COMEDIAN COVERS STORY, GIVES SANFORD UNDUE CREDIT

Comedian Stephen Colbert last night covered The Palmetto Scoop’s story about the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism’s attempted taxpayer-funded ad campaign targeting gay tourists.

On The Colbert Report, the South Carolina native told millions of viewers that he was “flaming… flaming mad” over the incident.

“Sure, South Carolina could lose a few tourism bucks over this,” Colbert said. “But it is worth it to protect our masculinity because South Carolina is so not gay. If anything, it’s not so gay. South Carolina is a state where big strapping straight men reenact Civil War battles and then shower together for historical accuracy.”

Colbert gave kudos to Gov. Mark Sanford, praising him for having “the courage to have the campaign pulled.”

The problem is, new information shows that — predictably — the “low level” employee who resigned over the incident may have been a scapegoat and that certain higher-up officials knew about the campaign.

In fact, I’m currently in the process of chasing down reports of a full-blown cover-up by PRT and possibly the governor’s office. That information, coupled with the results of Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by The Palmetto Scoop when the story broke, will likely paint a very sinister picture about what exactly happened.

MCCAIN CHANGES SCHEDULE TO MEET WITH JINDAL

Readers of The Palmetto Scoop are going to be completely shocked when they read this because we all totally thought Gov. Mark Sanford was going to be GOP presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate, but it looks like there’s a new frontrunner in the Republican veepstakes.

McCain will divert his week-long schedule to battleground states and make an impromptu stop in Louisiana Wednesday where he will meet with Gov. Bobby Jindal, who sources say is being “seriously considered” as a vice presidential choice.

If McCain picked Jindal, it would have several immediate echoes in the race.

First, McCain would essentially cede one of the main pillars of his argument against Obama: experience. Jindal is a nearly a decade younger than Obama and, although he served in Congress before being elected governor, his foreign policy resume is at least as thin as Obama’s.

Second, and more positively for McCain, naming Jindal would be a major symbolic step in fundamentally re-branding the Republican party. Jindal, an Indian-American, would put a whole new face on a party that is widely seen by voters as controlled by old white men.

A Jindal pick is the definition of unorthodox. But, in an election cycle where the Republican brand is as badly tarnished as at any time in recent memory, a “Hail Mary” (or “Hail Bobby”) may be warranted. [Washington Post]

Dammit. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride! Can’t a South Carolina governor who made absolutely no effort to help McCain and has done just about everything possible to emaciate his chances at being veep get a little love?

Oh well, someone cue up The Eagles’ “New Kid in Town.”

CHARLESTON FIRM FEELS GUV NEEDS PROPER ‘AGE MANAGEMENT’

It’s funny to joke sometimes that Gov. Mark Sanford has a few “mental recessions” every so often when he makes an inept political move here or there. But, at only 48 years old, you would be hard pressed to blame those flubs on Sanford’s age.

Unless, of course, you were trying to make an interesting pitch for your company. Which is exactly what Charleston-based Cenegenics is attempting to achieve.

When I first got their press release this afternoon claiming Sanford’s now-infamous brain freeze on CNN was due to “unbalanced hormones and a lack of sleep” resulting in “improper age management,” I thought it was some kind of joke. But according to age management expert Dr. Mickey Barber, this is no laughing matter.

“So many men have hormones that are out of whack, which can have huge impacts on your life, especially for a politician who is expected to be on his toes 24/7,” says Barber. “I’ve noticed Governor Sanford has aged significantly while in office, and that’s one sign that his health is not as good as it should be.”

If this is true, I guess it would explain why Sanford forgot to bring ID when he tried to vote in 2006 .

“Jenny, have you seen my license?”

“No dear. Check your denture case.”

“I already did. Maybe I left it in the Metamucil box.”

Anyway, I’ve already sent the good doctor my low, low payment of $19.95 for his magic water that will let me live to 273. I know I’m still in my 20’s, but you gotta start while you’re young.

And since I purchased today at this low, low price, they even through in a free George Foreman grill.

MCCAIN, GRAHAM UP BIG, 2010 GUBERNATORIAL RACE CLOSE

Public Policy Polling, a Raleigh, NC based firm, has released a new survey of South Carolina voters that deals not only with the presidential election, but also two major statewide races.

In the poll of 542 likely voters taken between July 9 and 11, Republican John McCain held a 45 to 39 lead over Democrat Barack Obama, with Libertarian Bob Barr picking up 5 percent of the vote.

PPP noted in its results that Obama leads 77-10 with black voters, and 54-32 with voters between the ages of 18 and 29. McCain leads almost every other demographic group.

“It would take an exceptional turnout from young voters and black voters, as well as a lot of disaffected conservatives voting for Bob Barr, to make a win in South Carolina possible for Barack Obama,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “He does seem likely to outperform John Kerry, but a victory in the Palmetto State is still a long shot.”

In the race for U.S. Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham is well on his way to re-election. With former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride now out of the race, Graham has a 54-32 advantage over Democrat Bob Conley.

And Public Policy Polling even took a very early look at the 2010 race to replace Gov. Mark Sanford. Henry McMaster tied Democrats Jim Rex and Inez Tenenbaum in possible matches, while Rep. Gresham Barrett trailed Rex but had a small lead over Tenenbaum. But roughly one-quarter of of those polled in all contests were undecided.

The firm didn’t poll the primary matchups directly, but among those who called themselves Republicans, McMaster had a double-digit lead over Barrett — suggesting the attorney general is by far the strongest candidate in the likely GOP primary field.

SC RESPONDS TO ‘SO GAY’ CAMPAIGN, STORY GOES NATIONAL

I’m currently tracking more developments into what WCBD-TV called “the water cooler story of the day” (above) — TPS’ story that South Carolina taxpayers were footing the bill for a $5,000 tourism campaign targeting gay travelers.

As you remember, the program was canceled the day after our story ran, and led most news programs in the state Friday and Saturday.

Now it has become a national news story as MSNBC has just posted a very in-depth report.

NBC Late Night host Conan O’Brien even joked on his show Friday, “South Carolina’s office of tourism has canceled a campaign to attract more gay tourists. Yeah, South Carolina canceled the campaign. As a result, for the 30th year in a row, North Carolina is the gayest Carolina.”

In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”

But this story will likely grow as more information is discovered — via Freedom of Information Act requests and possible audits — about just how this oversight happened, who knew about it, and how many other similar programs exist. I’ve even been sent very credible information hinting at a possible cover-up.

Regardless, nothing has been more interesting than the responses of every day South Carolinians — exemplified by the three interviewed above.

“We’re so gay? Naw. Wrong, wrong, wrong state. Go to California.”

________

UPDATE: This story is now on MSNBC’s home page (screen grab here) as the top U.S. News story. Based on that, I’m predicting it will be on every major national morning news show by week’s end.

PROSSER USES LOW-LEVEL EMPLOYEE AS SCAPEGOAT

In the wake of yesterday’s huge story — reported first here on The Palmetto Scoop — that the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism used taxpayer money to fund a tourism campaign aimed at bringing gays to the state, things have spiraled out of control.

I wrote earlier that The State reported this morning that PRT terminated the campaign while legislators began calling for audits and more information from the agency. Now, WSPA says that the low-level PRT employee who approved the ad campaign has resigned.

Since PRT has made a complete mess out of this whole thing and completely failed the transparency test, it’s impossible to know who had their fingerprints on approving the project. Freedom of Information requests from The Palmetto Scoop will hopefully uncover that information in the coming days.

But no matter what the result, the buck doesn’t stop with this individual — it goes further up.

If this person acted entirely on their own, without consulting others, it demonstrates the severe lack of oversight in the PRT and possibly other state agencies. If other above them had knowledge of the “So Gay” campaign, then they should admit it.

PRT Director Chad Prosser’s decision to force this person out (err, allow them to resign) and use them as a scapegoat completely violates the spirit of what those like Reps. Rex Rice and Greg Delleney, Sen. David Thomas and others hope to accomplish as a result of this — transparency in state government.

As someone noted earlier today, it’s hypocritical that Gov. Mark Sanford, who has made the issue of transparency a central part of his agenda, would allow his own cabinet to trample all over that concept. Prosser’s actions today show that that’s exactly what they plan to do.

STATE NEWSPAPER STORY RAISES MORE QUESTIONS, LEGISLATORS LOOKING FOR ANSWERS

Following The Palmetto Scoop’s story yesterday that the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism used tax dollars to fund the “So Gay” campaign, The State newspaper ran a front page story saying officials pulled the plug on the program.

The State also discovered that PRT spent nearly $5,000 on the project, which agency head Chad Prosser said he only recently discovered. Upon “learning” of the “So Gay” campaign, Prosser then tossed some poor person under the bus.

[Prosser] said an agency advertising manager signed off on the contract, proposed by the agency’s London advertising contractor.

The agency will not pay the roughly $4,942 fee to take part in the campaign.

Employees “exercised extremely poor judgment in approving participation in the program,” Prosser said. PRT, he said, will require more review of future overseas advertising, as it does with domestic advertising. [...]

The campaign, which ends Saturday, planted posters all over a single London subway station. Prosser said the agency has asked the S.C. posters be removed. [JOHN O'CONNOR - The State]

Assuming Prosser’s claim is true and he had no knowledge of the grant, why on Earth did an “agency advertising manager” have the unchecked ability to allocate thousands of taxpayer dollars? (continues…)

SCPRT FUNDING PROGRAM TO MARKET SC AS ‘GAY STATE’

This may come as a surprise to many South Carolinians, but your tax dollars are being used to target gay travelers from across the pond.

The Palmetto Scoop has learned that the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism — a state agency overseen by the Gov. Mark Sanford’s office — is spending an undisclosed amount of its nearly $14 million advertising budget to take part in the “So Gay” campaign, an effort launched in London, England, by the gay marketing agency “Out Now” to lure homosexual tourists to South Carolina and five U.S. cities.

Out Now is dubbing it “the gayest ever mainstream media advertising campaign” in London.

“South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as ’so gay,’” Sen. David Thomas (R-Greenville) told The Palmetto Scoop. “South Carolina is a wonderful, family friendly destination not a Southern version of San Francisco. This campaign goes against our core values.”

Thomas said he would be calling for a comprehensive audit of PRT, an agency in the governor’s cabinet. (continues…)