|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
The Once and Future King?
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Container
|
| Contributor | Joshua L. |
| Last Edited | Joshua L. May 23, 2004 07:36pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Interview |
| News Date | Sunday, May 23, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Former Gov. David Beasley has returned from the wilderness to dominate the GOP Senate race, reminding South Carolina voters that reports of his political demise were greatly exaggerated.
David Beasley is in the midst of a furious comeback at a time when many politicians his age are still setting the stage for their first grand maneuver. At 47, the former Republican governor and veteran of 14 years in the State House of Representatives is leading the pack of candidates vying for the US Senate seat being vacated by Fritz Hollings, himself a former governor. Beasley entered the race late, after many GOP voters had essentially yawned and changed the channel over a field featuring Congressman Jim DeMint, former Attorney General Charlie Condon, businessman Thomas Ravenel, Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride and businesswoman Orly Benny Davis.
In December of last year, with rumors of a possible Beasley candidacy swirling in state political circles, a busload of supporters led by influential State House members Rep. Bill Sandifer and Rep. Jim Harrison made a trip to Beasley's office in Darlington. At the time, he announced that he was indeed considering a run for the US Senate.
It would be the latest move in a star-crossed political career that started when he was a 20-year-old college student who decided to run for the General Assembly. Public service was apparently something of a family tradition. "My great-great-grandfather was elected to the House of Representatives in 1878 -- the same day one hundred years later that I was elected, so I've been trying to undo a lot of stuff that they did," recalls Beasley with a laugh, but it is clear he sees continuity in that commitment. Before he was done, the young Democrat from Darlington would become a Republican, rising to House Majority and Speaker Pro Tempore before making a successful run for governor in 1994. Four years later, the Confederate flag, video poker and Jim Hodges merged into a perfect political storm that d |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
