The Buzz | Obama still winning the S.C. fundraising race

COLUMBIA -- Obama still winning this S.C. race

He has as much chance of carrying South Carolina as the state has of hosting the Winter Olympics, but President Obama continues to be the top individual presidential fundraiser in South Carolina.

As of year-end 2011, Democrat Obama had raised $343,497 in the state, easily topping the $162,746 raised by the No. 2 S.C. fundraiser, Republican Mitt Romney.

Obama’s most productive fundraising area was Columbia; Romney did best in the Charleston area.

Among the other still-active candidates, S.C. totals at year-end were:

•  Ron Paul – $113,926, almost a quarter from the Greenville area

•  Newt Gingrich, who won the state’s GOP primary – $103,415, roughly 30 percent from the Greenville area

•  Rick Santorum – $96,594, roughly a quarter – is there a trend here? – from the Greenville area. (However, Santorum’s best fundraising area was in the Midlands if you combine Columbia and the Lugoff-Elgin areas.)

However, perhaps better reflecting the Palmetto State’s intense red-ness, the 11 present and former Republican candidates had raised a combined $743,252 in the Palmetto State at year’s end, more than doubling Obama’s take.

The Republicans struck their richest vein in the Greenville area, accounting for a quarter of their money. The nearby Spartanburg area contributed another 10 percent; Charleston-area donors kicked in another 17 percent.

Democrat Obama did best in the Columbia and Charleston areas, which accounted for more than half his money.

Valentine’s Day texting, Take 1

What is it with disgraced politicos and the Internet?

State Rep. Thad Viers, R-Horry, took to Twitter Tuesday to give his “rules of Valentine’s Day for guys.” His tips included “Don’t be gay” when it comes to picking out a card and “don’t go to a gas station” to buy wine. He compared taking your date to a movie on Valentine’s Day to taking her to “a strip club w/ a buffet.”

After reading Viers’ tweets, Buzz couldn’t help but notice Viers’ tone mimicked the irreverent style of Will Folks, Gov. Mark Sanford’s former press secretary who has his own troubled romantic history.

Folks left the governor’s office, but reinvented himself as an Internet blogger. Perhaps Viers – who says he will not run for re-election – is hoping to become the next Folks?

Valentine’s Day Texting, Take 2

We know Senate Democrats were stalling Gov. Nikki Haley’s Department of Administration bill, we just did not expect it to get so personal.

Among the Democrats.

After about four hours of debate on Valentine’s Day, state Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, took the floor to urge the Senate – all male, he noted – to adjourn for the sake of everyone’s marriage.

But after five weeks of debate and snide comments from House brethren about the Senate’s deliberative deliberativeness, Republicans were determined to work late.

The vote to adjourn failed. But before the votes were counted, state Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, stood up and said his wife had just texted him and he needed to change his vote to adjourn from “no” to “aye.”

That’s when Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, said Lourie’s wife also had texted him to say she was going out – with or without Lourie.

That’s cute. But what is Lourie’s wife doing sending text messages to Jackson on Valentine’s Day?

(OK, OK. Jackson was joking.)

The sixth week of the legislative session:

• Government restructuring | South Carolina senators unanimously approved the largest overhaul of state government in decades. Thursday’s 40-0 vote returns to the House a bill abolishing the Budget and Control Board and putting many of its duties under the governor’s jurisdiction. The House approved a very different version last year.

Supporters say it streamlines and modernizes state government. The measure eliminates the 1,000-employee Budget and Control Board, as of January 2013, and divvies up its various responsibilities. Workers will be dispersed as well; senators don’t expect job losses.

• Inmate-sex surgery | A South Carolina legislative panel on Thursday advanced a bill to prohibit state money from being used for sex change surgeries for inmates – a move opponents said brings them one step closer to a lawsuit challenging the legislation. According to agency spokesman Clark Newsom, no inmates have actually undergone the surgery in prison, and only one has asked for it, later changing his mind after counseling.

• Law enforcement priorities | Bills that would clear up South Carolina’s law against human trafficking – championed by Surfside Beach Rep. Nelson Hardwick – and levy harsher sentences for some murder crimes are among a 10-point legislative wish list presented Wednesday by the state’s top prosecutor and law enforcement leaders. Among the proposals is a bill that would make a prison sentence of life without parole mandatory for murder cases, including cases of kidnapping, armed robbery or where the victim is a child age 11 or under.

• Education goals | South Carolina’s education system needs dramatic improvement for the state to compete economically, according to a report Monday from the Education Oversight Committee. The report, titled “A Wake-Up Call for South Carolina,” shows the state is falling behind on its benchmarks and, without changes, won’t meet the group’s 2020 goals. The “2020 Vision” focuses on four areas: reading proficiency, high school graduation, work force readiness and failing schools.

The Associated Press