South Carolinians showed their conservatism early in 2012 by bucking the trend for soon-to-be Republican nominee Mitt Romney and handing former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich a victory in the first-in-the-South presidential primary.

The state thus will lose the distinction of having no Republican failing to win the vote here going on to become the party’s nominee. Romney rebounded in Florida and pushed steadily toward attaining the delegates needed to become the challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama.

South Carolina is home to a top Romney supporter in Gov. Nikki Haley, who had been mentioned by national media for the GOP ticket. And the GOP in the state has felt secure enough in Romney’s ability to win here that emphasis has been on assisting Republicans in neighboring North Carolina carry that “swing” state.

Enthusiasm for the mainstream Romney in the Palmetto State may get a boost now that the former Massachusetts governor has announced his running mate. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, has solid conservative credentials.

Yet it appears South Carolinians were again off the mark in this election cycle, as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was the popular choice for vice president. He spoke to the state GOP’s annual Silver Elephant fundraiser earlier this summer and recently was winning the endorsement of Republicans in the state. …

Haley calls Romney-Ryan a “dream team of solutions,” a predictable view in that the Wisconsin congressman moves the ticket to the right and even more in tune with the governor’s ideology.

South Carolina did not get Gingrich at the top of the ticket and Rubio is among the also-rans for vice president, but Palmetto State conservatives have every reason to be content and focus now on what is clearly a choice between ideologies in the November presidential election.

Online:

http://www.thetandd.com

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Aug. 13

The Post and Courier of Charleston on gerrymandering:

For nearly a century after Reconstruction, white Democrats politically dominated their “Solid South.” But there is now only one white Democrat in the U.S. House from the “Deep South” (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana). And that fourth-term congressman, Georgia’s John Barrow, faces a tough road to re-election.

Clearly, political times have changed over the last 50 years — and not just in the South.

Sadly, this self-governing maxim hasn’t: A lack of political competition undermines elected officials’ accountability to the public. Thus, dividing legislative districts into virtual one-party fiefdoms undermines it, too.

As The Wall Street Journal reported: “Voters in the Deep South have divided into an increasingly black Democratic Party and a mostly white Republican Party. … Republicans say white voters are increasingly voting Republican, turned off by what they say is the Democratic Party’s growing liberalism. Democrats blame Republican leaders for redistricting actions that Democrats say are concentrating black voters in a smaller number of districts.”

Yet there’s a bipartisan motive behind the give-and-take gerrymandering that ultimately assures numerous safe districts for both parties. In South Carolina and some other Southern states, U.S. Justice Department edicts to create black-majority districts — and raise the number of black House members — also have played a significant role.

As a predictable result of the redistricting process, far too many U.S. House districts — and state legislative districts — stack the electoral deck for one party or the other. For instance, in our own state, the outcomes of all seven U.S. House races in November seem assured, with a 6-1 edge for the GOP.

This political dynamic, here and across not just our region but nation, forces too many Republicans to the hard right and too many Democrats to the hard left — both while running for office and after winning it. Incumbents have become less wary about challenges from the other party and more wary about challenges from within their own parties. …

It’s wishful thinking to imagine that the parties will change their self-serving, gerrymandering ways anytime soon.

But it’s downright foolish to ignore these political machinations that are widening the divisions between the parties — and the people.

Online:

http://www.postandcourier.com

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Aug. 12

Herald-Journal of Spartanburg on high-speed police chases:

A 7-year-old girl was killed recently when her mother crashed while trying to outrun the police. It was the culmination of a chase in and out of traffic on Interstate 85 that reached speeds of 110 mph.

It is easy to second-guess law enforcement officers now that we have almost all the information and plenty of time to evaluate it. But these officers rarely have those advantages. They must make split-second decisions with only the information available in the moment.

We can all see, now that we know a child was in the vehicle, that it might have been better to back off the chase, but deputies did not have that information. All they knew was that when they tried to stop a motorist for a traffic offense, that motorist fled.

It is also easy to say that police shouldn’t incur all the dangers of a high-speed chase because of a traffic infraction. But when someone runs, law enforcement is certainly justified in thinking the driver is hiding a more serious crime and likely represents a real danger to the public.

It is also a fact that there is no such thing as a safe high-speed chase. When someone runs from police, officers must decide, with very little information, whether to accept the danger to themselves and to the public of pursuit or to let the criminal get away.

I-85 is a dangerous, congested highway. Placing a saturation force of police on it for Rolling Thunder can aggravate those conditions. But the benefits of the program cannot be ignored: 47 pounds of marijuana and more than $24,000 in cash seized, 18 people charged with drug offenses, two fugitives caught, four felony arrests, one driving under the influence arrest, six people caught driving with suspended licenses, and more than 1,000 traffic citations. The operation also clearly enforced a safety standard on the highway. …

There are no easy answers to these problems, especially in the lightning fast moment in which the decisions must be made.

Online:

http://www.goupstate.com