Crazyworld

A handful of freshman lawmakers from Spartanburg went out on a limb last night, holding a meeting that could ultimately be determined to be illegal with apparently nothing to be gained of any significance.

Key word: Apparently.

At stake are the largely ceremonial positions of chairman and vice chairman of the county's legislative delegation. The divisiveness of the delegation members seems petty and a sure way toward political impotence.  Who benefits from this?

It's obvious this case is headed to court. Rep. Keith Kelly, an attorney, seems to be inviting it. And Sen. Lee Bright, who initiated last-night's get-together, had his campaign manager on hand to film the entire event. The chairmanship question can only be resolved by settling whether weighted votes -- that is, stronger or weaker votes per elected official based on the number of people they represent, as opposed to the one-man, one-vote rule -- should be used.

Who benefits? That depends. One tip I received was that this whole mess was being masterminded by Senate leadership in hopes of a broad ruling that requires all matters decided by a joint House-Senate vote be subject to weighted votes. The idea is that such a ruling would stretch beyond a single county's legislative delegation and reach all the way to Columbia. If that happens, the Senate could no longer be outvoted by the House when it comes to, say, the appointment of judges.

I've talked to a few legislators about this, and the response has been mixed. Generally, they've thought is was possible but not likely. But then you have veteran senators like Harvey Peeler -- who opposed the goings-on last night -- admitting that he agreed weighted votes were in order.

Who benefits depends on how this plays out, and what a court rules if and when it comes to that.

Bright, Sen. Shane Martin and Rep. Joey Millwood would benefit as being agents of change. Whether you agree with their positions or what they're doing is irrelevant. This would show that they accomplished something -- that they took a calculated risk and won. (Sen. Glenn Reese is a bit of a question mark, though it has been suggested to me a couple of times that he's simply siding with Republican lawmakers for the sake of having political capital when redistricting comes up in 2010.)

But if this hypothetical ruling was against them, then their political career will be tarnished at the outset. They'll look like tools of greater forces, political newcomers who were naive and acceptable casualties in a larger fight. Sacrificial lambs.

My knee-jerk reaction last night was that the county delegation's credibility was shot. (That's what I posted on Twitter.) But having thought it through some now, I believe these new guys are putting a lot on the line.

For what, isn't clear. I think my tip is legit, but no one is talking about the bigger picture.

And that's exactly what the delegation needs to do if it wants to salvage its reputation.

The State Law Enforcement Division is waiting on an independent account to review the Westview-Fairforest Fire District's finances before proceeding with its investigation, a SLED spokeswoman said today.

The accountant was brought in by the fire department, she and Westview-Fairforest Chief David Culbreth said.

Culbreth didn't know how long it would take the accountant to complete the task. In the meantime, he said he's working to help rebuild the morale at his department.

SLED has been investigating allegations of breach of trust and embezzlement since August.

Click here to see a list of titles shipping this week courtesy of The Tangled Web.

"New Krpton" continues to rock the Superman books. Marvel's best bet this week is "Captain America," which continues to be awesome more than a year after the death of the title character.

I'm a little terrified about west-side traffic Friday, the day I typically get to the comic shop. Deep breaths.

I have a feeling that the problems Spartanburg County government faces regarding paying large sums of overtime isn't going to get better any time soon. A few thoughts.

1 - First of all, the employees should be thankful they get paid overtime at all. 

2 - I just uploaded a letter from County Council Jeff Horton to all department heads and elected officials to the page with the story about Sheriff Chuck Wright saying he isn't going to make his employees take any furloughs. Horton states while such actions are "unpleasant," that "all signs indicate that if we do not take these steps now, more drastic measures will almost certainly become necessary." That could put Wright in a tough spot.

3 - An internal e-mail from Sheriff's Office Capt. Neal Urch in October outlined how the SCSO was dealing with the belt-tightening. Included in it was a requirement that all overtime beyond 10 hours each week needs written authorization from a supervisor. That e-mail has cycled out of my Inbox. Anyone still have a copy? Forward it to jason.spencer@shj.com and I'll post it. But those justifications could make an interesting Freedom of Information Act exercise next year. 

4 - One of the complaints jail Director Larry Powers made in today's story was that he was having a hard time recruiting and retaining people. It's an argument that he's made over and over -- so much, in fact, that the county was on track to implement a new program to do such a thing. But that program was one of several to get the ax when the county first started trying to cope with its anticipated $3 million deficit last month. So, this problem is just going to continue. It goes like this: The jail doesn't have enough people. Employees work overtime. Overtime eats in to other county projects and departments. A program is put on the board to recruit and retain more employees. Budget deficit, exacerbated by the overtime, causes said program to be put on hold indefinitely. Repeat.

5 - Wright made a terrible argument for his cause by invoking a proposed water park. That park is so far off most of County Council's radar that they probably had to read the statement twice. But Wright said, "I believe government should be there to take care of the safety and well-being of its citizens above spending thousands of dollars on parks and recreation. I've yet to see how spending thousands of dollars on a (proposed) water park can prevent or solve a crime, although that stuff is nice to have if you have the money." While this kind of statement will sound good to Wright's conservative base, it illustrates his misunderstanding of how the rest of county government works. First of all, County Council can't agree on a site for the park, and because of that it's been on hold for months -- and there likely won't be any movement on it any time soon. Secondly, the "thousands of dollars" Wright refers to are hospitality tax dollars. They can only be spent on tourism-related expenses. Law enforcement is not tourism related, so even if the county spent all of the $3.2 million the tax is expected to draw on the water park, which they're not, it would not affect Wright or the Sheriff's Office at all -- other than possibly giving off-duty deputies another place to work security and bring home extra money.

6 - I wonder how many county employees are going to feel awkward at work today or tomorrow once they find out how much some of their co-workers are making?

If I missed anything, again, my e-mail is jason.spencer@shj.com. Or feel free to post here.

If you think national politics can be cutthroat, that's nothing compared to what goes on in the microcosms that exist on the local level -- from school boards to church committees, nonprofit boards to -- today's case in point -- fire districts.

The financial turmoil at the Westview-Fairforest Fire District is a good example. There's a lot of points here that might help put today's story into perspective.

One fire department vendor I spoke to after last night's meeting alluded to the trouble at Westview-Fairforest was similar to what was going on in other fire departments around the county, around the state. He referenced "all these chiefs, who have their own little kingdoms set up ... but have no business experience." He said this was a good example as to why the county should consolidate all of its fire departments -- a controversial idea here, to say the least.

But one point that might get lost in the politics -- and this can't be emphasized enough -- is that nearly everyone respects firefighters for what they do. Even when people get upset about what goes on in the administrative arena, there's a separation in most minds that keeps that frustration directed at those who hold the pursestrings, not the firehoses. No one can take away from the fact that these men and women risk their lives daily for others. At the same time, it shouldn't be taken as unpatriotic or antagonistic to individual firefighters to scrutinize the business practices of those in charge.

But one of the things that makes fire departments function well is the same quality that causes firefighters to take so personally what they perceive to be attacks on their administration: loyalty.

I asked several people last night if the squabbling over finances or the State Law Enforcement Division investigation was hindering services. One of the most profound responses, I thought, came from the department's ex-chief, Danny Knight. Knight just stared forward for a few seconds, shook his head and said, "No. Brotherhood. Brotherhood. Brotherhood."

But every family can have its problems. There's been several indications that some of the firefighters at Westview-Fairforest have unconsciously or otherwise divided into factions, some loyal to the current chief, David Culbreth, and some to the former chief, Knight.

And when you get to the hyper-local level like this, there's other factors to keep in mind. I met several people last night who had spent decades with the fire department. Several had other family members involved in firefighting. Some were continuing a family tradition.

And that's why this kind of politics cuts like a knife: It's personal. It became crystal clear when some of the questions about the controversy raised last night began with "Why did you blame my daddy..."

Knight's comment about growing up with Culbreth and (once) being best friends really piqued my interest. I mentioned it to a few others at the commissioners meeting later that night, and they all agreed. Culbreth, who had just been put through the wringer, said it was true, and that if "Danny called me today, I would help him." Another firefighter, who seemed to be loyal to Culbreth, echoed that point.

One last item: The back-and-forth seems to have extra impact on the younger firefighters.

Before I left, 22-year-old volunteer firefighter Ricky Schults pointed out to me, "We give up our free time, away from our family, away from our friends, to give to this community." Schults was obviously hurting. I didn't ask him whether he supported the current regime or the former one, whether there was some other political scheme at work, or if he was worried about the SLED investigation.

In our short conversation, none of that seemed to matter.

After S.C. Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson's conference call the other night, I began making inquiries as to what had transpired. All indications so far had been that Dawson would be talking about his plans to run for Republican National Committee chairman. The word from party spokesman Rob Godfrey was that the call concerned official party business, and neither that nor party strategy was going to be discussed with the media.

But then I saw this blog post, not only confirming some tidbits I'd heard from a couple of sources but expanding upon it. It seems Dawson asked participants of the call to begin phone banking on his behalf, starting with "everyone they met in Minneapolis" at this year's Republican National Convention.

So, when I got Greenville County GOP Chairman Samuel Harms on the phone today, I asked him if that's what he was going to do.

"I certainly plan to," Harms said. "I’m excited he’s running for RNC chair. He would do an exceptional job, and he has the experience and the track record to do a great job."

Harms continued: "Let’s compare him to some other people -- and this is just going by what you read in the newspaper -- but the chairman of Florida has indicated he may run. Florida voted for Barack Obama. What kind of track record do you have there? ... The RNC needs a chairman who has a track record of winning the state for their party."

When I tried to get further confirmation that Dawson would officially kick off his campaign before Thanksgiving, Harms said he would leave that to the state party to decide but was "definitely encouraging him to run."

But he did look into his crystal ball when it came to the overall health of the GOP.

"The RNC needs to assess where it’s at, and what it’s future is going to be. Are we going to get back to the basics, back to the grassroots organizations that gave us the majority, or are we just going to be Democrat-lite? I’m for a more conservative approach. The party activists are yearning for conservative leadership that doesn’t accept the solution is more government bailouts," Harms said.

"You're going to see wholesale changes in the Republican Party over the next six months. We've got to get back to the basics, with the party activists having more of a say in what goes on."

So, Spartanburg County has to find $267,000 to make good on its committment to the Regional History Museum and Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg. Judging by the way the meeting went last night, there's plenty of staff they could get rid of to come up with the cash.

The best example of this was during an hour-long discussion on proposed changes to the Storm Water Management Ordinance. Now, this is something the administration -- because of federal mandates -- has been trying to push through for most of the year. Last night, County Council was supposed to hear from the local Home Builders Association and Upstate Forever. But they didn't have time for the latter.

The way the elected officials hung on the words of the home builders -- engineer Roger Nutt and surveyor Marion Gramling spoke on behalf of the group -- was fascinating. Council members often would direct technical questions directly to the them, relegating county staff to a group of bystanders. The staff, keep in mind, are professionals hired for their expertise to do county business. But that didn't seem to matter. The elected officials seemed particularly rude to county engineer Ron Kirby, who spent 20-some-odd years in the private sector before working for the government, brushing off his comments to hear more from Nutt and Gramling. Nutt spoke against over-regulation and having to learn a new system, and Gramling against problems with the flood regulations in the proposed amendments.

These are valid concerns. What the council didn't seem to realize is that they are not the only concerns.

The only break in all of this was when Chairman Jeff Horton asked Gramling what his solution was, to which Gramling replied, "I don't know." But the council seemed more interested in what for-profit businessmen had to say about the regs than their own staff. Perhaps they should just get rid of their engineers and rely totally on the HBA for free advice? Saves money, lets the council make good on their promises without having to *shudder* change anything, and eliminates the middleman between the policy makers and those who hold the puppet strings.

Oh, and while the home builders weighed in, the team from Upstate Forever sat quietly in the back, biding their time -- and looking more and more frustrated as the night progressed.

The home builders "were supposed to speak for a few minutes. And that didn't happen," was all Assistant County Administrator Chris Story would say on the matter.

Horton later said that Upstate Forever would be at the top of the list when the discussion continues next month.

"And we'll see how that goes," said Ned Barrett with that group. "We were on this agenda. And I was under the impression that means you get a chance to speak."

Katon Dawson's interest in running for Republican National Committee chairman is no secret. There's even a Draft Dawson page on Facebook. I've heard that Dawson, currently the S.C. Republican Party chairman, could make an announcement about his intentions before Thanksgiving. Looks like there could be some development on that front tonight.

At 7 p.m. today, Dawson is holding a conference call, and all "current and former members of the state executive committee" have been invited, according to a memo sent out last week.

By the way, it's interesting to scroll through some of the names on that Facebook page. There's a lot of people within the party who normally don't get along very well. Maybe Dawson is the new "uniter."

Assistant Spartanburg County Administrator Tom Gates sent me this link a little while back, highlighting that someone in the Victor Mill community has taken it upon himself to keep people up to date on what's going on with the proposed cleanup out there.

It appears that the same individual has started a Facebook group to the same affect.

It would be nice to see Spartanburg articles in the mix, but it's nice to see someone taking the initiative to do this either way.

Click here to see a list of comics shipping this week, courtesy of The Tangled Web.

I'm most looking forward to the new Supergirl and Kingdom Come issues this week. With the re-introduction of the Superman triangles, the Superman family of titles -- which now, thankfully, includes Supergirl -- has practically become a weekly book. Despite the praise for "Trinity," I'm enjoying the Super-books much more. And the triangles remind me of my early days as a collector, when a new Superman book came out every week.

In the days following the presidential election, I've been going over in my head the best way to try to put into words how the race factor played out in the Upstate, particularly Spartanburg County. Looks like it's going to be a work in progress.

But I think the best place to start is by paraphrasing the last story I wrote for the (Kinston, N.C.) Free Press before coming to Spartanburg. It was a sidebar to the final package in a year-long series I'd done on race relations in that area called "Separated by Silence."

It began, and I may be paraphrasing, "In the South, where people love to talk, race can be one of the hardest things to talk about."

Sorting through the many fearmongering, slanderous and attack e-mails I received from both the right and the left in the months leading up to Election Day -- particularly the last couple of weeks -- two themes out of many really piqued my interest.

From whites, I often heard an underlying theme of "The blacks are taking over!"

From blacks, I often felt in the background a sentiment of, "The whites are trying to take this away from us!"

One of the more fascinating things is that the two groups were trying to scare themselves into voting.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm sure plenty of people voted from their heart, casting their ballot for either a military hero who wasn't afraid to buck his party line or an inspirational speaker and community organizer who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds for legitimate reasons. But because there's been so little attention to race relations in this state -- again, particularly in our area -- it's hard to discern who did and who didn't. In a couple of months, more concrete data will be made available from the S.C. Election Commission, hopefully offering more insight into this.

Obviously, some people voted against Obama because he was black. Likewise, some people voted for him only because of the color of his skin. While the election of an African-American to the highest office in this country is assuredly a victory for the civil rights movement, I would think that the state this country is in right now is too dire to let race be the single determining factor in someone's vote.

Ever since I came to this paper a little over four years ago I've had conversations with various editors about the need to do a project similar to "Separated by Silence" in Spartanburg. History. Violence. Racial tension. Politics. Media coverage. Focus groups. Community meetings. Examples of what has worked and what has not in other places. We even talked, at one point, about making race relations an issue in state and local elections.

The problem is, I'm less sure today about how to even begin to approach such a project than I was four years ago. When I hear constant bickering between the two races, when I hear the fear between the different groups, when I hear white people refer, in a surprised voice, to blacks who are "well-spoken" or "articulate" or "Oh, my, they dress so nice," and when I hear blacks accept that as OK, then I'm not sure this area is ready to have the conversation.

In Kinston, there were two main camps of black politicians -- one that preferred to sit down and discuss things rationally, and another that was rooted in anger. Both sides had in their number community leaders who had seen crosses burning in their front yards as children. Upbringing, education, life experience, and personal ambition -- there's something to be said about keeping people angry or fearful to retain a place of power -- distinguished them. But I'm not sure if I see the same initiative among black leaders here. (There are some notable exceptions, though I'm not quite ready to name names because, frankly, I have a lot of learning to do and don't want to leave anyone out who deserves to be on the list or, conversely, name someone who's all talk and no walk.)

I'm starting to wrap my head around it, though. I got a fair number of calls during the primary about whether the local Democratic Party, particularly the white members, were doing all they could for Barack Obama -- and for black candidates down the ticket. For a long time there was (and perhaps still is) some lingering resentment over the Clinton-Obama tussle, which further muddied the waters. Now that things are over, some people are starting to be willing to go on record. The challenge for me is to ask the right questions.

Perhaps the most promising thing I've seen in the last month or so -- I haven't gotten out much lately, obviously -- has been right here in our own forums. TalkUpstate regulars know that message threads can quickly devolve into petty name calling, partisan bickering and ignorant rants. But I've started to see a few comments from regular people (I usually don't know their race unless they reveal it) about some of the very things I've tried to spell out here.

This is a project I'd like to pursue. I just want to do it at the right time and when enough people are ready and willing to participate. It will require people examining some of their own beliefs. If the first thing you tell me is that you're not racist because you have plenty of friends of the opposite race, then you're not really adding anything to the larger discussion. Whether this project begins to advance depends on interest, a willingness to participate and a willingness to talk about touchy subjects.

If anyone's interested in this topic, please feel free to post here, e-mail jason.spencer@shj.com or give me a call at (864) 562-7214. A project like this takes a lot of time, a lot of resources and a lot of planning, so if you just want to call and chat for now, that's fine. It could take months to even develop a list of stories that would come out of this.

So, I guess that's all for now. Looking forward to continuing down this path.

Feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee of Arkansas will return to some of the many counties that supported him during the GOP primary -- and some that didn't -- over the next few weeks to support his new book, "Do the right thing: Inside the movement that's bringing common sense back to America."

"Do the right thing" is billed as part campaign memoir/part looking into the future of the Republican Party. Is it also a dip of the toe into the waters of 2012? Too early to tell. But Huckabee has a campaign-like bus that will be a part of the tour.

Huckabee will be in South Carolina on Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6, to promote his book. He's visiting, Greenville, Spartanburg, Rock Hill, Aiken and Columbia. The Spartanburg event is at 8 p.m. at Sam's Club.

Visit the bottom of the book tour page for a free one-day pass to Sam's Club for the day of the event.

I can't believe a Tennessee state representative's comic book collection became the source of an ethics complaint, but it did. Thankfully, this has been resolved.

Read the strange saga of Tennessee House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower at Comic Book Resources.

Mumpower just became my favorite Republican. (I've yet to decide on my favorite Democrat, but there are at least two contenders.)

Tonight's legislative delegation meeting was interesting. Time will tell if everyone plays nice or if the likely divisions get deeper.

As tomorrow's story details, Rep. Lanny Littlejohn and Rep. Keith Kelly are now the chairman and vice chairman of the Spartanburg County Legislative Delegation, respectively. If you want to get into the minutiae, that's what my story is really about. It's the kind of story political junkies like, but as a writer, when you're done with it, you stop and think -- How many people really care about this?

But wait, there's more. The story I filed tonight delves into the question raised about whether or not the new legislators' votes were "weighted" -- in other words, whether their votes carried more or less importance based on the number of people they represent, which is the norm for legislative delegation votes. (I should say that I don't think many legislative delegation votes are really that important, anyway. Seems like a lingering way to keep the illusion of Home Rule. Why not make board appointments the responsibility of county council and eliminate this psuedo-extra layer of government? I've covered state and local government in North Carolina and Arizona, and still can't get used to how... odd the system is here.)

Anyway, had the votes been weighted, the chairman and vice chairman would have been Sen. Shane Martin and Rep. Joey Millwood, respectively. (And Millwood would have won by a bigger margin than Martin, as Rep. Steve Parker sided with the minority in the second vote, apparently upset that he wasn't the nominee -- at least, that's what can be inferred from this post by Parker's campaign manager.)

And, if you really want to split hairs, which is what this probably sounds like to all the normal people out there, there's the question as to whether Sen. Lee Bright's votes counted. They would be necessary for the hypothetical Martin-Millwood situation to work. But he arrived late -- already on "Senate time," joked Sen. Harvey Peeler -- and wasn't sworn into office until the end of the night. Read: After the votes were taken.

Why's this important? Mostly, because it would be symbolic. I mean, the chairman and vice chairman position carry very little real power, other than being able to say that's what you are. Otherwise, you just run the meeting. You get a little bit of power in guiding the agenda, but any reasonable person -- and all four people in question here I would consider reasonable -- wouldn't go off on some wild power trip. It's basically keeping things in order, and -- in the case of a prolonged discussion or heated debate -- cutting things off and calling for a vote. But as I alluded to before, most delegation-level votes aren't very earth-shattering. Unless you want to be appointed to a fire district board or something.

Martin and Millwood in the leadership positions would show that the new guard is in charge. Littlejohn and Kelly apparently represent the old guard. It's a bit of stretch for Kelly, who has just completed one term. But Kelly is going to be pushing a disclosure issue that certain other legislators -- likely Bright and Millwood -- wouldn't like.

It's also interesting that Sen. Glenn Reese sided with the New Guard idea, even voting with Parker in the second vote. Parker is, like, BFFs with county GOP boss Rick Beltram, so to see the two of them on the same side of anything is remarkable.

... if you're a political dork like me, that is.

You can also look at tonight as representative of the longtime tension between the Senate and House.

For his part, Martin seems to sincerely be playing the good soldier, pledging full support to Littlejohn. That's the smart thing to do, as anyone in politics can tell you. You don't start playing a new game by going out trying to make enemies. Not right out of the gate. Wait for something important. Pick your battles.

Really, though, I think if everyone had put their egos aside, they would've seen returning Rep. Rita Allison as the perfect compromise. Allison has been part of the Sanford administration, so she should have support among the governor's choice legislators in the Spartanburg delegation. But, after being away for a bit, she also has the advantage of being part of the Old Guard and the New Guard at the same time. She's the bridge. (And, one of the few female legislators in this state, so it would have shown a committment to diversity, but -- really, does anyone other than us liberal meida types care about that?) Littlejohn made the right decision in putting her in charge of the first committee formed.

If there's any lesson out of all this, it's that the legislative delegation needs to make its policy manual clearer. Yeah, that's a front-page story. Yawn. We'll call it "Don't read this!" But even if it's not sexy enough for the newspaper, it's a problem and it needs to be addressed.

Mr. Chairman, the ball's in your court.

In case you missed it, this is the real reason why the media refused to dig into all the shady things in (now) President-elect Barack Obama's past .

I'm kidding, of course. Please, no wild e-mails. I've gotten plenty, from both the far left and the far right.

But with all the bad news our industry has seen lately -- and more is on the way -- it's nice to see a bright spot like this. I honestly didn't think about the "keepsake" aspect until I answered my second or third call from people wanting to know where they could get a copy of the paper. The couple I had on my desk then most assuredly went home with me that night.

Looks like we'll be getting results for ousted Rep. Bob Walker in tonight's House District 38 race.

According to elections director Henry Laye, any name written in on more than 25 ballots is separated out when the results are posted.

Wonder if anyone wrote in outgoing Rep. Scott Talley in Lee Bright's uncontested race?

Just talked to Spartanburg County elections director Henry Laye, who was on his way back from Boiling Springs High School -- where the line is unbelievably long, with an estimated four-hour wait time.

Laye said, "The final results tonight will be a long time coming ... because of the sheer number of people who will be waiting in line at 7 o'clock."

Voters who have moved or changed their address but never got things square with with Office of Registrations and Elections are getting mad when they're held up at the polls, he said. I think this comes down to personal responsibility. I mean, you have to have been in a coma not to know today was Election Day, and we've been have in the paper reminders about getting your credentials straight probably a dozen times in the last two weeks.

Aside from Boiling Springs, other precincts that are experiening an overwhleming turnout are New Prospect, C.C. Woodson and Wellford. West-side voters seem to have no problem. Will update.

Laye, by the way, called today, "Daunting, but thrilling."

Most of my Republican friends would say no. My Democrat friends would say of course. But -- and call it a hunch -- but based on conversations I've had with voters and members of both party organizations, I'd say Obama carrying the Palmetto State could happen.

Of course, I'll probably look like an idiot tonight when that doesn't happen. That's OK. Won't be the first time.

As an aside, I voted at E.P. Todd Elementary School just after noon. Took about 10 minutes. Poll manager said that "about 800" people had voted so far -- more than that poll usually sees in an entire day. She said the line was wrapped around the school when the poll first opened, but I must have come at a lull.

To my understanding, voters at other precincts, like in Boiling Springs, aren't as lucky. Wait times are still reportedly one to two hours at some polls in that area. Going to check it out for myself.

One other note: A handful of bloggers, political activists and reporters are on Twitter with updates throughout the day. They've been collected here: www.followsc2008.com. Any Twitterers out there can add #SC2008 at the end of their post to feed the beast.

Not much time for comics this week, but click here to read what will be in stores Wednesday.

And read Justice Society!

So, as I was interviewing Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer a few minutes ago while he was standing on the corner of Main and Pine streets, holding a McCain sign and waving to the cars that went by, I asked him when he was going to kick off his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

"You know, I think about it every day now. No question," Bauer said.

"Everyone is focused on this race right now," he added, motioning down to the McCain sign. "But clearly, by the end of the year, people are going to be thinking about who the next leader of this state will be."

Sounds like we'll hear an announcement before Christmas.

Apparently, two different Democratic candidates have someone making robocalls on their behalf -- in the middle of the night.

The campaigns for incumbent state Sen. Glenn Reese, D-Spartanburg, and Paul Corden, who is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, have said that they've been receiving complaints from people about getting calls between 1 and 3 a.m. of pre-recorded messages from the Democratic candidates asking for votes.

"The idea is that they upset people by waking them up in the middle of the night," said Tom Santaniello, a spokesman for Corden's campaign.

"Obviously, we’re not calling at that time. We would never think to do that. ... They’ve actually taken Paul’s voice and Glenn’s voice -- it could have been from the television advertisements, I don’t know -- but they’ve taken the voices and used those to pretend to be those candidates calling at, like 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. We’re still trying to figure out who is behind it."

Reese's son, Michael, said the same thing is happening in Senate District 11.

If anyone with caller ID has received a call like this, let me know either here or at jason.spencer@shj.com.

To my understanding, there's been little to no drama so far at the elections office today. I'm on my way down there, but there are three questions that I've gotten calls on today (and a few over the last week) that need to be answered.

1 - There's allegedly a problem with the opitcal scanner machine, the thing that counts paper ballots. Will this be fixed or are we going to devolve back to hand-counting?

2 - It's not clear exactly when the voter registration books were printed to be delivered to the various precincts in the county. The problem in this is that they've already been printed, and the people who voted since they were printed won't be marked as having done so. This opens the door for some people to cast duplicate ballots. I hear updated books will be delivered to the precincts some time tomorrow, but this doesn't seem to be the most efficient system. What's being done to prevent people from voting more than once?

3 - Probably the most calls we've gotten at the paper is from people who say they requested an absentee ballot by mail but never received one. What's the deal?

If anyone else has questions like this that need to be resolved before Election Day, post here or e-mail jason.spencer@shj.com.

I had several calls late last week asking for a follow-up on the story about the tension between the different interests keeping tabs on absentee voting. Spartanburg County Republican Party Chairman Rick Beltram, acting as a poll watcher, challenged the vote of a 74-year-old woman based on -- in his words -- a signature that didn't match her credentials. Ruby Rice, president of the Spartanburg branch of the NAACP, got in his face, and at the end of the day, a spokesman for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division was telling me they were monitoring the situation here.

Monday, the sequel may write itself.

First, let me say this: As of Thursday night, Beltram was saying that he (and other local GOP officers) felt his life was in danger and that he needed protection. I shied away from including this, because -- this close to an election -- people heavily involved in politics tend to get so wrapped up in their worldview that they lose sight of what they're saying. Was this some sort of insinuation about race? Was this a defense to point back to in case the Justice Department actually pursued any kind of action? Was this simply an attempt to politically one-up someone over a bruised ego? Too many questions and, really, I don't think a 74-year-old woman poses that much of a threat. As for Ruby Rice, she can get loud when she's passionate about something, but I just can't see her hauling off and slugging anyone.

The GOP boss left saying he wasn't going back to voter registration.

Monday, he's going back.

According to a three-page memo Beltram sent Melba Blakely, chair of the Spartanburg County Election Commission, over the weekend, Beltram plans to be there tomorrow with a body guard.

Just typing that makes me cringe: It paints a picture of a wild, raucous bunch of absentee voters who are out for blood. I've been to voter registration. People get passionate. People get tired of standing. But I haven't seen too many people out for blood.

Spartanburg County elections Director Henry Laye told me tonight that if Beltram's body guard isn't a certified poll watcher, then he'll have to leave.

In his memo, though, Beltram does raise a few good points, one of them being about poll watchers. Rather than cite the way he puts it, I'll just post the state law he's referring to:

"SECTION 7-13-860. Watchers; appointment, qualifications, identification, and conduct.

Each candidate who is not unopposed in a primary and each nonpartisan candidate, including announced write-in candidates in a general or special election, may appoint a watcher for any voting place where his name appears on the ballot. However, in any general or special election, all candidates who are certified by a political party must be jointly represented at each polling place by not more than two watchers from the party for each one thousand registered voters or fraction thereof registered at the polling place. Each watcher appointed hereunder must be a qualified voter in the county where he is to watch, and must be certified, in writing, to the managers of the voting precinct to which assigned. This certification must be signed by the primary or nonpartisan candidate or, in the case of watchers jointly representing all candidates of a political party, by an appropriate party official. Watchers must, at all times, wear visible identification specifying the candidate or party, as appropriate, which they represent. The identification badge of a poll watcher may not exceed four and one-fourth inches by four and one-fourth inches with individual letters on the badge not exceeding one-quarter inch in height or width. Badges may not be a color that has a fluorescent quality. After qualification, watchers must be placed in an area designated by the poll managers where the watchers can observe the entire election process at that polling place. No watcher may conduct himself in a manner that will interfere in the orderly conduct of the election or influence any voter in the casting of his ballot."

Now, I'm no lawyer, but this does sound like only political parties (in general elections) can have certified poll watchers. That puts Rice in a pickle, as the NAACP clings to the mantle of being nonpartisan. She can't choose a party, and therefore she can't be a poll watcher. So technically, he has more authority there than she does. But by that notion, who's to stand up for the next 74-year-old woman? Most people don't pore over state law before they go vote. They just go vote. And they don't want some loudmouth telling them maybe they shouldn't be there.

I should point out that Friday I spoke with a man who's long been involved in Democratic politics in this part of South Carolina, and -- while he doesn't agree with Beltram's positions -- he said that Beltram was doing the right thing. In fact, he said it would behoove both parties to be as diligent watching polls. His take on Beltram: Obnoxious? Yes. Intimidating? No.

An underlying theme of this story is race, but maybe not the way you think. I don't want it to be the footnote on a rambling post on Sunday night as I scour crime reports to make sure we don't miss any "police blotter" items, so I'll put some more thought into it and hopefully blog about it tomorrow.

Either way, I may spend some time at the election office tomorrow just in case there's any more drama.

What I've learned from DC Comics' "Final Crisis" so far:

When the evil gods use the Internet to spread the anti-life equation and corrupt mankind, the few survivors will have only one medium from which they get information: Newspapers. Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

Seriously, though, writer Grant Morrison's work is increasingly falling into read-all-at-once category, rather than in monthly "episodes." Three issues (and a handful of spinoff books) had to pass before it was clear what was going on. Now, with Issue No. 4 out, the storyline is moving much more smoothly. But the waiting-for-the-trade crowd might have had the right idea this time.

I'm enjoying this story, but it took too long to get into it. My faith in Morrison made me stick with it. Not all readers -- particularly new or casual ones -- have that faith. And for DC to hang what they've long-promised to be a major event on readers' faith, well... it's risky, to say the least.

In SurveyUSA's final pre-election tracking poll of South Carolinians, Republican John McCain maintains his presumed lead in this state -- but not by much. In a survey of 800 adults just before Democrat Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial aired, more people in this state said they'd vote for McCain (52 percent) than Obama (44 percent) on Election Day. Factor in the margin of error of almost +/- 4 percent, and the race here is neck and neck.

One interesting tidbit is that Obama beat McCain in the lowest age category of those surveyed (age 18 to 34), but did increasingly worse with every higher age group. McCain easily carried the 65-and-old crowd by a significant margin.

By that same poll, incumbent Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham's re-election bid has a huge advantage over Democrat-in-name-only challenger Bob Conley -- 58 percent to 39 percent.

Graham's performance could be a key indicator in certain precincts about voting patterns. The senator's campaign sent out a mail piece late last week that targets minority voters. It points out that Conley "refuses to endorse Barack Obama," but fails to mentions Graham's constant support of McCain; quotes Rep. Jim Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in Congress; reminds everyone that Graham gave the commencement address at three historically black colleges (Allen University, S.C. State and Voorhees College); and includes a ringing letter of endorsement from a black preacher. It discourages people from voting straight Democrat on Election Day.

You know, some Statehouse candidates probably wish they'd tried something like this.

If you read today's story about ousted state Rep. Bob Walker's non-campaign , you might have noticed that the grassroots group Citizens for a Better Spartanburg County has already raised more than $8,300.

What's interesting about this is because initial reports of the group criticized it for forming at a time when it would be excluded from having to disclose its financial information . That was even the subject of whispers between a few supporters of Joey Millwood Friday afternoon.

But the group published its contributions anyway.

And what's even more interesting are some of the names that show up as having contributed --  names like Realtor Donna Turner Williams, Bommer Industries chief executive officer Peter E. Frohlich and Republican stalwart O'Neal Mintz.

Maybe the Herald-Journal's editorial board isn't as crazy as the two political party leaders would have you believe .

Note to Republicans wishing this issue would go away: Stop doing things that bring it back to the front page.