Thomas Ravenel to run against Lindsey Graham in the General

[Vanguard101]

Graham goes. 6 years from now we elect a real republican. Hopefully Bright sticks around.

 

[RonPaulMall]

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.

The dynamic is different in the primary though. Remember, even at the state level most journalists are Democrats. They viewed all the challengers to Graham as unknown whackos, didn't want them to win, and didn't believe they had a chance to win. And as a result, the challengers got no attention in the media. But Ravenel is a good looking reality TV star with a salacious life story. They'll have to cover him just for the tabloid element. And what if that free media attention gets Ravenel 10% in the polls? Well now all the sudden he's within striking distance of giving the race to Hutto. And with the balance of the Senate in the balance, journalists are going to want to do all they can to prop Ravenel up, giving him more and more attention. And then the national media and Democratic operatives will get in on the helping hand as well.

 

[mad cow]

Cantor and Graham falling in the same year?It would send a message.If he gets on the ballot,he gets some money from me.

 

[RonPaulMall]

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.

The Democratic nominee this year is not somebody that holds to potential to galvanize Conservative voters. Six years ago, a Ron Paul Republican actually won the Democratic Senate Primary and it would have been a great opportunity to employ such a tactic, but this year Ravenel represents the last hope of somebody conservatives might rally behind and finally rid us of Lindsey Graham.

 

[Mr.NoSmile]

The dynamic is different in the primary though. Remember, even at the state level most journalists are Democrats. They viewed all the challengers to Graham as unknown whackos, didn't want them to win, and didn't believe they had a chance to win. And as a result, the challengers got no attention in the media.

Which, given the results of the primary and Graham's war chest, none of them did. And I'd guess that not many people outside of South Carolina Republican circles knew the names of Richard Cash, Lee Bright, Nancy Mace and so on before this race.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Ravenel makes Senate run official

A Charleston businessman and reality TV star has announced his plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Lindsey Graham.

Thomas Ravenel, former state treasurer who resigned from office after his arrest on drug charges, announced his run Friday. He still must deliver 10,000 signatures from registered voters to state election officials by July 15 to get on the ballot.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/sto...4/ravenel-makes-senate-run-official/12235097/

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Extensive article on Ravenel:

With the South Carolina GOP primary behind him, Sen. Lindsey Graham appears to be on a glide path to re-election. But as of July 4th, Graham will have one more hurdle to clear when Thomas Ravenel, a wealthy Charleston real estate developer and the former Republican state Treasurer, announces that he'll challenge Graham as an independent candidate on the November ballot.

Ravenel’s name won’t be new to most South Carolinians, nor some reality TV fans. He is the scion of the deeply rooted Ravenel political family, the face of a 2007 cocaine scandal that forced him from office, and, most recently, a cast member of Southern Charm, a reality show on Bravo TV that chronicled the alcohol-fueled lives of the single, social and well-connected in Charleston.
...
Now that he has been “emancipated” from the party label, the more libertarian Ravenel gladly holds forth on just about any issue that comes up.

On federal spending he warns that the nation is headed for “a doomsday scenario.” “The federal government is making all these promises, but at some point, we’re not going to be able to fulfill those promises,” he says. "We're going to end up like dogs fighting for scraps."

He also speaks of the overarching need for Americans to reevaluate their relationship with their government, "We need to ask not what your government can do for you, but what you can do for yourself and where necessary, what you can do for others.”

On marriage equality, he says he’d rather see the government stay out of marriage altogether. “But if we’re going to have equal treatment under the law, if you’re going to give certain benefits to heterosexual couples that are married, likewise treatment must be given to those who are gay and married,” he said. “A lot of Republicans are intimidated by strident, hateful anti-gay rhetoric from religious right leaders. I’m not cowed by these people. I don’t have to be.”
...
While immigration, marriage equality, and even drug legalization (which he supports) are growing in acceptance among young voters in particular, the largest gulf between Ravenel and his former party is on the role of the U.S. military around the globe. He warns that the U.S. has engaged in nation building, humanitarian missions, and picking winners and losers in countries where we have a track record of getting it wrong.

“I want a military that defends America, not a military that defends Germany or defends Japan,” he said. “The EU has a GDP bigger than America’s. I don’t blame them. Why spend any money on your own military when America’s got it covered?”

His liberty-laced, pro-Constitution approach sounds a lot like the Tea Party activists who railed against Graham and he says agrees in large part with the Tea Party, but not 100%. “We all want limited government. But there are a lot of different factions within the Tea Party movement.”
...
More:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/04/the-new-convictions-of-thomas-ravenel.html

 

[Brian4Liberty]

 

[Brian4Liberty]

You have to like how he brought up Obama's drug use. He could add Bush and Clinton to that list too.

Thomas Ravenel: ‘My skeletons are out there’

Thomas Ravenel is the first to admit he’s not a perfect candidate.

“If I can just get the drug vote, I can win by a landslide,” he said cheerfully on Tuesday, the day after he filed a petition to run for Senate in South Carolina against incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham as an independent candidate. “I’m not a perfect messenger. But those so-called perfect people with those blemish-free backgrounds are the people that are running the Republic into the ground. My skeletons are out there for everyone to see.”
...
“I tell them the truth,” he said. He called himself “arrogant” for using cocaine as such a high-profile figure — and is “embarrassed and ashamed” of the DUI — but as for the rest, Ravenel firmly believes that the drug laws in the United States need to go.

“A reporter once said, ‘How can we trust you, you did drugs?’” he said. “My response was, ‘How about we ask Barack Obama: Would society have benefited if he’d been arrested and incarcerated? Would society have benefited? If not, why is he enforcing those drug laws?’”

Many of Ravenel’s policy positions came back to the drug war and his experiences living life as a convicted felon. He blamed the current immigration crisis on America’s drug war abroad, calling both for immigration reform that created an easier legal immigration process and a change to America’s overall drug policies in dealing with foreign countries.

“The way they enforce the drug laws is so racist,” he said. “The whole system is so corrupt.”

While Ravenel’s drug policies line up more with those of libertarian Ron Paul and his ideas on creating an easier path for legal immigration may align more with Democrats, he casts himself as a solid independent who abhors the two-party system. He’s staunchly pro-business, anti-union and supports states’ rights. At the same time, he’s for gay rights and against what he called the military-industrial complex that’s driving American foreign policy. He also supports term limits and, if elected, would impose one on himself.
...
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/thomas-ravenel-drugs-2014-south-carolina-108970.html

 

[Brian4Liberty]

And Graham thought it was a done deal...

Ravenel Calls Out Graham For Accepting Bloomberg Cash

EDISTO, SC – Lowcountry businessman and independent U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Ravenel called on U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham to publicly disavow a $250,000 contribution made by former New York Mayor and notable anti-Second Amendment zealot Michael Bloomberg to a “Republican” political action committee that’s supporting Graham’s reelection.
...
Read more at http://www.fitsnews.com/2014/07/15/ravenel-calls-graham-accepting-bloomberg-cash/

 

[jurgs01]

Waiting for a website to come out with concrete issue positions. I'm sure they will be pretty good, but he needs to put them down and get official for this race.

 

[philipped]

I hope this guy knocks Graham out of his seat.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Graham at 39% favorable...44% unfavorable.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) –

...the poll including Ravenel was conducted only days after he filed, so he’s not had much time to generate broad, state-wide support for his campaign. At this point, the former state treasurer-turned-reality show celebrity is pulling in 10 percent of the vote, primarily from the Upstate, 12 percent of voters there, and the Lowcountry, 10 percent of voters.

“It remains to be seen whether Ravenel is a factor in this for the long haul,” Lee said.

Ravenel responded to the poll’s results early Friday morning, quoting John Paul Jones in saying he was just starting his battle for the Senate seat.

"I'm at ten percent and haven't spent a dime getting my message out. By contrast Lindsey Graham has spent $5 million getting his message out in the last few months and his approval rating is only 39 percent,” Ravenel said.

“No one has ever seriously challenged him - he's never had to defend his votes for unnecessary wars, unnecessary government, anti-competitive tax hikes or liberal Supreme Court justices. I'm not only going to hold him accountable for those votes - I'm going to offer people a competing vision for the direction of this country.”

Ravenel says he’s willing to spend “whatever it takes” to show South Carolina voters the difference between him and Graham.

...
...Graham’s approval rating is upside down, according to the poll.

There’s a five-point split, 39-44, on Graham’s approval and a lot of people on the far right are still upset with the way Graham has voted, but he did well in the primary where he had to fend off a number of challengers.
...
More:
http://www.abcnews4.com/story/26106533/poll-ravenel-not-a-factor-for-graham-in-senate-race

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Waiting for a website to come out with concrete issue positions. I'm sure they will be pretty good, but he needs to put them down and get official for this race.

It's up:

http://www.ravenelforsenate.com/

 

[CaseyJones]

subforum?

 

[Brian4Liberty]

subforum?

Probably not worth the effort. Sometimes I get the feeling this is more of a PR thing for him.

 

[CaseyJones]

Probably not worth the effort. Sometimes I get the feeling this is more of a PR thing for him.

not saying he is liberty or that he is gonna win, but anything that we can do to help take Graham out would be a good thing

 

[Aratus]

ought we to give him space here, anyway? perhaps?
even if we run the risk of upsetting mitch mcconnell?

 

[CaseyJones]

ought we to give him space here, anyway? perhaps?
even if we run the risk of upsetting mitch mcconnell?

we should, and I think even mcconnell would secretly be happy should graham lose

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Burger King...

OBAMA/GRAHAM CORPORATE TAXES KILLING JOBS

By Thomas Ravenel

Burger King, Inc. is considering moving its headquarters to Canada to avoid paying Obama/Graham taxes of nearly 40% for corporations. How many more American jobs will be lost due to an economic environment that is hostile to free enterprise and job creation? President Obama and Senator Lindsey Graham have been working hand-in-hand to kill jobs for the last six years through government overregulation and burdensome taxes.

It is time to send someone to Washington who believes in free enterprise and getting the federal government off the backs and out of the pockets of job creators. As an independent conservative candidate for U.S. Senate, I believe South Carolina deserves better than the status quo. While Lindsey Graham has been a cheerleader for Obama’s destructive economic policies, I will stand up to Obama and stand up for the beliefs – and pocketbooks – of the business owners and consumers of South Carolina.
...
More:
http://www.ravenelforsenate.com/obamagraham-corporate-taxes-killing-jobs/