RNC VIDEO HITS OBAMA ON GAS TAX FLIP-FLOP, ILLINOIS SEN.’S RHETORIC SAME AS THAT OF FLORENCE COUNTY SEN.

The Republican National Committee released a new Web video today titled “Barack Obama’s Gas Tax Hypocrisy.” The video hits the Democratic presidential candidate for changing positions on a gas tax relief plan supported by Sen. John McCain that the USA Today said “could save motorists $6.8 billion in taxes during the summer.”

While serving in the Illinois state legislature, the video claims, Obama supported a gas tax holiday. But that record is inconsistent with his current stance.

“A three-month tax holiday is a bad idea,” Obama says in the video. “It’s a gimmick that’s been tried before.”

The RNC counters saying that, “as Americans are paying record-high gas prices nationwide, Obama has changed his position on providing hardworking Americans with much-needed gas tax relief this summer.”

Most noteworthy for me is the striking similarity between Obama’s recent rhetoric and the pro-gas tax agenda being pushed in the South Carolina Senate by Hugh Leatherman.

Just this week Leatherman told WLTX-TV that the state gas tax is only a few cents per gallon, so it’s really no big deal. “I think that most people, particularly, back in my area would like to see work done on the highway system rather than get back $2.00 a week.”

First of all, the people back in his area of Florence County are responsible for about 75 percent of the pork in the state budget every year.

And secondly, I think if they realized they were paying $104 a year not to pay for roads, as Leatherman says, but to fund Green Bean Museums, performing arts centers, festivals and all the garbage that benefits about five people in the county, then they would probably ask for their money back.

If you ever doubted that Leatherman was still a Democrat, here’s your proof.

DIRTY TRICKS, WRIGHT BECOME CENTERPIECE OF NC PRIMARY

I’ll admit that, of late, I care about as much about the Democratic presidential nomination process as I do the Allendale County School System’s fifth grade science fair — although I here Bobby Smith’s baking soda volcano is totally going to beat out Susie Parker’s salt map — but the North Carolina primary has become interesting for two reasons.

The first is that our cousins to the north have decided to inject a little bit of our good old fashioned dirty politics into their otherwise boring snooze-fest:

Who’s behind the mysterious “robo-calls” that have spread misleading voter information and sown confusion and frustration among North Carolina residents over the last week?

Facing South has confirmed the source of the calls, and the mastermind is Women’s Voices Women Vote, a D.C.-based nonprofit which aims to boost voting among “unmarried women voters.”

What’s more, Facing South has learned that the firestorm Women’s Voices has ignited in North Carolina isn’t the group’s first brush with controversy. Women’s Voices’ questionable tactics have spawned thousands of voter complaints in at least 11 states and brought harsh condemnation from some election officials for their secrecy, misleading nature and likely violations of election law.

First, a quick recap: As we covered yesterday, N.C. residents have reported receiving peculiar automated calls from someone claiming to be “Lamont Williams.” The caller says that a “voter registration packet” is coming in the mail, and the recipient can sign it and mail it back to be registered to vote. No other information is provided.

The call is deceptive because the deadline has already passed for mail-in registrations for North Carolina’s May 6 primary. Also, many who have received the calls — like Kevin Farmer in Durham, who made a tape of the call that is available here — are already registered. The call’s suggestion that they’re not registered has caused widespread confusion and drawn hundreds of complaints, including many from African-American voters who received the calls. [DailyKos]

I’m glad to see this is happening because, before this, following North Carolina politics pretty much resembled a game of backgammon at a nursing home. Way to go, y’all! (continues…)

OBAMA, CLINTON GOING THE DISTANCE WHILE McCAIN TRAINS

This is one of the funniest videos I’ve seen in a while, and after Hillary Clinton’s decisive victory in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary breathed new life into her campaign last night, it’s all too appropriate.

I really feel like Clinton and Barack Obama are in the 15th round of their epic heavyweight boxing match. It really is like Rocky fighting Apollo Creed.

I’m just waiting for the part where Clinton falls down and begins screaming “Yoooo Adriaaaaaaaaaan!” Except replace “Adrian” with “Bill.” And replace “yo” with “_____ing _____ I knew you were worthless you sack of ______, good for nothing _______.”

Of course, in the video Hillary’s Apollo (someone should probably inform the Obama folks who made it that Rocky actually loses the match), but whatever.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate John McCain has been living the good life courtesy of the good folks of South Carolina for the past three months and can sit back and train for his match to begin, which probably won’t be until August when one of these two battered and berated foes will finally win their fight.

Look for that battle to be a quick three round knockout for McCain against an incredible worn out opponent.

SENATOR’S SECOND AMENDMENT RHETORIC CLASHES WITH RECORD

In the above clip from last week’s Democratic presidential debate in Pennsylvania, Sen. Barack Obama said there are “two realities” when it comes to gun rights in America. I’m not sure what, if anything, that means — perhaps he’s just giving due reverence to twice-also-ran John Edwards’ “Two Americas” — but I think the Illinois senator hit the nail on the head in an unintended way.

Of late, Obama has been having a lot of difficulty shaking his comment that hard-working, middle Americans unlike himself are “bitter.” And while his Senate colleague and political rival Lindsey Graham was picking up a coveted endorsement from the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund, Obama, who has received three “F” grades from the group, was touting the “two realities” of gun control.

But the only “two realities” I see are the reality of his rhetoric versus the reality of his record.

Obama said last week, “as a general principle, I believe that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms.” For good measure, he even threw in a little praise for local hunters.

The problem is, Obama has consistently taken a number of anti-Second Amendment positions. (continues…)

LEFTIST LOONIES SET SIGHTS ON STATE CARTOONIST

I’m not really sure why the PC Police feel the need to chime in with their “political correctness” nonsense every time someone says or does something that’s seen as “offensive,” but these people need to get over themselves. If you’re one of them, please leave now.

The latest victim of this nonsense is The State’s award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail. As I’ve written numerous times before, the guy is incredibly talented and he has a great gift for creating satirical cartoons that tastefully editorialize the far-too-serious events of our world.

So Ariail decided to play on the idea that presidential candidate Barack Obama essentially blew up his campaign by calling middle America voters “bitter.” And within moments of publication, he began getting lambasted by the left.

Being that he is “a shy guy, who has trouble shrugging off criticism,” he quickly explained that he did not intend to paint Obama as a terrorist:

Given the number of comments on this cartoon I thought it would be constructive to offer my own. My intent was not to imply that Obama is a muslim terrorist- though now that it’s been pointed out to me, I can see how some would reach that conclusion. Basically, I was playing on the name [sounds like bomb] and the possibility that his words could blow up his campaign. A number of comments implied I have it in for Sen. Obama and favor Sen. Clinton, yet my first take on this was to point out the irony of Clinton calling Obama an elitist- see previous day’s cartoon.

Unfortunately, most of the people who were quick to condemn him don’t care about facts or the truth and would rather take a non-story and “blow it up” into something it isn’t. Now, I’m not calling them terrorists when I say they are “blowing this story up,” but I won’t be shocked if they come after me nonetheless.

Were these folks to block out the PC-fed nonsense and actually look at the cartoon, they would see that Ariail did not mean to imply Obama was a suicide bomber; note that by the absence of people or buildings around him.

If they cannot see the real value of this piece and would rather jump to the illogical but easy conclusion that the intention was nefarious, then they are narrow-minded fools.

CANDIDATE SHOOTS BILLARY THE BIRD DURING RALEIGH SPEECH

In what can only be described as an incredibly classy move, presidential candidate Barack Obama apparently flipped off his Democratic rival(s) at a campaign event in Raleigh, NC today. As you can see in the clip above, it wasn’t a blatant middle-finger salute, but more along the lines of the juvenile move he probably used to give a flippant finger to his middle school teachers.

But who exactly was the target?

To many, it will seem like it was directed at Hillary Clinton. But after her husband played the role of hit man in South Carolina during the January primary, I think it’s more likely Obama used his first trip to the Carolinas to finally respond to former President Bill Clinton.

Regardless, this raises a good question.

My friend Erick Erickson at RedState questioned, “Has a candidate for President ever shot another candidate the bird from stage?”

To my knowledge the answer is “no,” but I’m sure every candidate has done it at least once off stage. And sometimes, even that gets caught on camera.

NEW FOOTAGE EXPLAINS A LOT

I’ve always wondered what Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does late at night when her husband Bill is off doing his “thing,” and now I finally know.

The Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends, which Stephen Colbert called “a Disney movie about the news,” had footage this morning of Hillary showing her human side when she knocked back a few shots and chased them with a beer over the weekend. Almost as good as the video of her tying a few on was the commentary by the FNC anchors.

According to them, the former first lady enjoys a Blue Moon with an orange wedge and that she’s “no stranger to late night drinks.” The image of Rick Blaine hunched over a table in the wee hours of the morning trying to heal the hurt of a broken heart with a bottle of liquor immediately comes to mind.

But to think this footage was leaked by accident would bee foolish. Hillary Clinton’s campaign never does anything by accident — everything is methodically calculated.

And in this case, I’m pretty sure she is playing to the “bitter” folks in America, and that includes South Carolina’s Democrats. Shots of Hillary out drinking show that, unlike rival Barack Obama, the only thing she’ll be calling bitter is her beer.

SC RETAINS HISTORIC “FIRST IN THE SOUTH” STATUS

A plan to re-work the Republican presidential primary system and strip early voting states, including South Carolina, of their significance has been thwarted… for now. South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson has just released word that our state will maintain its coveted First-in-the-South position on the nominating calendar after the Standing Committee on Rules of the Republican National Committee, meeting this week in New Mexico, approved a plan to bring order to the presidential primary calendar.

“Today, I want thank the RNC Rules Committee for recognizing South Carolina’s historically important role in the presidential primary process,” said Dawson. “We are proud to take our place along side the most important presidential primary contests in the country.”

During his tenure as State Republican Chairman, Dawson has made this issue a key part of his agenda. And in 2008, it proved to be a worthwhile accomplishment.

“Senator John McCain won a monumental victory in our primary this year and was propelled to our Party’s nomination for president,” Dawson said. “We are pleased we will continue to play this make-or-break role in presidential politics for years to come.”

Since 1980, no candidate has won the Republican nomination for president without winning South Carolina’s Republican primary. Republicans running for president in 2008 knew South Carolina Republicans pick presidents and focused on the state’s voters this year more than ever.

And that means the next time around, we will hold just as important a place atop the nominating ladder.

So if you like seeing throngs of presidential candidates, pseudo-presidential candidates and even quasi-pseudo-presidential candidates swarm into the Palmetto State every four-to-eight years, then this is music to your ears. If not, then it’s some other figure of speech that means the opposite of music to your ears.