THURSDAY WITH THIGPEN: With health care bill, 'it's politics on all sides'

Every Thursday Dr. Neal Thigpen provides his insights on the week’s top political stories. Today we discuss the memorable moments in South Carolina politics from the past year, the political wrangling over the health care bill, and an endorsement for Lt. Gov. André Bauer.

QUESTION: Three quotations from South Carolina politics have been included in The Yale Book’s ten Most Notable Quotes for 2009. Included were Joe Wilson’s “You Lie!” shout during a presidential address to Congress and “the governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail,” which was uttered by a spokesperson during Gov. Mark Sanford’s June disappearance to Argentina. This certainly highlights the fact that it’s been an interesting year in South Carolina politics. What moment of the last year, in state politics, did you find most memorable?

ANSWER: I think the two you’ve got … are certainly memorable, but I’d add another in there … and this applies to Sanford again … (when he said) that the lady in Argentina was his ‘soul mate’ … I think that’s probably the one that got him in the most trouble … from a personal point of view with Mrs. Sanford … that’s got to be one of the most memorable things … related to politics … the other, I think is Joe Wilson … somebody asked me at the time he uttered ‘You Lie!’ … how bad it would be for him? ... and I said I thought it would be a mix … it’s gotten him a lot of condemnation from South Carolinians and from people across the nation, but it also cut the other way … there were a lot of people who agreed with him and look at all the money he’s raised … and he’s in demand across the country as a speaker in a lot of venues … if anything, he probably came out a bit better … regardless of what anyone thinks of the remark … but certainly it’s got to be one of the top stories, political stories, of 2009.

Q: South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster and seven other state attorneys general are planning to look into the constitutionality of the federal health care reform bill. McMaster, who is running for governor, was asked by U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint to investigate the legality of a no-cost Medicaid deal given to Nebraska, to secure the vote of U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). Republicans have argued that South Carolina and other states shouldn’t have to pay for Nebraska’s Medicaid patients. The state’s top Democrat, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, has said he thinks the complaints are politically motivated and that he plans to seek a sweeter deal for South Carolina. What do you make of all this deal making related to the health care bill? Is this unprecedented? Or is this just business as usual?

A: This business of Henry McMaster and … attorneys general across the country … talking about bringing action, as to the constitutionality of treating states differently with respect to the distribution of federal funds…for whatever the program might be … I don’t know how much merit is in it … I think Congressman Clyburn is at least half right … to the extent that a lot of that is politics on the part of the Republicans…but he’s really only half right because…the negotiations that went on the Democratic side in the U.S. Senate in order to secure Ben Nelson’s vote … and others…that’s just politics … that’s the way … if you’ve got a majority in the U.S. Senate…you get as much pork as you can for your state … and if that’s the cost of the vote … that’s not an unusual way to operate … so it’s politics on all sides.

Q: Former Republican presidential candidate and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has endorsed Lt. Gov. André Bauer in the GOP race for governor of South Carolina. Bauer is facing U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley, S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster, and Berkley Sen. Larry Grooms for the Republican nomination. In a fundraising letter Huckabee wrote, “André Bauer is a champion we can believe in.” Is this a valuable endorsement for the lieutenant governor?

A: Yes I would say so ... of course, what Huckabee is doing is returning the favor ... when (Huckabee) ran here in the Republican presidential primary in 2008 … (Bauer) was one of his major backers … and campaigned with him across the state ... and that endorsement from Huckabee will help (Bauer) in my view … how much it will help is the question … but certainly you’d rather have it than not have it, because Huckabee stood well with the Christian right voters and value voters in this state ... and they’re a group of voters that Bauer … has always stood reasonably well with … but he’s going to need their support in this primary coming up next June … and I would say this is a big plus for him.

— Dr. Neal Thigpen is a longtime political analyst and former political science professor at Francis Marion University, where he served as chairman of the department for 25 years. Active in state and local politics, Thigpen has served numerous times as a delegate to both the state and National Republican Conventions. We talk with Thigpen every week to discuss the latest in South Carolina politics.