, the online bastion of liberalism, does not include Ketner among the Orange to Blue candidates, nor in the regular status reports on candidates running. National support is important, even for local candidates. The ability to raise funds nationally over the internet is one of the biggest weapons Democrats have, threatening the Republicans’ traditional status as the big money party.
But can we win? Certainly it’s a long shot. However, when I get discouraged about our chances, I remember an old saying we have in South Carolina: Thank God for Mississippi. We always knew that, no matter how much of a laughingstock we were or what national standards we were trailing in, we were usually better than Mississippi. Well, guess what? Mississippi just turned out a rock-hard Republican for a Democrat in a solidly conservative district. If they can do it, so can we.