Red Drum Caught Off Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Seacoast, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina Ranked No. 5 On 'Most Innovative Churches' Listing

Church Relevance writes:

Outreach magazine has published the list of the 25 Most Innovative Churches in America for 2008 in their January/February ‘08 issue. As usual, they also publish an in-depth article exploring some of the most innovative things these 25 churches have done over the past year.

While the 25 Most Innovative Churches list is fascinating by itself, I find it equally fascinating to see which previous “church lists” these 25 churches have also been included on. Most of them have been featured on lists of the “fastest-growing,” “the largest,” and “the most influential churches.” So is their “innovation” the key to their success? I’m sure it is a big factor. At the same time, their inclusion on previous lists (as well as other factors) often brings these churches’ innovative methods into the limelight.

Some of the most innovative churches in America may not be on this list because it is impossible to be aware of what all the churches in America are doing. But despite this challenge, Outreach magazine did a pretty good job. Here are the top 15...

'DOUBT' To Stage in Hilton Head at South Carolina Repertory Theatre

Although the following is a review from 'Doubt' premiere in Louisiana, Tom Evans is directing the production to be staged in Hilton Head at the South Carolina Repertory Theatre. 'DOUBT" opens in mid-February, 2008. SCRT is an intimate professional theatre located on the road to the airport down from the hospital on the island. Tom Evans has more than 35 years experience as a director and set designer.

There haven't been many American plays in recent memory as good as John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt: A Parable." Not for nothing did it win the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964, the play's protagonist is the severely dogmatic, 60-ish Sister Aloysius, the much-feared school principal, who suspects the popular young priest, Father Brendan Flynn, of inappropriate sexual behavior with a male student, who happens to be the first African-American in the school.

"Doubt" is a compact, complex, brilliantly constructed play, each of its four characters grounded in his or her own truth. And around every corner of his moral mystery, Shanley is waiting to spring a surprise. Humor and laughter provide entertaining entree into the serious subject matter.

John Dickerson on Barack Trouncing Hillary in South Carolina

In SLATE, John Dickerson writes:

What increased the impact of the trouncing is not just that it's a more than 40-point swing from polls in November where Clinton led Obama by 20 points but that the Clinton campaign worked so hard to knock Obama down in the previous week...

Bill Clinton was unleashed across the state taking on Obama and the press, which he upbraided for giving the challenger an easy ride...

Going into primary day, the national press and political class obsessed over whether Obama's victory would be diminished because he performed disproportionally well among African-Americans. Obama did in fact obliterate his opponents among black voters, winning 82 percent of the vote, but he also got a quarter of the white vote. Obama also did well among independents, who made up 23 percent of the primary electorate: He beat Clinton 40 percent to 23 percent, which helps his argument to Democrats voting in future states that he can capture those swing voters in a contest with Republicans in the fall.

South Carolina Democratic Primary Results with 3% Reporting

Barack Obama
10,326
52%

Hillary Clinton
6,271
32%

John Edwards
3,154
16%

Barack Has Routed Hillary in South Carolina Democratic Primary

Associated Press reports:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially-charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.

I'm still not certain about this being a racially-charged race, but hey... I also did not realize that Barack had lost momentum, except that the media has been telling us that he has been for the last several days, but hey...

South Carolina Voters Will Look Beyond Race to the Issues

photo credit: Patrick Collard




JEFF ZELENY and JULIE BOSMAN write:

Voting took place against a backdrop of intense racial discussions. One poignant reminder of South Carolina’s historic racial divide, the Confederate flag, was swaying in the cool breeze on Saturday only a few yards from where supporters waved placards for Mr. Obama, who would become the nation’s first black president.

Some of Mr. Obama’s strategists worried that the discussions on race could influence the outcome here on Saturday and drive some white voters away from Mr. Obama’s candidacy, boosting the efforts of Mr. Edwards or Mrs. Clinton.

Rick Wade, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, disagreed with the suggestion that support from white voters had decreased or that race would be a deciding factor in the primary’s outcome.

“At the end of the day, I believe that South Carolinians are going to look beyond the rhetoric and the conversations taking place and are more concerned about issues,” Mr. Wade said. “You have to build a broad coalition. It’s the only way you can win in this state.”

I couldn't agree more. Most people, despite the confederate flag on the statehouse grounds, are not as concerned with Barack's race as they are with their pocketbooks and the cost of gasoline, healthcare, and food.

Why Barack? 'The Color of My Skin, I Guess'

Photo Credit: Stephen Morton
SHAILA DEWAN writes from Orangeburg, SC:

On Thursday, on a dirt road near the small town of Bowman, Townsend Pelzer sat in his truck with his two lap dogs while his beagle chased rabbits in the woods. Mr. Pelzer, 83 and black, a retired maintenance worker for the state highway patrol, said he was going to vote for Mr. Obama.

Asked why, Mr. Pelzer shrugged, smiled and pointed to his face, saying, “Color of my skin, I guess.”

Scott Mattingly, 22, a white economics teacher at a virtually all-white private school in Bowman, said that many of his fellow volunteers at the Obama campaign office were “ignorant of the issues and are far more excited about the concept of a black leader.”

Although it makes perfect sense that Mr. Pelzer, at 83, would vote for Barack because their skin colors match, it makes less sense to me that volunteers at Barack's headquarters would be ignorant of the issues.

A Game: Setting High Expectations for Barack in South Carolina

AMY CHOZICK writes:

COLUMBIA, S.C. Mr. Obama has been leading rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in polls by as much as 16 percentage points over the past week. He fares particularly well among African-American voters, who make up half of all registered Democrats in the state. By a 5 to 1 margin, they said they would vote for Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton.

This may seem like good news for Mr. Obama, who scored a first-place finish in the Iowa caucus but finished second to Mrs. Clinton in New Hampshire and Nevada. But with expectations set so high, political pundits say the Illinois senator faces a dilemma: He will have to win by a double-digit margin in order for voters nationwide to perceive South Carolina as a real victory.

Since when is a victory not a real victory? I am beginning to strongly suspect that any win Barack gains is going to be downplayed across the board.

This struggle to meet expectations has been heightened by the Clinton campaign. For the past week, campaign officials have been publicly lowering expectations in South Carolina while reaching out to the nearly two dozen states that will hold primaries on "Super Tuesday," Feb. 5. Mrs. Clinton spent much of the week campaigning in California, Arizona, New Jersey and New York.


After days of criticizing Mrs. Clinton for ignoring the Palmetto State, the Obama campaign seemed to grasp how this expectations game was playing out. It released a memo Wednesday titled "Hillary Clinton going all out to win in South Carolina" that claims she has invested seven months of on-the-ground efforts and more than $200,000 in TV advertising in South Carolina.

Of Course! Black Female Voters in South Carolina Will Vote the Issues

Holly Walker, a professor at the University of South Carolina, writes eloquently on why African-American women will vote on the issues to decide between Hillary and Barack, not on the fact that one is a white woman and the other a black man

Black Voters Are Realizing Whites Will Vote For Barack Obama

Voice of America's JEFF SWICORD writes:

Scott Huffman is a professor of southern politics at Winthrop University in Rock Hill South Carolina. He says race and gender will play a significant role on primary day. "African-Americans make up about 30 percent of South Carolina's overall population but they will make up to about 50 percent of the Democratic primary vote on election day."

Early opinion polls show Senator Hillary Clinton had a significant lead in South Carolina prior to the Iowa caucuses. Both she and husband, former President Bill Clinton, have strong ties to African-American leaders across the country.

Professor Huffman says African-American support began to change in South Carolina when Senator Barack Obama won Iowa, a state with a 2.5 percent black population. "The black voters in South Carolina realized white voters will vote for Barack Obama. That caused a trickle of soft supporters of Hillary Clinton to begin moving over to Barack Obama. And his lead in the African-American community has been growing ever since."

The Spat Over Race: Barack and Hillary

RON FOURNIER writes:

As for Obama and Clinton, racially tinged remarks were slipped into their stump speeches like so many stale bread crumbs. On Friday, the New York senator praised New York Rep. Charles Rangel as a man who rise to power without "leapfrogging" — a term that any thinking member of her predominantly black audience understood to apply to the precocious Obama.

The Illinois senator, following a strategic template that his top adviser, David Axelrod, has deployed to elect other young black politicians, waited until as late as possible in the campaign to start overtly identifying with the black community. He did so in South Carolina, where blacks make up half or more of the Democratic electorate.

"I need you to grab Cousin Pookie to vote," Obama said, playfully breaking out the black vernacular in Kingstree, S.C., on Thursday. "I need you to get Ray-Ray to vote."

David Smith, 36, a black voter backing Obama, shook his head in disgust as he discussed the spat over race while awaiting for Obama to speak in Sumpter, S.C.

"They both ought to knock it off," he said of Obama and Clinton. "It's not becoming of a past or future president."

A black man who identified himself as a pastor told Bill Clinton at an event in Kingstree, S.C., that black voters should rally behind his wife to keep Republicans out of the White House. Of white Americans, he said: "They're not ready for a black president."

Several black audience members nodded and said, "That's right."

"I have to tell you I hope you're not right," Bill Clinton responded.

Barack Obama Takes Commanding Lead in South Carolina Democratic Primary

Outbursts, Rebukes, Questions of Honesty: Barack and Hillary Campaigning in South Carolina

CHARLES BABINGTON writes:

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Democrat Barack Obama questioned Hillary Rodham Clinton's candor and trustworthiness Wednesday, saying she has indulged in double-talk on bankruptcy laws, trade and other issues.

The Illinois senator's comments, continuing a theme he has stressed in recent days, may have contributed to an outburst by former President Clinton, who rebuked Obama and sharply accused journalists of treating him more gently than they treat the Clintons.

The atmosphere grew more charged throughout the day after Clinton's campaign aired an ad in South Carolina suggesting Obama approved of Republican ideas.

Questions about the candidates' honesty and consistency have been paramount since Monday's testy presidential debate between Obama and Clinton...

"Corridor of Shame" Documentary Trailer

The Confederate Flag, Pitchfork Ben, and the Corridor of Shame

Bob Herbert writes:

In South Carolina the Confederate flag is flying right out there in the open and Pitchfork Ben is on display for all to see. But in most other places, the hostility to blacks remains on the down-low. No one wants to deal with it.

Despite big and important advances over the past several decades, including Senator Obama’s crossover campaign, racism remains alive and well in much of the country. And yet no one — not Bill Clinton, the man touted (absurdly) as the first black president; or Hillary Clinton, who’s running for president; or Barack Obama, the first black person with a real shot at the White House — is willing to talk honestly and openly about it.

Democratic Debate: "I Just Want to Be Clear About This"

"I can't tell who I'm running against, sometimes." Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton referring to her husband, Bill Clinton.

And, John Edwards asks, "How many kids are going to get an education from this?" regarding the "squabbling" between Barack and Hillary. "The American people deserve to know what we are going to do" about the problems in our society and economy, I presume.

Edwards also says, "African American families are more vulnerable to predatory lenders and payday lenders...we need a national predatory lender law."

Barack says, "This is not new...we have a history in this country of preying upon people who are financially strapped..."

"We have to have consistency in how we vote," Barack says.

"Does you plan cover the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country?" Barack says, "It does not." Then says the important question is: "How are we going to get this (health-care reform) done?" Ooh, he implies that when health insurance is made mandatory (as Hillary says it must become), the money will be taken forcefully from our paychecks!

Edwards says, "Everybody is worthy of health care."

Barack says, "If we are not making it affordable enough, and you mandate that families have to buy it then they have to choose between that and being fined for not having health insurance."

Hillary says, "I'm looking to bring our troops home when I am President. There is no military solution...I will put the Iraqi government on notice..."

"I want to be as careful in getting out as we were getting in," says Barack regarding troop withdrawals from Iraq. "We are seeing Al-Qaida stronger than ever since 2001."

Hillary says that Bush is trying to establish permanent bases in Iraq without approval of Congress.

"People want to move beyond our divisions..." says Barack. "Race is a factor in our society, there's no doubt that this peaks interest... but I don't want to sell the American people short."

Mike Huckabee: "The Momentum Is Back"

APRIL CASTRO writes:

NAVASOTA, Texas - After a disappointing second place showing in the South Carolina Republican primary, Mike Huckabee hoped a fundraiser at the ranch of television star Chuck Norris Sunday would be the start of a momentum shift in his favor.

"Starting today, we reset the clock," Huckabee said. "I woke up this morning and I thought 'the momentum is back.'"

Huckabee needed to win South Carolina to validate his win in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Instead, he came in second to John McCain, who solidified a shaky GOP front-runner status that he first claimed after winning the New Hampshire primary Jan. 8.

As the first Southern primary, South Carolina was supposed to be friendly territory for Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister.

"We obviously wanted to win and we really thought we would win," he said. "The fact of Fred Thompson's being in the race took some votes that we would have most likely had."

Huckabee also blamed late snowfall in parts of upstate South Carolina.

"The snow not only froze the streets of the Greenville-Spartanburg area, the votes kinda stopped once it started snowing," he said. "That was an area we were looking forward to having a significant vote margin."

Mike Huckabee's Concession Speech in Columbia, South Carolina

The Republican Party Presidential Race: A Kaleidoscope

Glen Johnson writes:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Republican presidential race, it appears, has taken on the qualities of a kaleidoscope.

Every primary or caucus, the winner looks inside and sees something else, underscoring the volatile nature of a 2008 nominating contest that is still moving toward clarity.

Leading contenders are emerging, hangers-on are dropping away and in less than 10 days, the viability of Rudy Giuliani's unconventional political strategy will be judged in plain view.

The 57 delegates at stake in Florida, the virtual dead heat at the start of the campaign's final act and the momentum the winner could gain heading into the 20-plus contests being held Feb. 5 have the potential to turn Florida's Jan. 29 primary into the make-or-break contest of the race.

John McCain glided in, following up his win in the New Hampshire primary with another big-ticket victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary. To the Arizona senator, it was sweet justice, for it was South Carolina where George W. Bush pummeled him into submission in 2000 after McCain had similarly won the New Hampshire primary.

"It took us awhile, but what's eight years among friends?" McCain joked at his victory party.