South Carolina Republicans have once again made national headlines for their backward antics, this time with a county GOP “purity pledge” that requires candidates to promise never to watch porn, have premarital sex or cheat on their spouse.
The 28-point pledge also requires candidates to oppose abortion and same-sex unions in any circumstances, prompting one Democratic operative to mock South Carolina Republicans for being “stuck in a social time machine.”
The state Republican Party chairman initially supported the pledge, telling the Clinton Chronicle, “If we are wearing the same uniform, I want to be sure we are kicking the ball toward the same goal.” But in light of national ridicule — and the fact that such ideological litmus tests are flatly illegal — the state GOP has since nixed the purity pledge.
However, the SCGOP’s delayed damage control hasn’t stopped the widespread mocking of their platform. On Wednesday, the state Democratic Party released a video of several prominent Republican heroes directly contradicting the pledge’s requirements. State party chair Dick Harpootlian jokingly compared Republicans’ seeming obsession with sex to a repressive defense mechanism.
“Since it is apparent porn and sex must be a big enough problem in the Republican Party to warrant a written pledge to avoid them, I would be very cautious about getting into a small space like a bathroom or a voting booth with a Republican,” Harpootlian commented.
Harpootlian also criticized Republicans for focusing on divisive social issues instead of meaningful economic and education legislation.
Can’t help but think this is not the entire story here. Why don’t youi post a copy of this so called pledge so we can see it.
quote from the State newspaper
The governor first tried to blame the media for focusing on controversial Republican stances on reproductive rights issues, before (incorrectly) suggesting the federal government wants to mandate “when we have to have it and when we don’t.”
Great review of our Governor when she is representing our state. Did you see any of all of her appearances while in NY. I did she was great.