SPARTANBURG GOP CHAIR CAUGHT CONSULTING REPUBLICANS AGAINST OTHER REPUBLICANS

It’s not surprising to hear that South Carolina’s resident wannabe-Mafioso Rick Beltram has once again managed to take an incredibly easy job like Spartanburg County GOP Chairman and completely mess it up. All he has to do is show up to meetings, make a few phone calls, speak the Republican mantra and not screw things up.

But he’s really having trouble with that last part — not screwing things up. And just like when I busted Beltram helping former presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the South Carolina primary, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal has discovered that he is helping Republican candidates take on other Republicans:

As chairman… Beltram’s job is to recruit and support Republican candidates. As head of B Square Enterprises, Beltram is selling services to help some of those candidates defeat the others. And he’s doing both out of the same office on Pine Street.

Beltram says he’s done work for about a dozen clients, including state Sen. Jim Ritchie and House candidates Steve Parker and Ken Roach. He said the services he offers include automated calls, polling and call lists.

“I’m able to bring grassroots candidates the ability to get some very sophisticated tools at a very low cost,” Beltram said. “I’m not trying to make big money; I’m offering these services at a cost-plus basis.”

Beltram said he offered the same services in a memo to all local GOP candidates. But the memo was printed on county Republican Party stationery and makes no mention of B Square Enterprises.

“We are here at the GOP HQ to provide tools as needed!” Beltram wrote in the memo. “Much we can provide FREE! Other items, we have arranged for modest charges (much less than can be purchased anywhere else).” [ROBERT W. DALTON - Spartanburg Herald-Journal]

“Much we can provide FREE!” Yup, no question about it, that is indeed Beltram’s writing. And I’m guessing it was probably done on construction paper between nap time and snack time.

But while there’ no doubt that Beltram sent the memo — and in typical Beltram fashion he was “brilliant” enough to do it on county party letterhead — there is one very concerning question: Who the hell would ever pay this guy do help them win a campaign?

We’re talking about someone who can barely spell his own name and has the political tact of a German Shepherd. Even State GOP Chairman Katon Dawson said Beltram’s actions were “inappropriate.”

“We’ve never discouraged (county chairmen) from being involved in primaries,” Dawson told the Herald-Journal. “But compensation is a whole different issue. That would put a question mark on it.”

If you are a county party chairman and the state party chairman is publicly calling you out, then you have absolutely no business running campaigns. In fact, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to leave the house without adult supervision. And if that guy is running your opponent’s campaign and you complain about it, then the same applies to you.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 11:31 am and is filed under Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.