Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) announced yesterday that he would not seek the White House, citing campaign finance laws as the reason.

“We were informed yesterday morning that if I had any communication with American Solutions after I became a candidate, it was a criminal offense.” [MARY BRUCE - ABC News]

This may be for the better as there are already enough GOP candidates and Gingrich has more important work to do. And American Solutions, the 527 group Gingrich has worked hard to steer toward “Winning the Future,” has been hard pressed to focus media attention on its objective.

We were on the Solutions Day conference call last week with South Carolina media and about 90 percent of the questions were about Gingrich’s presidential ambitions. This announcement should help to silence that distraction.

A letter to the editor from the secretary of the Spartanburg County Republican Party appeared in Friday’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. The letter detailed the “people power” that goes into the party’s work, and one aspect in particular piqued our interest:

I work with a group of 15 other core volunteers to complete as many as 12 mass mailings per year in addition to providing services to constituents and local GOP candidates. Our work is fueled by people power that is given in the spirit of volunteerism, patriotism and a belief in the GOP principles.

The party, however, still has to pay for items such as printing, stamps, lists, phone calls and polls.

Polls? Why on Earth is the Spartanburg County GOP conducting polls? More importantly, what are they polling?

“Of the following choices, which game should we play at the next meeting?”

1. Bridge
2. Bridge
3. Bridge
4. Backgammon

Although that’s about the only conceivable thing the Spartanburg County Republicans could poll, somehow we doubt they would waste money on that. What’s more likely is that Chairman Rick Beltram — who is rumored to be so consumed with his quest for personal glory that he “Googles” himself multiple times daily and can cite the number of times he’s been quoted in newspapers — is polling his own name ID, electability, etc. for potential future campaigns, including a run for state party chairman.

Whatever they’re polling, it’d be interesting to find out who they are sharing it with, if anyone.

Yesterday, Earl Capps announced that the Blogland (his blog) would be celebrating “ROCKtober” beginning Monday. Capps said, “readers can look forward to a wild October, including a reader/listener appreciation prize contest with CDs and books, concert and album reviews galore and all the loud, obnoxious opinionating that you’ve come to expect and more.”

And we are PUMPED!

So, in honor of this magnificent month-long marvel, we bring you what may be the greatest commercial of ALL TIME — and it ROCKS:

If you don’t want to go buy a Cadbury bar and a gorilla suit and rock out to some Phil Collins after watching that — and re-watching it, and re-re-watching it, and re-re-re-watching it as you are sure to do — then there’s something wrong with you. You may not even be human. And you’re certainly not a gorilla.

Either way, here’s wishing everyone in the blogland a Happy ROCKtober!

_________

If you’re having trouble viewing the video, check it out at Glass and a Half Full Productions.

David Stanton reports that White House hopeful Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) has chosen an office once used by Congressman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) as the base for his South Carolina campaign.

The former Tennessee senator’s campaign signed a lease on the office a few blocks from the Statehouse and should be moving into the 2-thousand square-foot space on Monday. Clyburn had occupied the building since making his first run for the House in 1992. He moved out this summer because he says the space was too cramped and the air conditioning didn’t work well. [DAVID STANTON - WIS]

It’s been more than a month since neighboring GOP groups went to war in the Upstate, and a lot has happened since. John Boyanoski wrote Thursday that the e-mail battle has been heating up of late, with perennial bad boy Rick Beltram — the leader of the Spartanburg County “Socs” — targeting the Greenville County “Greasers” chief, Samuel Harms.

And there’s no doubt that if this continues, there will soon be blood shed in the streets.

The two have been sniping at each other publicly ever since the Greenville GOP voted to censure U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham two months ago. Beltram was critical of the move, saying there was no quorum at Greenville’s vote. The Spartanburg GOP later tabled a Graham censure vote because there wasn’t a quorum.

Harms brushed off the remarks at the time, but two weeks ago criticized Beltram for his “trophy wife” comments about Jeri Thompson, wife of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

The next salvo was an e-mail from Beltram to members of the media saying he was invited to speak at a private high school in Greenville because the school could not get anyone from the local GOP.

Harms, who was elected to his post in April, retalliated by sending out an e-mail bragging about how an Arizona newspaper wrote about the importance of Greenville in the South Carolina nomination process, with no mention of Spartanburg.

Beltram, who has been party chairman for almost a decade, told SCpols.com that he was going to send back a sniping e-mail, but decided it was better to just congratulate Harms.

“The problem with e-mail sometimes is you can’t see the person’s face,” he said. “You don’t if they are smiling or not.” [JOHN BOYANOSKI - SCPols]

We don’t have a squirrel in this ridiculous fight, but Harms better watch out because Beltram is basically the Tony Soprano of South Carolina politics. In fact, we’re not even sure he’s a Republican at all. He may just be a mafioso who uses his Socs to run his “waste management business.”

Seriously… give him a dirty look and you’re lucky if you just get a nasty e-mail. Chances are, if you cross Beltram, you’re going to want to find someone else to start your car for you.

“Boy, it’d be a shame if something were to happen at the next Greenville County Republican meeting. Ya know what I mean?”

The Editor’s probably going to have to go into witness protection now that he’s not anonymous anymore.

SOUTH CAROLINIANS RALLY AT STATEHOUSE, SAT., OCT. 6, 2.P.M.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (TPS) - It’s difficult to discuss the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan because the atrocities that have laid waste to its people over the last four years are almost unspeakable. But for far too long, the world has remained silent while a half million people have been ruthlessly murdered and an estimated 3 million have been displaced - many forced to live in unprotected refugee camps.

Similar to the Nazi’s “Final Solution,” the Sudanese government has destroyed most of its victims villages and has now begun to focus on wiping out the survivors. Cheyenne Owens of the Lexington (NC) Dispatch wrote Thursday:

Janjaweed, the government-supported militias in Sudan, have wrought atrocities on the civilians of Darfur. These civilians have been beaten and tortured, often at gunpoint. Large numbers of people have been imprisoned in small spaces and then denied food and restrooms.

Innocent Darfurians have been enslaved and even slain when trying to escape.

The Janjaweed are most notorious for raping women and young children. Often, the Janjaweed will torture innocent Darfurians while naked and use them as sexual slaves. They perform all these ghastly and monstrous activities with the approval of the Sudanese government.

But why have these horrendous atrocities been inflicted upon the innocent civilians of Darfur?

Darfur, Sudan, is populated by roughly 6 million people - all of them poor Muslims and Africans who survive by subsistence farming or nomadic herding. They live an extremely harsh life with the main objective of survival.

In response to hardships, two rebel groups confronted the Sudanese government, and most particularly Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, in 2003.

Bashir’s response to the rebel groups - Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - was horrific. He ordered Sudanese militias to attack innocent civilians.

While the genocide still continues, attempts have been made to better the situation. Many humanitarian organizations have established refugee camps in bordering countries. However, these operations are constantly beleaguered by the Sudanese government, which makes it extremely difficult to intervene.

Furthermore, international involvement - which is what it would take to end the Darfur Genocide - is meager. Many countries have found it easier to pretend they don’t know the Darfur Genocide is happening. [CHEYENNE OWENS - Lexington Dispatch]

One group working to pressuring the international community to take action is the Darfur Action Group of South Carolina with a rally at the Statehouse in downtown Columbia on Sat., Oct. 6 at 2 p.m.

Why is it important that you be there? Here’s what Coach Steve Spurrier, Coach Ray Tanner, President Andrew Sorenson, and others have to say about that:

If you want to take part in saving lives, preventing rape and torture and showing the world that South Carolinians want an end to the Darfur genocide, then please attend the Save Darfur Rally on Sat., Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. If you can bring a few friends, that’d be even better. And if you can volunteer, be sure to sign up.

For more information, visit the Darfur Action Group of South Carolina.

Photo: Villagers watch as their homes are destroyed by Janjaweed militias.

The Associated Press reports that an increasing number of South Carolinians — and Southerners for that matter — are attending Boston College in Massachusetts rather than a school in or near the Palmetto State.

Boston College’s decision to shift its sports teams to the ACC two years ago has led to a spike in applications from the southern states that dominate the league.

Applications from high school students in the league’s six states to the south have risen 30 percent. Applications from South Carolina have doubled, increased nearly 50 percent in Virginia and climbed by one-third in North Carolina and Georgia, The Boston Globe reported Tuesday. [Associated Press]

Sic Willie — a.k.a. Will Folks — the man behind the popular South Carolina blog FITSNews and a friend to The Palmetto Scoop, turned 33 today. We wish him a very Happy Birthday and continued success with FITS and its fantasy sports dynasties.