Ken Taylor -  Host of Political Graffiti on RivertownRadio.com  (The views expressed in this article do not necessarily express the views of The Conway Journal)

After the Civil War ended many opportunistic northerners who sought to take advantage of the financial struggles of the Southern States especially former Plantation owners in the immediate after math of the war came to the South. They attempted to and in most instances stole property and other belongings of Southerners using owed taxes as a means of their theft and thus buying valuable property for pennies on the dollar or just plain stealing it. They also manipulated politics in the South to their financial advantage for several years.  They became known as Carpetbaggers because of the carpet like bags they carried as luggage.

The term has become a derogatory term for one who is opportunistic and exploitative and in modern day politics one who runs for public office in a community without any deep political ties.  Just using the opportunity to try and gain a seat in Congress without truly knowing anything about the people they are supposedly wanting to represent.

South Carolina is gaining a new Congressional District, District 7 that comprises the northeastern corner of the state including Myrtle Beach, Conway and Horry County extending south to Georgetown and west to cover Dillon, Marion and Marlboro counties and part of Florence County.  As expected several candidates threw their hat into the ring on the Republican ticket and a primary election narrowed it down to two, Tom Rice a life long resident of the new District and Andre Bauer former Lt. Governor and yes, Carpetbagger!

Bauer's tax records list his official residence as Greenville, SC which is in the opposite end of the state for the District he is now seeking to represent.  In fact speculation was that because of his residing in Greenville,  Bauer would seek the District 4 Congressional Seat which represents the Greenville, SC area.  But it turns out the current Representative from that District, Trey Gowdy is rather popular and expected to easily win reelection. So Bauer grabbed his Carpetbag and magically found residence in District 7 hoping to use his name recognition as Lt. Governor and win the new seat.

Now there is nothing illegal about moving into an area and running for office from that area. But our Founders envisioned something different for The House of Representatives and Bauer obviously doesn't understand that vision. The Founders intended for House members to be average citizens who lived, worked and knew the District they were elected to represent. They were to be folk who local citizens respected and knew from experience in living with them and thus trusting them to represent them in Congress.

When looking at Bauer's campaign literature, signs, website and advertising one does not see a local resident seeking to represent District 7, but an opportunist who is running a national campaign on national issues and local issues matter little or not at all.  If elected, if his campaign is any indication, Bauer will use his Congressional seat as a national forum and not as a representative of the people of South Carolina District 7.  Sure, any member of Congress must deal with national issues but as a member of the House the priority must be District first and what best represents the people of that District.

We have too many people in Washington now who neglect the people and seek the spotlight and national fame rather than doing the business of the constituents who hired them in the first place. South Carolina District 7 does not need a Carpetbagger from the upstate to be our voice in Washington but a local who though concerned about the Nation and national issues still seeks to represent the people of the District he is elected from and not the national spotlight.

I voted for Tom Rice in the primary and will do so again in the run off election later this month. If we expect to see a change in Washington politics as usual we the people must remove the Carpetbaggers and the politicians who seek the spotlight and vote in those who will represent the people and as such the best interests of the Nation and not publicity seekers like Bauer whose opportunistic view is for Bauer and not the people. 

Ken Taylor -  Host of Political Graffiti on RivertownRadio.com  (The views expressed in this article do not necessarily express the views of The Conway Journal)