Poor Choice of Words About the Poor.

Every now and then we read or hear about something that makes us raise our eyebrows and shake our heads. For me, reading or listening to the now infamous “They Breed!” quote from Lt. Governor Andre Bauer certainly raised the brow! I was so taken aback that I probably read parts of it four or five times.

On paper, Andre’s thoughts definitely test the shock meter. As I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I have to think that he didn’t mean it quite like he said it. Controversy, outrage and shock notwithstanding there will probably be one winner amongst all of this flap….Andre Bauer.

In one swoop, Andre has fired up a segment of the Republican party. He’s illustrated and sensationalized an issue to a point that has put him on every TV news channel in South Carolina. The talk and debate is all over Twitter and Facebook. In short, everyone is talking about Andre right now.

It would be a completely different situation if he just apologized. Democrat’s and Republicans alike would be attacking him and perhaps asking him to step down from his job as Lt. Governor. On the contrary, Andre is sticking to his guns. This move will make it difficult for other Republican candidates to deal with.

On the flip side, Sen. Vincent Sheheen’s (D-Kershaw) quick and public demand for an apology likely vaulted his campaign as the leader and unofficial Democratic spokesperson.

Andre, at least for one weekend, owns the conversation about abuse of government assistance. Time will tell if he can parlay this into branding himself as the champion of the issue.