Thomas Ravenel to run against Lindsey Graham in the General

[Brian4Liberty]

A wealthy libertarian-Republican celebrity looks to run against Lindsey Graham. He has some past baggage (convicted for cocaine use while a Ghouliani supporter). Can he pull off a Mark Sanford?

Thomas Ravenel (born August 11, 1962) is a South Carolina politician and former State Treasurer. He is the son of former South Carolina Congressman Arthur Ravenel, Jr.

He currently stars on the Bravo reality series Southern Charm.
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Ravenel ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, seeking the seat left open when Fritz Hollings retired. He came in third in the Republican primary election. After Ravenel endorsed Republican Jim DeMint, DeMint went on to win the Republican runoff and the general election.
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Ravenel endorsed Ron Paul in the 2012 Republican primaries.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ravenel

Thomas Ravenel Makes His Move

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S WORST NIGHTMARE IS TAKING SHAPE …

Readers of this website have long known about former S.C. Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s plans to challenge incumbent “Republican” Lindsey Graham in his bid for a third six-year term in the United States Senate.

Back in April, Ravenel made it clear he would throw his hat in the ring as an independent candidate for this seat in the event Graham won the “Republican” nomination.

Graham did win - and now a pair of mainstream media outlets are confirming Ravenel is taking the steps necessary to appear on the ballot in November. Meanwhile Graham’s allies are reportedly taking steps of their own to try and keep Ravenel off of the ballot.

According to The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier , Ravenel is “collecting signatures to get on the November ballot for U.S. Senate against Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham.”

“We fully expect to get them,” Ravenel said of the signatures, 10,000 of which must be submitted to the S.C. Election Commission no later than July 15.
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“T-Rav” – star of Bravo’s Southern Charm reality show – faces an uphill climb in his political comeback, although he is expected to draw votes from libertarian-leaning Republicans as well as independent voters frustrated with the failure of the two-party system.
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Read more at http://www.fitsnews.com/2014/06/26/thomas-ravenel-makes-move/

Website:
http://thomasravenel.com/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Thomasravenel

 

[Brian4Liberty]

An article by Thomas Ravenel:

Thomas Ravenel: “Heeding Eisenhower”
AMERICA MUST RECALL THE WISDOM OF ITS FORMER PRESIDENT

By Thomas Ravenel

On January 17, 1961, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the American people. The speech contained several prescient warnings, including an admonition against mortgaging “the material assets of our grandchildren” in pursuit of our own “ease and convenience.”

With the national debt at $17.5 trillion, this advice has clearly gone unheeded – especially under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. One reason? Bush and Obama also failed to heed Eisenhower’s warning against “the disastrous rise of misplaced power” in the hands of America’s military-industrial complex.
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As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome? Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?

According to a recent Harvard University study, the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is projected to total between $4-6 trillion. These conflicts have steered billions of dollars toward companies like Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, General Dynamics and Raytheon – but have accomplished very little of strategic value.
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We cannot criticize these countries for accepting free security any more than we can begrudge private companies for accepting huge defense contracts. They are simply taking what’s being given to them. Our beef must be with the American politicians cutting the deals — and cutting the checks.

America’s defense is a core function of government. But we are on the verge of permanently compromising it, and bankrupting future generations of taxpayers, by continuing to elect politicians who put the needs of the military-industrial complex ahead of the best interests of our Republic.
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More:
Read more at http://www.fitsnews.com/2014/03/24/thomas-ravenel-heeding-eisenhower/

 

[TaftFan]

He is obviously great on the issues.

But this is going to be tricky on multiple levels.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

He is obviously great on the issues.

But this is going to be tricky on multiple levels.

If he gets on the ballot, it could get interesting. Can he bring in both Republican and Democrat votes?

Murkowski did it in Alaska...(with the huge difference that she was the incumbent.)

 

[willwash]

There are only 2 possible outcomes here...Graham wins anyway or the Democrat wins due to the split conservative ticket. It is inconceivable that whoever that Democrat is could be worse than Graham, in fact in the deep south there are a lot of semi-decent Dixiecrats, one of whom might be likely to win the Democratic nod in this race. I'm fine if that happens, because the overwhelming priority is that Graham lose.

 

[willwash]

If he gets on the ballot, it could get interesting. Can he bring in both Republican and Democrat votes?

Murkowski did it in Alaska...(with the huge difference that she was the incumbent.)

I shudder when I hear that name. I lost a lot of respect for Alaskans when that happened.

 

[William Tell]

Graham needs to lose, I hope Thomas makes that happen.

 

[mad cow]

If he gets on the ballot,Ravenel money bomb?
I'm in.

 

[RandallFan]

There are only 2 possible outcomes here...Graham wins anyway or the Democrat wins due to the split conservative ticket. It is inconceivable that whoever that Democrat is could be worse than Graham, in fact in the deep south there are a lot of semi-decent Dixiecrats, one of whom might be likely to win the Democratic nod in this race. I'm fine if that happens, because the overwhelming priority is that Graham lose.

Cochran(R-MS) and Travis Childers(D-MS) are both fiscally weak, anti-amnesty southerners.

Brad Hutto(D-SC) and Lindsey Graham(R-SC) are both Chamber of Commerce candidates. Hutto is meant to be a mainstream Democrat. I guess he is okay on taxes and gun control. At least he won't be running the GOP foreign policy or Meet the Press or running to replace Chuck Hagel in 2017. Lindsey Graham could get picked as Defense Secretary by the 2016 Republican if it is not Rand. It would actually work politically in the short term. You get a conservative in his seat.

 

[TaftFan]

"On the hot-button topic of same-sex marriage, he says government should not even be involved with marriage."

http://www.wyff4.com/news/thomas-ra...ood-return-to-politics/25615804#ixzz35nG3Wzop

 

[Cleaner44]

Graham needs to lose, I hope Thomas makes that happen.

This!

Let the liberal Democrat beat the liberal Republican and then fight to elect a conservative Republican in 2020.

 

[Occam's Banana]

[Ravenal] has some past baggage (convicted for cocaine use while a Ghouliani supporter).

The Ghouliani thing is FAR more alarming than the cocaine thing ... I wonder if they are related (and if so, which caused which) ...

 

[Brian4Liberty]

An interesting video. His politics certainly seem to be a product of his situation. He's a real estate developer, and loves the cheap labor, so the Chamber of Commerce will like that. His cocaine conviction has made him very much against the war on drugs, and also an advocate for giving felons back their Constitutional Rights.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

The Ghouliani thing is FAR more alarming than the cocaine thing ... I wonder if they are related (and if so, which caused which) ...

He probably would have been just another RINO and/or neoconservative if it wasn't for his drug conviction. Now he seems a lot more "libertarian".

 

[Mr.NoSmile]

Given the huge margin Graham won by during the primary, Ravenel doesn't stand a chance at all. There's a reason Graham has such a huge war chest- he's had years to build up the name recognition and donor base.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

If he gets on the ballot,Ravenel money bomb?
I'm in.

Well, he's already wealthy, so our couple of bucks are nothing compared to what he can self-fund.

 

[Aratus]

Senator Lindsey 100% deserves to be smack dab in the middle of an intense senate debate
whereby he fends off a true BILL Of RIGHTS respecting Libertarian & a Blue Dawg Democrat.

 

[economics102]

If all the conservatives who Graham defeated in the primary pushed their supporters to back the Democrat, maybe we'd have a chance of defeating Graham.

It's a strategically sound move, it'd be a Dixiecrat, plus, unless they act very conservatively, there's no way a Democrat would hold the seat past 2020.

We should send a message that if you're an establishment Republican in a very red state, you need to not only win your primary but win the support of the people who didn't vote for you in the primary.

 

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

Let's hope Ravenal plays dirty and destroys Graham.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

More information:

Sign The Thomas Ravenel Petition
WANT LINDSEY GRAHAM GONE? HERE’S HOW …

Over the last few days we’ve been bombarded with requests from readers wanting to know how they can help former statewide official and reality television star Thomas Ravenel appear on the November ballot to run against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Frustration with Graham is at an all-time high, and many pro-freedom, pro-free market voters – Independents, Democrats and Republicans alike – are looking for an alternative to the warmongering liberal. Even those who don’t necessarily like Ravenel have told us they think his participation in the race would be a good thing for the state – citing his outspoken advocacy on behalf of his brand of fiscal conservatism and social libertarianism.
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Read more at http://www.fitsnews.com/2014/06/30/sign-the-thomas-ravenel-petition/