Post Tagged with: "2018"

BRACK: State should make it easier for people to vote

BRACK: State should make it easier for people to vote

y Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  South Carolina legislators should start thinking about voting like people now think about online transactions.

Consider how you bought stuff 20 years ago:  You got in your car, went to a store, bought it, lugged it home and stored it away until you used it.  It took a long time and there were a lot of steps to make a successful purchase. Then came the Internet.

by · 10/29/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: 17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates

BRACK: 17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates

Commentary by Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  This is the time of the political season that an odd dance begins.

Politicians want to present a compelling image so you’ll cast a vote for them.  But they often don’t want to give away too much of what they really think in case it gets them in trouble.  So they may hedge, waffle or give so much bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that the questioner falls asleep.

by · 09/24/2018 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views
9/24, full issue: MOJA starts; Candidate questions; Spark grants

9/24, full issue: MOJA starts; Candidate questions; Spark grants

IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents  |  Sept. 24, 2018  

FOCUS:  35th annual MOJA Festival starts Thursday
COMMENTARY, Brack: 17 policy questions for South Carolina candidates
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston RiverDogs
GOOD NEWS:  Small grants available to spark your great idea
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Top of a building
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Artist William Halsey
CALENDAR: Sign up to host a Lowcountry On the Table gathering

by · 09/24/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
BRACK: Age, Trump will drive fall gubernatorial election

BRACK: Age, Trump will drive fall gubernatorial election

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  In more ways than one, South Carolina’s fall gubernatorial election will hinge on age.

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who nabbed a primary runoff victory in an election much closer than expected, is 71.  His Democratic opponent, longtime state Rep. James Smith of Columbia, is a generation younger at age 50.

In the months ahead, expect to hear both talking about experienced leadership, but in different ways.

by · 07/02/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK: Is S.C. ready for a political pig in a poke?

BRACK: Is S.C. ready for a political pig in a poke?

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  More than 100,000 South Carolinians may have bought a pig in a poke in the recent GOP primary.  They voted for Greenville businessman John Warren, a political neophyte who joined the state’s gubernatorial race just a few months back and who reportedly has pumped $3 million of his own money into winning.

He is, if you didn’t know, a Marine.  That’s about all we really know about him, as he repeatedly says in television ads.

The term “pig in a poke” is an English idiom from the Middle Ages, a time when meat often was scarce.  Tricksters would offer suckling pig in a closed bag to customers.  Many times, however, the bag contained the meat of some other animal.

by · 06/17/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
The Governor's Mansion in Columbia.

BRACK: Governor’s races pit establishment versus grenade-throwers

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |   Don’t look for too many surprises Tuesday in what’s been a pretty lame set of gubernatorial primaries.

Unless something surprising happens before the June 12 Republican and Democratic primaries, incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster will lead four challengers and be forced into a runoff while Democratic state Rep. James Smith of Columbia may just muster enough votes to win the party’s nomination outright.

by · 06/11/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
6/11, full issue: Business leaders should step up; Governor’s race; Alaskan cruise

6/11, full issue: Business leaders should step up; Governor’s race; Alaskan cruise

IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents #10.31  |  June 11, 2018  

FOCUS, Palm: Local business leaders need to step up now
COMMENTARY, Brack: Governor’s races pit establishment versus grenade-throwers
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Morris Financial Concepts
PHOTO ESSAY, Bledsoe:  Alaskan cruise
WHAT WE LOVE:  Long, languid weeks of summer
FEEDBACK:  On Wentworth’s authentic wisdom, ferries and bridges
MYSTERY PHOTO:  A gazebo or maybe something else?
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA:  South Carolina’s governors
CALENDAR, June 11+:  Primary elections, jazz, yoga, more

by · 06/11/2018 · 1 comment · Full issue
The floor of the S.C. House of Representatives.

BRACK: 2018 brings more House contests, but not a lot more women candidates

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |   It may be the Year of the Woman in politics around the nation, but not in South Carolina – at least not in races for the S.C. House of Representatives

In 2018, just over 20 percent of major party candidates in the 124 House races are women, according to a Statehouse Report analysis of state election data.  Four years ago, there were nine fewer women candidates as 38 women (19.4 percent of candidates) ran for House seats.

by · 06/04/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
FOCUS: Lots of elections coming to the Lowcountry

FOCUS: Lots of elections coming to the Lowcountry

Staff reports |  You can tell election time is nearing.  Just witness all of the political advertising clutter between newsbreaks on the local television stations.  This year, there are more competitive elections than in recent memory, likely because of the increasing inter-party sniping and overall partisanship, rants and social divides impacting the state and nation since the 2016 national election.

So we thought it would be helpful to provide you with an early guide to  the elections on the ballot in federal, statewide, legislative and county offices in Charleston County so  you can figure out who you might want to vote for and which primary you’ll make your picks.

You can see a sample ballot based on where you live by checking your voter registration through SCVotes.org.

by · 05/21/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news
5.21: Coming elections; Immigrant exclusion; What’s new with 529 plans

5.21: Coming elections; Immigrant exclusion; What’s new with 529 plans

IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents #10.28  |  May 21, 2018

FOCUS:  Elections coming to the Lowcountry
COMMENTARY, Brack: S.C. not so polite to immigrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston RiverDogs
MONEY, Morris: Rules have changed on using 529 plans to fund education
WHAT WE LOVE:  Tell us about something you love
FEEDBACK:  Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Impressive brick building
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Highway 301
CALENDAR, May 21+:  Spoleto season gears up for 17 days on May 25

by · 05/21/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue