TPS EDITOR ALMOST LAUGHS, THEN SEES CUP PICTURES

I expected that pretty much every blogger out there would attempt some kind of lame April Fool’s Day trick, so I decided that I wouldn’t do anything. I don’t know if that makes me cool, or unique, or neither, but I’m not doing anything. Sorry.

Of course, I could always be telling you I’m not doing anything to bait you into thinking I’m not doing anything, only to bust out the greatest April Fool’s prank ever. But I’m not doing that. Or am I?

Anyway, the first person to attempt an April Fool’s Day ploy was Ross Shealy — son of the infamous Rod Shealy — who revived his seasonal “Barbeque and Politics” blog to write about Gov. Mark Sanford starting a new non-profit advocacy group called DumpSC - “a movement about a movement.” Good one Ross, you almost got me!

Seriously though, I like Ross because he had the stones to call me when I messed up a story about him, and I really respect that, so I won’t rip on the cheesiness of his post. Plus, the Photoshopped picture of Sanford announcing that “he and his allies have created yet another non-profit organization” in a public restroom is solid. Pardon the pun.

In a completely unrelated story, I went absolutely crazy at the Carolina Cup over the weekend.

I got to see some of the pictures today courtesy of my friends, and I must admit, I am pretty awesome. In at least two of them I’m not even wearing my seatbelt, which means I’m not only awesome, but brave. If you disagree, then you’re wrong.

Enjoy (click the thumbnails for full-sized awesomeness):

GET YOUR PASSPORTS READY

Gov. Mark Sanford just announced that he will not ask for an extension to implement the federally-mandated Real ID program. He had until today to file for more time and, according to the Associated Press, he chose not to do so.

The decision means South Carolinians may not be allowed to board airplanes or enter some federal facilities using only their state-issued driver’s licenses. They’d have to use a passport or go through more rigorous screening.

Sanford’s decision came on the deadline to ask for more time to comply with the law. The state Legislature last year passed a measure that bars South Carolina from complying.

Sanford and other governors have complained the Real ID measure costs too much.

The Real ID law calls for more secure identification cards in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. Sanford says South Carolina already meets all but a couple of the standards. [AP]

This issue has been used by both Sanford and the General Assembly as a political football in an ongoing war. Sanford believed the law passed last year by legislators — which he signed — did not allow him to ask for more time because doing so would imply future compliance.

On the other hand, legislators said an initial extension request would have appeased the federal government while still complying with South Carolina law. An opinion released by Attorney General Henry McMaster seemed to suggest Sanford could legally ask for more time.

Regardless of who wins the political tug-of-war, this decision means voters lose. And when voters lose, they get pretty pissed off. Look for this issue to be very important in the coming elections when people have had plenty of time to experience the new hassles wrought by extra security checks and expensive passports.

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UPDATE: Despite all of the noise made over this, the feds balked and gave us an extension anyway.

GRIDIRON BASH, STRIP CLUBS TARGETED BY PARTY POOPERS

I’m not sure what’s been going on lately, but it seems like there are a lot of people trying to rain on parades around. Not like the literal rain that came down at the Carolina Cup Saturday and ruined an otherwise good time, but metaphorical showers that threaten two totally different things.

The first set of storm clouds came courtesy of Rep. Scott Talley, who apparently prefers playing nanny government with nonsense issues to actually solving the plethora of problems faced by our state. Talley re-introduced legislation late last week that would ban lap dances in strip clubs and require patrons to be at least six feet away from strippers at all times.

The bill’s aim, Talley says, is to reduce the “secondary effects” associated with such clubs.

Illegal drugs and prostitution are common in clubs’ private rooms, said Tennessee-based attorney Scott Bergthold, who drafted the legislation on behalf of the Palmetto Family Council.

It often spills out into the nearby community, he said, in the form of noise and loitering. [The State]

Also seen as noise and loitering: Legislative grandstanding. (continues…)

I WISH I MADE $750K A YEAR TO BE A BASKETBALL COACH

Reports are trickling out that Western Kentucky University coach Darrin Horn will be the new men’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina.

Horn, 35, leaves Western Kentucky, his alma mater, after five seasons. [...]

The USC board of trustees, which has to approve Horn’s contrct, has been called for a meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m. Board chairman Herbert Adams confirmed to The State that the meeting, which will probably be via teleconference, is regarding the new basketball coach, but could not say who the new coach would be.

Details of Horn’s deal with USC are unknown, but the source said the base salary is in the range of $750,000.

A press conference is expected to take place Tuesday, according to another source. [The State]

Horn will replace retiring coach Dave Odom, who is leaving after seven seasons. His reported $750,000 per year salary is nearly eight times more than the average taxpayer-funded “reform” slush fund of Gov. Mark Sanford.

But if Horn can have the same kind of success he had with the Hilltoppers, then the money will be worth it.

STATE EDITORIAL CARTOONIST LAMPOONS USC PLAYERS

The recent wave of University of South Carolina football players getting arrested or in fights has been incredibly troubling for Gamecock fans. When you add in the fact that a number of these situations have involved starters — including highly touted quarterback Stephen Garcia — it’s been a particularly difficult offseason.

Almost as troubling as these problems is the fact that it seems like all of them have happened in Columbia’s Five Points. That’s because a number of them have.

Defensive end Jordin Lindsey was stabbed in the neck with a broken beer bottle last December. Earlier this month, freshman lineman Kevin Young was charged with fighting and resisting arrest. Two weeks later, walk-on safety Michael Newton was arrested for disorderly conduct during the St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

And we still have five months to go.

Now, I can personally attest that Five Points is ground zero for fights and debauchery in the wee hours of the morning, so I can understand how these players would get caught up in it.

And thank goodness for The State’s award-winning editorial cartoonist Robert Ariail for bringing the subject to light in a strip that ran Saturday. It’s so funny yet so very true.

CANDIDATE CLAIMS INCUMBENT POSSIBLY BROKE STATE LAW

I’ve written a couple times about the very heated race for the at-large seat on the Columbia City Council, and on Friday the other shoe dropped. And it could spell disaster for the incumbent.

Challenger Cameron Runyan held a press conference at the site of the Five Points South development — a six-story condo, retail and public parking area planned for Saluda Avenue in Columbia’s Five Points — that he claimed held “the specter of financial improprieties” for Councilman Daniel Rickenmann.

Those possible improprieties stem from Rickenmann’s involvement in the project and the possibility that he used his office to pocket $500,000 in taxpayer money.

“What has yet to be reported and was brought to my attention late yesterday afternoon is that before, during, and after the initial votes on this project, Councilman Daniel Rickenmann has had a direct financial relationship with the original owner of the Kenny’s Auto Supply store property, and Mr. Rickenmann may have potentially violated state law,” Runyan said. (continues…)

BOBBLEHEAD, CARNES END U.S. SENATE PRIMARY BIDS

There’s only one quasi-opponent to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s assured Republican re-nomination after two would-be challengers announced they will not be able to afford the State Election Commission’s hefty $10,158 filing fee for GOP Senate candidates.

Former Myrtle Beach mayor and 2004 U.S. Senate “candidate” Mark McBride — also known as “The Bobblehead” — sent out a brief press release Friday stating that he would “skip the GOP primary” and instead launch a petition campaign to be put on the November general election ballot. He would need 10,000 signatures.

“The time has come to do something different in this state, different in this country,” said Mark McBride. “We have a two-party system that’s fighting back and forth, and nothing’s getting done.” His over-sized head then swiveled back and forth on top of the spring that connected it to his lifelessly-still body.

McBride recently attended the 6th Congressional District Republican Convention where he made everyone in the room stand up and go through a series of questions about whether they supported a particular issue (i.e. “amnesty”). If they did — or didn’t, depending on the question — they were told to sit down.

At the end, in one of the cheesiest political moves of all-time, he said to those still standing, “Don’t forget, you stand with Mark McBride.” The crowd then reportedly vomited all over the place.

And following McBride’s lead, some guy named Tim Carnes ended his “Senate campaign” Friday after only raising an estimated three or four cents. Carnes sent out an “open letter to supporters” declaring that he was a reactionary nutjob or something and that he wanted to challenge Rep. Bob Inglis where his odds at an upset will shoot up dramatically to one-in-a-million. But I won’t go into it because nobody cares.

If you were wondering, yes, Buddy Witherspoon has filed and will oppose Graham in the primary.

RCP SCHOOLS POLITICO OVER STATE PARTY CASH

I wrote last month that the South Carolina Republican Party is loaded, especially when compared to state Democrats. They have a huge amount of cash in their pocket and are ready to get behind anyone who wins the party’s nomination.

So I was quite surprised when The Politico ran a “story” earlier this week with the headline “GOP state parties are in dire straits.” But then I remembered that everyone not named Jonathan Martin who writes for The Politico sucks at their job, and it all made perfect sense.

In some of the largest, smallest, reddest and bluest states in the nation, many state Republican organizations are still reeling in the aftermath of the devastating 2006 election cycle, raising questions about how much grassroots help the state parties will be able to deliver to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

The state party woes are especially ill-timed since McCain will face a Democratic nominee who may be considerably better funded and organized, and since Republicans will be facing an energized Democratic party that is shattering primary election turnout records. [DAVID PAUL KUHN & CHARLES MAHTESIAN - The Politico]

Of course, the two states they focused most of their shoddy piece on were New York and California. Wow, what a surprise. Democrats have more money than Republicans in those huge, urban, liberal states? Hold the presses!

It’s almost as if Reid Wilson at Real Clear Politics read my mind and sensed the giant “BS” red flag stemming from The Politico’s hack job, because four days later he dropped a story of his own titled “GOP State Parties Outraise Dems.” Although he didn’t directly reference The Politico story, it’s pretty clear he meant to take them to task.

In the forty three states where parties report their financial situations on a monthly basis, Republicans hold a cash advantage in twenty five, many of them battlegrounds that will feature prominently in both the presidential contest and in down-ballot races on which federal dollars can be spent.

While fundraising on behalf of the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has lagged far behind that of Democrats’, some GOP donors frustrated with their party in Washington have found other outlets for their contributions. All told, Republican state parties raised nearly $13.4 million in federal dollars, known as “hard money,” this cycle through February, while Democratic parties have hauled in $9 million in the same period, according to data compiled by one GOP operative and verified by Real Clear Politics.

Republican parties hold a bigger advantage in cash on hand, with $11.7 million in the bank compared with $6.65 million for Democrats. That’s an average cash position of about $250,000 for the 47 parties that have reported contribution totals, better than Democrats’ $141,000 average, money that can be used to influence voters choosing candidates for Congress or the White House. [REID WILSON - Real Clear Politics]

So basically, when you focus only on really liberal states, then Democrats have a cash advantage. But when you actually do your research and look at ALL of the states, then Democrats — similar to The Politico — are getting schooled.