My new nickname among my friends is Elizabeth. I acquired the name after my appearance on SC ETV during election night coverage when Sunny Phillips the self proclaimed 'crunchy Republican' repeatedly called me Elizabeth on the air. What a self absorbed bitch that woman was and is. She couldn't be bothered to learn my name because I was a liberal Democrat and as a GOP fund raising consultant I was of absolutely no use or importance to her so why would she even bother to learn my name? On the other hand the other election night blogger Joshua Gross of www.schotline.com couldn't have been more warm or welcoming. I really like him and the rest of the conservative guys at schotline. They post my blog on their conservative political website and actually seem interested in promoting a balanced political dialog...what a concept.

I can't even begin to tell you how weird it was being in that studio that night while the entire nation was turning Democratic and kicking the Republican power structure out on their ear but inside the Columbia city limits it felt like a GOP rally was in full swing. House Speaker Bobby Harrell was on camera questioning the veracity of the exit polls which showed a large majority of voters angered by the Iraq war. A virtual parade of Republican politicians (accurately as it turned out) predicted a GOP sweep of state offices but they seemed stunned by the landslide of Democratic victories across the rest of the country. Before we arrived at the studio, my husband and I agreed that I wouldn't tone down the rhetoric, that I would be my own loud, obnoxious self and am I ever glad I did. Every time I opened my mouth it was like pumping pure oxygen into the room. A couple of times I could hear the camera operators laughed out loud and when I finished some of them even told me to give 'em hell. I was the only one willing to break out of the boring, rote political discourse that is so typical of South Carolina politics. 

During the course of the evening the Republicans made a big show of their token African American candidates and their claims to be the big tent party. What a joke. They seemed amazed by the Democrats willingness to welcome candidates like Heath Schuler and Jim Webb other moderate or social conservative candidates into the party. I guess they fail to understand that unlike the GOP the Democratic Party doesn't have a litmus test on issues and we can agree to disagree on social issues to come together on issues that affect everyone like the minimum wage and the war in Iraq. We've been sidetracked in the past by those petty squabbles and like all families we've had our differences but I think we've proven that we can move to the center and win elections and pull together while the Republicans tear each other apart.

I feel that the Democratic Party fielded a slate of incredibly strong candidates this year and they performed very well on the stump. From the top to the bottom of the ticket we had qualified and articulate candidates in every race. In just two races, Robert Barber in the Lt. Governor's race was clearly the more mature and better qualified candidate while Emile DeFelice was clearly the best candidate for Agriculture Commissioner with a strong clear message about local growers gaining more control of market share, unfortunately for DeFelice and the rest of the slate without an R by their name and without the money to fuel state wide name recognition they were unable to gather the votes necessary to win.

I found it fascinating but not surprising that Jim Rex was able to eke out a victory over Karen Floyd in the race of State Superintendent of Education. I do remain confident that when all the votes are counted, Rex will win because people in South Carolina regardless of political affiliation are passionate about supporting public education and entrusting the job to the best qualified candidate not the best looking. Rex was very clear about killing the issue of school vouchers once and for all and as slick as Floyd was about finessing her position on the matter of school choice voters saw through her façade and divided their party loyalties to vote for Rex in the race for Education Superintendent. I also found it interesting that Karen Floyd barely won her home county of Spartanburg. That's kinda of telling when your neighbors and friends don't solidly support your candidacy, and probably sends a strong message to the rest of the state about this lady's true character.

In the end I stand by what I said the night of the election when you are a liberal Democrat in South Carolina it's tempting to lose faith. It's easy to feel overwhelmed to feel like giving up and throwing in the towel. The Republican majority feels so impenetrable that even when our party fields a strong slate we end up on the losing side. But here's the thing, Democratic National Committee Chairman Dr. Howard Dean didn't give up on any of the 50 states. He never gave up on the south or any of the so-called Red states prior to the mid-term elections He put together a 50 state strategy for the 2006 elections that tipped both the House and the Senate over to the Democratic majority. He put together a winning strategy at a time when everyone and I mean everyone was calling the Democrats losers and advising us to focus on traditionally liberal states and forget the Bush strong holds. Howard Dean knew then and I know now that you have to save your strength to fight another day. You can't give up. We have no choice but to get up and fight on. And fight on we will because I believe that the working people of South Carolina are worth fighting for and I believe in the Democratic Party and I believe in the power of the people and the power of the ballot box.