LOBBYIST TAKES CREDIT FOR BRINGING BMW TO SC

It was in the works for months — unbeknown to South Carolina Democrats — and now it is official: lobbyist Dwight Drake is running for governor.

Dubbed the “stealth candidate” by some, Drake made his candidacy official through an email blast and web video Tuesday. He also launched his official campaign website at www.DwightDrake.com.

“We need to get South Carolina working again,” said Drake in a statement. “The past eight years have been wasted, and South Carolina is now first in unemployment in the South. Mark Sanford made a lot of news when he disappeared this year, but he’s been AWOL on jobs since the day he took office.”

Drake’s campaign was reportedly created by former SCDP Chair Dick Harpootlian, who was unhappy with his inability to control any of the current crop of Democrat candidates.

Rumors of Drake’s candidacy surfaced last month as sources confirmed that the man who some call the “Warren Tompkins of the Democrat Party” was considering a run for the state’s top executive post.

In his video announcement, Drake attempted to smooth over his lobbying ties to big tobacco, payday lending, and video poker with a fluffy, heartfelt plea to voters.

Most notably, Drake took credit for creating more than 15,000 new jobs in the state when he “headed up the successful, bipartisan effort to attract BMW to locate in South Carolina.”

Last time I checked, former Gov. Carroll Campbell brought BMW to South Carolina and there is a really, really long line of folks who worked in his office that would get credit for that before Drake. But a little embellishment never hurt anyone, right?

Sadly, the video was an eye-glazing seven minutes and 40 seconds, so I fell asleep before I even made it halfway.

But I did stay awake long enough to hear his wife Beth say, “Dwight’s family comes from Anderson, South Carolina.”

And then it all made sense.