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Posted on 12/10/2001 4:19:27 AM PST by wimpycat

South Carolina Democrats blew it. The special election last Tuesday for Senate District No. 43 was a gimme for them, but they frittered it away by deciding to play the race card at the end.

At issue was a controversial radio ad played on black radio stations to energize the African-American vote.

The commercial, paid for and produced by the state Senate Democratic Caucus, had a black announcer portraying Republicans as country-clubbers who want to take the state back to the days of segregated communities and poor schools in black neighborhoods.

"These are the same Republicans who put the Confederate flag in our face and wanted the symbol of hate to stay atop our State House dome. ...

"They are the same narrow-minded people who want Republican John Kuhn in the Senate," the announcer said.

It backfired.

Republican Kuhn defeated Democrat Leon Stavrinakis, the favored candidate. The vote wasn't even close: 57 percent to 43 percent.

The district is 38 percent black. It has been in Democratic hands for a dozen years or more. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore carried it by a comfortable margin. The seat became vacant when state Democratic Sen. Ernie Passailaigue resigned to become executive director of the State Lottery Commission.

The race turned ugly.

Mark Hartley, immediate past chairman of the Charleston County GOP and a moderate, was offended.

"That ad was way out of bounds. It was ridiculous for them to imply that Republicans want to send blacks to inferior schools or return to segregated communities. It's just hogwash," he protested.

As always, negative ads beget negative ads.

So, what did the Republicans do? They took the Democratic ad and played it on radio stations serving the white community. Their attitude was if Democrats want it out, then let the whole community see the kind of politics they practice.

It cost the Democrats the election.

While the ad had its intended effect -- to increase black turnout -- it sacrificed the white voters in the process.

The Goose Creek precinct, 21 percent black, voted 78 percent for Kuhn. White voters turned out in large numbers. The same was true for whites south of Broad Street.

"There's no question that by stooping to the level they did, the Democrats energized our base. We couldn't have done it without their help," said GOP consultant Heath Thompson.

Campaign consultants for Stavrinakis made it clear the radio ad wasn't their idea. It was the Senate Democratic Caucus. They said in hindsight that if they had to do it all over again, they would have vetoed the radio ad.

Senate Minority Leader John Land, chairman of the Democratic caucus, said he didn't hear it or sign off on it.

But generally, he said, "I like a positive campaign."

Democrats blamed defeat on turnout, not the ad. "We just have real difficulty in special elections," said state Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian.

State GOP Chairman Henry McMaster weighed in, saying, "It was the same old discredited and contemptible fear tactics that Democrats have used successfully, but this time it backfired on them."

If this is a foretaste of what we can expect next year, the 2002 elections could become really nasty. Here's hoping wiser heads will prevail.

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