Your vote for Governor, 2006

[tinman64]

Non-incumbant Democrat (Angelides or Westly). Ahnold so has to go.

[PBrunsel]

I'll cast my vote for Nussle and Vander Platts in November, since they will need every vote they can get.

[True Democrat]

Incumbent Democrat

[nini2287]

Undecided, lean non-incumbent Republican

[The Dowager Mod]

Incumbent Democrat, unless the greens run someone interesting.

[Republican Michigander]

Anyone but Granholm. DeVos.

[Smash255]

Undecided in the primary and general.

Now THAT is surprising, though I can understand the primary.  I know O'Malley may not be the best, but you'd rather have Robert "Slot Machines or Bust" Ehrlich, who has no accomplishments as governor?  I'd hate to have him thinking about a future Senate seat in Maryland if he gets re-elected.

I think I just came thinking about Maryland having 2 Republican Senators!

Ehlrich and Steele... 

If Maryland would be so gracious, I'd trade Collins and Snowe to the Dems in exchange...

HEY now!  Those two are some of my favorite senators.  I'll trade Brownback and Coburn.... any takers, Dems?

Well if you trade them out of the Senate towards the 2008 Republican President and Vice President ticket....

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Undecided in the primary and general.

Now THAT is surprising, though I can understand the primary.  I know O'Malley may not be the best, but you'd rather have Robert "Slot Machines or Bust" Ehrlich, who has no accomplishments as governor?  I'd hate to have him thinking about a future Senate seat in Maryland if he gets re-elected.

I think I just came thinking about Maryland having 2 Republican Senators!

Ehlrich and Steele... 

If Maryland would be so gracious, I'd trade Collins and Snowe to the Dems in exchange...

HEY now!  Those two are some of my favorite senators.  I'll trade Brownback and Coburn.... any takers, Dems?

Well if you trade them out of the Senate towards the 2008 Republican President and Vice President ticket....

Why would I trade them for Frist/Rice?

[Smash255]

Undecided in the primary and general.

Now THAT is surprising, though I can understand the primary.  I know O'Malley may not be the best, but you'd rather have Robert "Slot Machines or Bust" Ehrlich, who has no accomplishments as governor?  I'd hate to have him thinking about a future Senate seat in Maryland if he gets re-elected.

I think I just came thinking about Maryland having 2 Republican Senators!

Ehlrich and Steele... 

If Maryland would be so gracious, I'd trade Collins and Snowe to the Dems in exchange...

HEY now!  Those two are some of my favorite senators.  I'll trade Brownback and Coburn.... any takers, Dems?

Well if you trade them out of the Senate towards the 2008 Republican President and Vice President ticket....

Why would I trade them for Frist/Rice?

Hey you asked for any Dem offers so I made you one   Take it or leave it

[Cubby]

I haven't the slighest idea who will run against Rell, probably a sacrificial lamb. I voted non-incumbent Democrat in the poll here, but in reality, I'll decide at a later point.

[??????????]

Depends on who wins the primary.  If Lovelace can pull off the upset, I'll be voting Republican in the general election, and if Sanford wins the primary I'l be voting Democratic in the general.

Driving through SC I kept seeing signs for Lovelace that someone had put on the shoulder of I-95. It was mostly in the middle part of the state where I saw this, right above the low country.

[MasterJedi]

I'll be voting for Walker (R) in the primary and then Walker/Green in the general election.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Depends on who wins the primary.  If Lovelace can pull off the upset, I'll be voting Republican in the general election, and if Sanford wins the primary I'l be voting Democratic in the general.

Driving through SC I kept seeing signs for Lovelace that someone had put on the shoulder of I-95. It was mostly in the middle part of the state where I saw this, right above the low country.

Yup, Lovelace has done an amazingly good job at putting together a grass roots organization and the road signs and bumper stickers are evidence of that.  The unanswered question is whether Lovelace can generate excitement beyond the core of political junkies who've grown disgusted with Sanford's term which has produced more sizzle than steak.  Of course, considering that its often just the political junkie who vote in primaries, that might just be enough.  The April 4th election for Mayor of Columbia is worth looking at.  If Kevin Fisher can knock off Bob Coble, it'll indicate that a message of "the incumbent is incompetent, elect me instead" has a good chance of working this year in other races.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

non-incumbent Democrat Mike Hatch.

[WalterMitty]

why is lovelace running against an incumbent republican?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

why is lovelace running against an incumbent republican?

Lovelace is your classic maverick outsider.  He'd probably be running regardless of the conditions this year, but there are a number of factors that make it possible for him to beat Sanford.

1.  Sanford can't point to any accomplishment of his own over during the term.  His signature eforts have all gotten blocked by the Assembly, which is solidly GOP, so he can't blame the other party for obstructimg what he would have done.
2.  Sanford's PR stunts and attempts to blidgeon rather than cajole the Assembly into doing what he wants have caused to lose the support of many insiders.  His support there is mostly from people he hasn't ruffled the feathers of and are supporting him because he's the incumbent governor, not because of any enthusiasm for him.
3. The primary race between Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Mike Campbell (son of former Gov. Carroll Campbell) is likely to determine who wins the Lieutenant Governorship, as it does not appear that the Democrats will be fielding a credible candidate in that race.  Bauer is even more of a problem candidate than Sanford. With South Carolina's open primary, that is likely to entice many independents and some Democrats to vote in the Republican primary this June, and by and large I expect those people will not be voting for Sanford.  I am among those voters. If it weren't for the Lt. Governor's race, I wouldn't yet have decided which primary to vote in.  While I am disappointed in Sanford, I despise Bauer.
4.  Our local economy has not yet come out of the recession.  Our unemployment rate has been above 6% during Sanford's entire term as governor and he hasn't even been able to point to a single major anouncement of future jobs, tho he sure does his best to trumpet every minor announcement that comes along.  The major improvement in the unemployemt rate between Deccember and January that Sanford has been pointing to for cover had everything to do with the BLS' seasonal adjustments.  Seasonally adjusted the rate went from 7.2% to 6.2%, looking at the raw numbers, it went from 6.8% to 6.7%.  That's the sort of result a politican might like, but it isn't going to affect the voters mood much.

Sanford does have two significant advantages.  He's the incumbent and he is sitting on a pile of cash that he can spend.  That's about it, but it's enough to make him the favorite.  His problems are largely ones of people being disappointed that he hasn't lived up to their expectations, rather than things he has done to make them actively angry, so while his support is much softer than any incumbent would like, his antipathy is also soft.

[WalterMitty]

what are some positions of this lovelace cahracter?

[Nation]

Non-inc Republican (Weld)

[HardRCafé]

Not in 2006, but I will most definately be voting Republican in the next election.

Sigh.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

what are some positions of this lovelace cahracter?

His four main positions (in no patricular order of importance) are:
1. No to school vouchers.  (I'm somewhat in favor of vouchers myself, but Sanford's idiotic voucher plan would have spent most of the money for vouchers on students that already go to private schools.  Besides, except for providing a bully pulpit, it's a issue that a Governor has no effect on, given the way this State is run.)
2. Be more involved in recruiting businesses to the state than Sanford has been.
3.  Raise the cigarette tax (lowest in the nation) to pay for better primary health care for the poor (and thereby lower local government costs and thus thier taxes).
4.  Property tax reform and reduction.

He's not tacking any social issues, but then neither has Sanford, so that's a wash.  He won't appeal to the arch-libertarians, but there's enough here that Lovelace shouldn't alienate too many Republicans and he has a much better chance than Sanford of attracting independents and Democrats in the primary and in the general election.  If Sanford had shown some competence in being governor these past three years, I'd be supporting him, but he hasn't and while I don't agree 100% with Lovelace, I can tolerate him and he shouldn't  be any worse in the job and likely will be better than Sanford.  As I said earlier, my support for Lovelace is soft.  It's my support for Campbell in the LG race that is drving my politics for the next three months.

[jacob_101]

Incumbent Republican, Tim Pawlenty(MN)

[WalterMitty]

what are some positions of this lovelace cahracter?

His four main positions (in no patricular order of importance) are:
1. No to school vouchers.  (I'm somewhat in favor of vouchers myself, but Sanford's idiotic voucher plan would have spent most of the money for vouchers on students that already go to private schools.  Besides, except for providing a bully pulpit, it's a issue that a Governor has no effect on, given the way this State is run.)
2. Be more involved in recruiting businesses to the state than Sanford has been.
3.  Raise the cigarette tax (lowest in the nation) to pay for better primary health care for the poor (and thereby lower local government costs and thus thier taxes).
4.  Property tax reform and reduction.

He's not tacking any social issues, but then neither has Sanford, so that's a wash.  He won't appeal to the arch-libertarians, but there's enough here that Lovelace shouldn't alienate too many Republicans and he has a much better chance than Sanford of attracting independents and Democrats in the primary and in the general election.  If Sanford had shown some competence in being governor these past three years, I'd be supporting him, but he hasn't and while I don't agree 100% with Lovelace, I can tolerate him and he shouldn't  be any worse in the job and likely will be better than Sanford.  As I said earlier, my support for Lovelace is soft.  It's my support for Campbell in the LG race that is drving my politics for the next three months.

i agree with all 4 of those points.

[WMS]

I have no idea at this point.

[??????????]

what are some positions of this lovelace cahracter?

His four main positions (in no patricular order of importance) are:
1. No to school vouchers.  (I'm somewhat in favor of vouchers myself, but Sanford's idiotic voucher plan would have spent most of the money for vouchers on students that already go to private schools.  Besides, except for providing a bully pulpit, it's a issue that a Governor has no effect on, given the way this State is run.)
2. Be more involved in recruiting businesses to the state than Sanford has been.
3.  Raise the cigarette tax (lowest in the nation) to pay for better primary health care for the poor (and thereby lower local government costs and thus thier taxes).
4.  Property tax reform and reduction.

He's not tacking any social issues, but then neither has Sanford, so that's a wash.  He won't appeal to the arch-libertarians, but there's enough here that Lovelace shouldn't alienate too many Republicans and he has a much better chance than Sanford of attracting independents and Democrats in the primary and in the general election.  If Sanford had shown some competence in being governor these past three years, I'd be supporting him, but he hasn't and while I don't agree 100% with Lovelace, I can tolerate him and he shouldn't  be any worse in the job and likely will be better than Sanford.  As I said earlier, my support for Lovelace is soft.  It's my support for Campbell in the LG race that is drving my politics for the next three months.

He sounds pretty horrible overall. Go Sanford!

[WalterMitty]

what are some positions of this lovelace cahracter?

His four main positions (in no patricular order of importance) are:
1. No to school vouchers.  (I'm somewhat in favor of vouchers myself, but Sanford's idiotic voucher plan would have spent most of the money for vouchers on students that already go to private schools.  Besides, except for providing a bully pulpit, it's a issue that a Governor has no effect on, given the way this State is run.)
2. Be more involved in recruiting businesses to the state than Sanford has been.
3.  Raise the cigarette tax (lowest in the nation) to pay for better primary health care for the poor (and thereby lower local government costs and thus thier taxes).
4.  Property tax reform and reduction.

He's not tacking any social issues, but then neither has Sanford, so that's a wash.  He won't appeal to the arch-libertarians, but there's enough here that Lovelace shouldn't alienate too many Republicans and he has a much better chance than Sanford of attracting independents and Democrats in the primary and in the general election.  If Sanford had shown some competence in being governor these past three years, I'd be supporting him, but he hasn't and while I don't agree 100% with Lovelace, I can tolerate him and he shouldn't  be any worse in the job and likely will be better than Sanford.  As I said earlier, my support for Lovelace is soft.  It's my support for Campbell in the LG race that is drving my politics for the next three months.

He sounds pretty horrible overall. Go Sanford!

what is so horrible about them?

i especially support the cigarette tax increase.  each state should tax those at least $2 per pack (along with smokeless tobacco).