Office holders feel ire of Myrtle Beach area voters

Political candidates this year rode an overwhelming wave, says one area political analyst, and incumbents, especially Democrats, got caught in the crush.

"This year, and not just [in South Carolina], if you were a Democrat and an incumbent, you were endangered," said Neal Thigpen, former chairman of the political science department at Francis Marion University. "Even in other big Republican sweep years, there's usually a Democratic holdout, but this year, it was a clean sweep."

That wave began to swell as the economy continued to tank, was fueled by tea party support of Republicans, and took down longtime elected officials from school board members all the way up to the U.S. Congress.

Democrat Vida Miller, from state House District 108, lost her bid for another term to a 22-year-old Republican. U.S. Rep. John Spratt, the 14-term Democrat from District 5 who has been the House budget chairman, lost to GOP challenger Mick Mulvaney. And MaryEllen Greene, a 12-year Horry County Schools board member, lost District 2 to Republican Karen McIlrath.

Spratt, Thigpen said, suffered likely because of his friendship with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose approval rating had fallen into the single digits.

Sally P. Howard, chairwoman emeritus of the Horry County Democratic Party, said she doesn't see much change coming to the way things are run in South Carolina.

"That was the main difference between [gubernatorial candidates Vincent] Sheheen and [Nikki] Haley. He would have been the 'change,' and she'll be more of the same we've had. We know she didn't get along with the legislators when she was one and didn't get along with the Republican ones either."

She said Congress is a different story, though.

"I think it's going to be very messy for a while," Howard said. "When you have so many new ones and so many mad at each other, it's going to be something to watch, and I hope the voters will be watching. I do hope they will get to work for the good of the country and not themselves or their parties."

Many people said there was a message of backlash against the current administration.

Howard said some Republican candidates in South Carolina ran against the president instead of their opponents.

But Pelosi was more a target than Obama in the congressional races, Thigpen said.

Miller, he said, fell victim to her own incumbency.

"She has always been pretty strong because she's local, but I've always felt that if there was a strong Republican challenger in that district, that could cause her trouble," he said.

Miller, 60, said she "knew it was going to be a close race from looking at the poll numbers," and she was right. There was only a 623-vote difference between her and winner Kevin Ryan.

She said she thinks the anti-incumbent and anti-Democratic mood of the country helped Ryan win, and while Georgetown County Republican Chairman Tom Swatzel agrees, he also said Ryan has "a good message for conservatives that, I think, resonated with voters."

Ryan said he thinks mood helped with voter turnout.

"We were the beneficiaries of that sentiment," he said. "People were obviously ready for a change at all levels of government."

Howard was puzzled about Miller's loss. "Why in the world voters would choose [Kevin Ryan], with no experience, over Vida Miller, who has an excellent voting record, is beyond me," she said.

But Swatzel said, "Any voter that had encountered him personally, chances are he probably won their vote because he's very engaging."

And Ryan said voters knew about things like his lack of experience and his young age and chose him.

"I think they know I will do a good job for them," he said.

In the Horry County school board race, experience didn't help incumbent Greene, who lost the seat for District 2 that she had held for 12 years. Greene's loss also will mean the loss of her spot on the board of directors for the S.C. School Boards Association, a state-level post for which an election will be held.

Greene, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, switched from the GOP to the Democratic party this year and lost to the Republican candidate, newcomer Karen McIlrath. After filing, Greene said the move was to make a statement that school board elections should not be a partisan issue and should be about the kids. District 2 voting was split even more by petition candidate Rivers Lynch, a popular teacher whose students launched his candidacy.

Howard said the economy affected the election results, and that people are angry.

"People are just unhappy. They always think change - change anything, something - will fix everything, but it's not that easy," she said. "As we have seen, it's not easy for leaders of either party to fix things. I heard people during this election season saying, 'It's been two years and you haven't fixed anything.' The American people are impatient. They want what they want right now."

Thigpen agreed the economy is a leading reason people voted how they did, and, he said, it was a message to President Obama who "took his eyes off the ball" with his health care reform.

That was when, he said, the tea party movement began to get energized.

The public perceived that Obama spent all his time on health care, and while that perception is debatable, Thigpen said, what people wanted to see was the president's focus on jobs and the economy.

"Movements like that, on the left or the right, don't happen when the economy is good," Thigpen said.

He said the tea party ended up having a big effect on election night results. "The Republicans could have the biggest pickup since before World War II," he said. "It beats the Democratic pickup in 2006, and it dwarfs the GOP pickup in 1994."

No matter who's in power now, though, chances are they won't be as popular in two or three years. "There's a certain number of Americans," Thigpen said, "who hate Congress. No matter who's running it."

Staff writer Vicki Grooms contributed to this report.

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The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office seeks to recover his image

by JJ Hensley - 22 October 2010 12 H.
The Arizona Republic

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the path to redemption began with derision.

In the months since the Sheriff Joe Arpaio asked Pinal County Sheriff Babeu Paul conduct an administrative inquiry into allegations of misconduct in his agency, its decision was questioned and derided as an attempt to gum up the wheels of justice.

It is a source of frustration for the Sheriff of senior officials of the Agency, who say that their organization recently tried to turn a new leaf be transparent in its treatment of internal problems, cooperates with other agencies and work to regain its public image.

"You can't win the confidence of the public inquiry hiding," said interim Deputy Chief Jerry Sheridan.

However, Sheridan adds in the same breath: "which makes it very difficult for us to do the right thing is, we have these other politicians we make the wrong choice, trying to make hay about an unhappy situation to begin with and not leaving is not a normal course of an investigation took place into howling."

The aftermath of the Arpaio sent an explosive page 63 alleging all sorts of misconduct Babeu to review last month internal memo, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox concluded Babeu survey was doomed to failure: favour the Arpaio result would be a "political whitewash", while a conclusion by placing the blame on top of the Arpaio administrators would be an attempt to "build a wall around the Sheriff, protection him."

Even those within the Agency of Arpaio saw the decision to transfer to a third party neutral as a sign that his leadership was led in the right direction, again after years of what many characterize as tyrannical and vindictive, rule under the command of Deputy Chief David Hendershott survey.

Though the internal memo written by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell and the administrative inquiry has led led the Agency to Hendershott, Deputy Chief Larry Black and Captain Joel Fox on administrative leave pending a result.

Yet, Sheriff's Office has a fierce struggle to rehabilitate his image combative, forged in the years of contentious disputes with the State and federal agencies.

Often, the Agency simply do it alone, rather than to work with other enforcement of the law or the Government with which he had with désaccords.Peu were also disputed that conflicts with officials counties on money and power, Sheridan relationship insists that the agency tries to repair.

We work closely with, the Office of management and budget) to attempt to resolve some of the problems that have been repeated protests questions during one year, two years, and we have made great progress in certain personnes.Nous also obtained some of the issues that we could never agree, "said Sheridan." ""We have to work by individuals and professionals, and that is what we are doing now.?

The struggle between passed the Organization and its efforts to remake has been illustrated in a relatively simple dispute, but significant, on what type of notification Office of the Sheriff gave federal criminal investigators before Babeu has launched its administrative memorandum from the Munnell probe.

Earlier this month, Dennis Burke, U.S. attorney for Arizona, writes Wilcox to ensure that the federal authorities have been is conducting a criminal investigation into certain matters in Munnell memo.

But the letter is also concerned about handling of the administrative inquiry Arpaio triggered by the memorandum.

The implication is clear: the administrative inquiry had the potential to disrupt criminal twins of the Office of the Sheriff, conducted by the Office of counsel for the U.S. and the Attorney General of Arizona probes.

Burke mark Wilcox shocked Arpaio administrators.Reason: two lawyers for the Sheriff - a criminal lawyer Indianapolis - and a member of the Office of County Attorney Rick Romley Provisional Bureau contacted an attorney Federal Bureau Burke before the launch of the administrative inquiry of be sure that he would not endanger the current criminal probes.

When the Prosecutor said "OK", the Sheriff administrators taking as a green light to move forward.

However, the Office of the Prosecutor of the u.s. was technically no power to approve or disapprove of the decision of a local organization to investigate interne.Lettre Burke at Wilcox was supposed to convey his serious reservations about the administrative probe.

Sheriff's officials had left however, wondered why these reserves were ever brought to their attention.

Distinctions between explicit permission and tacit consent, administrative and criminal investigation probes, will sound as legal word analysis, but they are important.

Concern potential Burke the administrative disrupt criminal probe survey is legitimate.

Babeu inquiry focuses on whether members of Sheriff violated policies and criminal procédures.Le twin probes with emphasis on potential violations of the State and federal law.

While law enforcement officials are obliged to cooperate with administrative investigations, claims that they are obliged to supply such probe can be used against them in criminal investigations thus subséquentes.Par, prosecutors are generally concerned when administrative inquiries away in areas involving criminal charges potentielles.Le danger is unearthed in an administrative action information will be usable in a criminal case.

The Babeu Office has attempted to provide State guarantees that its administrative investigation "" in any way"interfere with criminal probe."

Sheridan, interim Deputy Chief of Arpaio, considers that the administrative inquiry can operate simultaneously without disrupting criminelles.échec surveys conduct administrative probe would only further reduce confidence in the Office of the Sheriff.

"I think this is what everyone should do: take a deep breath - let the system follow its course,"Sheridan said.""Counsel for the U.S. Attorney General, that their investigations will find one of these jours.Enquête Sheriff Babeu is terminera.Et then we can talk about the implications of the results.

"Until then,"he said,"this is just speculation."

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