By Phil Noble and Rep. Bakari Sellers
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Clearly, the political pendulum is swinging back towards Democrats in South Carolina.
The question is: Will Democrats seize this rare opportunity to win back governor and other offices and change the basic direction of our state - or will this historic opportunity be lost and our state continued its drift into the backwaters of the global economy of the 21st century?
What we as Democrats do over the next 19 months will not only answer this question, but will probably determine the future of our state for the next generation.
Is this just more overblown cheap political rhetoric - New Democrats don't think so. Consider the facts.
In just the last few weeks, a number of developments - many years in the making - have come together to change the political equation in South Carolina. Over the last decade or so, the demographics of our state have been changing; we are now one of the second fastest growing states with new in-migration from other states. These new South Carolinians are not wedded to the failed polices of the past and are looking for new ideas and a new type of future for our state.
President Obama's victory sent a tidal wave of change across our state's politics. Although he did not win in November, he came closer than any Democrat in a generation and significantly increased the Democratic vote in 43 or 46 counties. And most importantly, he mobilized a veritable army of new, largely young people, who are demanding real change now in the bankrupt, good ol' boy, politics as usual of our state.
And, Gov. Sanford helped a lot too. His brand of narrow, rigid, self-serving politics around the stimulus funding has repelled South Carolinians of all parties - not to mention embarrassing us in the national media. |
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But this desire for real and fundamental change goes beyond mere politics to deeper concerns - and even real fears - about the basic direction of our state and our ability to compete in the global economy of the 21st century.
Our state's current 11.4% unemployment rate is not a temporary problem but sad proof that our state's economic structure is fundamentally broken.
When Michigan's unemployment was the highest in the country, they could blame the auto industry meltdown. When we're at number two, we had no similar excuse.
The underlying cause for most of our problems is an education system that over the last generation has slid to arguably the worst in the country. Even President Obama in a joint session of Congress points to one of our schools as the worst case example of the need for real education reform in America.
All these factors, and many others, are coming together to present a unique opportunity for Democrats - New Democrats - to win.
Democrats will not win in 2010 if we simply nominate the same traditional type of candidates that have been rejected by the voters time and again. There is a reason why we have lost the governor's race for 20 of the last 24 years and why after the elections four years ago we had sunk to our lowest level since 1876...yes, 1876.
We as Democrats were simply not a relevant, viable alternative to a majority of the voters of our state.
To win, we need a new breed of reform minded; bold, innovative candidates who can bring real and fundamental change to our state...NOW.
SC New Democrats don't want to merely change Republicans for Democrats; we want to change our politics so we can change the basic direction of our | |
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state and enact new policies to make us competitive in the global economy of the 21st century.
SC New Democrats are an independent reform group founded by former Governor and US Secretary Richard Riley. We have developed Project 2010: Winning NOW - a thoughtful analysis of why New Democrats can win, and a bold action plan as to how we can win. It's available on our website: www.SCNewDemocrats.org. Our plan calls for creating a new politics in our state - a politics of recruiting citizen to run for office, not because of what they can get for themselves, but what they can do for our state. A politics where ordinary people support and fund campaigns instead of allowing candidates to sell their soul to out of state special interests and those that can afford to hire lobbyist.
And most of all, we want a new politics that focuses on what's truly vital for our state and it's future - providing a 'top quality world class' education, not minimally adequate; providing computers and tech skills for every student; ensuring every one, regardless of age or circumstances can get as much education as they want without being buried in debt; and creating good and lasting jobs that will build an economy that will truly be competitive in the global economy of the 21st century.
The people of our state have a grand tradition of seizing the moment, embracing bold ideas and showing a willingness to do whatever it takes to make it happen. >From the earliest days of the American Revolution to today's successes of three Noble Prize winning scientist - South Carolina has proven that it has the talent, brains and imagination to do great things.
The question for us as Democrats is will be take advantage of the swinging pendulum; do we have the vision and the will to seize today's historic moment; will we set a new course for our state and our next generation?
New Democrats say - Yes we can.
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