The Democratic candidate doesn't seem concerned about T-Rav, though. Says Hutto campaign consultant Lachlan McIntosh:
We welcome anyone with sincere ideas to the race. Lindsey Graham's tenure has been like a bad sitcom that won't get canceled. People are looking for a new voice. They're looking for someone who will put South Carolina first.
Hutto's campaign might benefit from T-Rave in the race, too, on the basis that Ravenel might sway votes away from the Republican. After all, Graham isn't very much in favor with members of his own party. Four county GOPs have formally censured Graham, and a pre-primary poll found that a majority of Republican voters in the state won't confirm their support for the incumbent in the November election. And recall the '08 race, when a nobody with less than $2,000 to spend on his campaign still took 42 percent.
If T-Rav joins the race, many Republican voters might select him instead of holding their noses while they vote for Graham. Add in Libertarian candidate Victor Kocher, and it makes it easier for Hutto to unseat the incumbent, even if only by a plurality win.
But Ravenel will have to overcome the first four levels of his hyphenated history to even make a dent in this fifth one of the Senate race. He's the rich kid of a man who, after six decades of politics, is best known for racism. He's run for office before - only to quickly end his first success in the political game with a felony drug conviction. And the latest chapter in the Life of T-Rav is only a cheesy reality show that further embeds his reputation of spoiled-rotten rich kid. Like Karen Kedrowski, poli-sci professor at Winthrop University, said about Ravenel's possible campaign in The State's recent article:
He would probably be considered a pretty poor investment.
If he wants to make a message in this latest step, then he needs to shape up, sober up, and even somber up before he'll get any positive regard from voters. Only then will Ravenel come close to scoring five-percent of the vote, which might be his maximum achievement in this race for U.S. Senate.
And after the election, while the rest of South Carolina makes a few forward steps, T-Rav can just mosey on off in the sunset, where maybe he can play polo or bocce ball. Or maybe even return to a Club Med federal prison where he can lean yet another pastime.
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