SPEAKING FREELY ON SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATS IN THE WILDERNESS

With the crucial 2026 midterms fast approaching, I keep thinking of the title of Richard Farina's 1966 counter-culture novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me. Sad to admit, one could make the case that this is the state of our party in South Carolina.

Look at the facts. The Republicans control a super-majority in the state House of Representatives (88 to 36) and in the Senate (34-12). The last Democrat in the Governor's mansion was Jim Hodges, who left office in January, 2003. The last Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate was Fritz Hollings, who retired in 2005. We have a single Democrat in our House delegation, Jim Clyburn.

Why have we effectively been shut out of power for more than 20 years? The reasons are many:

First, Republican candidates are better funded, particularly in state legislative races.

Second, Republicans have developed a pipeline of candidates eager to run for a vacant seat, while we struggle to find candidates.

Third, Republicans found two issues with which to hammer Democrats: women's reproductive rights and gun rights. Their positions are simple: women have no reproductive rights, and gun owners have whatever rights they want. They have ridden those issues hard, election after election, victory after victory. They are still chipping away at what's left of a woman's right to make her own reproductive health care decisions. They now seek to criminalize the use of mifepristone and misoprostol to end a pregnancy.

Fourth, racial gerrymandering in the redistricting process, to which some Democrats have been a party, has given us a handful of safe seats, but at the price of real power. It is time to debate whether we would have better chances for victory if Black voters were spread logically throughout more districts, and not concentrated in a few.

Fifth, in cycle after cycle our candidates run on issues familiar to voters. How many campaign kick-off speeches have you heard in which our candidates call for good jobs, a more inclusive economy, affordable housing, passage of a hate crimes statute, and stronger support for public education?

All are worthy objectives. But they haven't moved the electoral needle. Affordable housing and an inclusive economy are complex economic and political problems. A hate crimes statute is not going to improve policing in South Carolina. Charter schools are here to stay.

There are, however, many issues that our candidates could embrace that would improve life for all South Carolinians and put Republicans on the defensive, which is where we must put them. Consider a campaign kickoff speech proposing the following:

Concurrence. It's time for developers to plan and pay for the costs related to new housing developments. This includes roads, schools, sewers, flood control and more. Time and again largely Republican county councils have permitted developers to build communities and then flee from the problems they create. Make them face up to their role in traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, flooding, and more.

Data Centers. Require Big Tech to shoulder all the costs--land preparation, water, electricity--required for these massive centers. Locate them in areas far from where counties are planning for real growth. Because they bring few jobs, hit them with stiff taxes for the privilege of building.

Charter School Accountability. Because the charters are not going away, we should demand they prove through standardized testing that they are just as effective at educating students as are the publics. The charters need much stronger oversight, given they do not have school boards. The State should oversee the operation of charters and make them accountable for the public tax dollars they are spending. Republicans love charters. Make Republicans defend their often shoddy performance.

Anti-SLAPP Suit Law. The acronym stands for "Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation." Donald Trump has raised this tactic to an art form, suing everyone who criticizes him. But he is not alone. Big businesses and other politicians file bogus libel suits against Average Joes to punish them for speaking out against their policies. As the Post and Courier has pointed out, 34 states already have laws that help Average Joes fight back against these suits that are meant to chill our speech, speech protected by the First Amendment. South Carolina does not have this law protecting its citizens, but it should.

There are dozens of real problems our communities need addressed that Democrats should make into wedge election issues. We must stop being the loyal opposition and advocate for new policies that will improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.

Political rebirth can happen, but it will take a new approach by South Carolina Democrats. Clearly the past tactics have failed us.