He’ll drop out. As he should.
Please tell us about the domestic violence programming that you’ve undertaken and how that led to the changes you’ve made. Why should you be considered an advocate for women at this time? I’d hate to think all your ex-wife got for her trouble was a divorce and some scars.
According to his website he wants to bring a certain South Carolinian species of “civility” to Washington. But maybe there’s an instinct for politics that’s missing here and the idea of seeking public office was misguided.
It’s not impossible that during the ensuing 45 years he’s learned better. Lots of people do really stupid, even really assh*le things in college, and then learn from them and become decent people. (Unlike, say, trump and his cronies, or Bush2 and his.)
But the fact that he didn’t even consider telling anyone about this during the exploratory phase, along with the immediate exodus of most of his staff, does not inspire confidence.
At least he was quite clear that what he did then was terribly wrong, rather than just apologizing to anyone who might have been offended. (Or threatening/assaulting the reporters who asked him to comment.)
Unfortunately, the primary for SC is only a few weeks off, Parnell was the prohibitive favorite before this, and none of the remaining candidates are terribly strong alternatives. Parnell also performed surprisingly well in the 2017 special election against Ralph Norman for Mulvaney’s old seat. There’s a legit chance that Parnell could win the primary off name recognition alone. Ugh.
While this is a heavily Republican district, given the results in the special election last year, this was a decent shot at picking off a GOP House seat. It’s too bad the Democrats are going to have to write this one off now.
Nope. He shouldn’t drop out at this point. SC voters should be given the choice between a guy who committed domestic violence 40 years ago and a guy who promises to attack black people, poor people, women, the economy, the environment and our democracy.
Yes it is too bad - Parnell did well last year and had the ability to get votes from GOP women in the district who didn’t like it when Ralph Norman pulled out a gun at a campaign event about a month ago. One lifelong Republican woman told me in the last week (knowing that I’m a republican-hater) that she had a surprise for me - she was going to vote for Archie Parnell. I don’t expect him to recover from this. Maybe a republican could by talking about God and Hillary’s emails and the tax cuts, but I don’t see how a democrat recovers from this - unless Ralph Norman shoots somebody on Oakland Avenue in Rock Hill, SC.
Shit, I’m torn. I believe him that he’s genuinely ashamed and sorry for what he did. He didn’t make any excuses or try to mitigate blame. At this point, the election is in a few weeks and he’s going to be on the ballot. I really don’t know the answer here, but I do know that stuff like this is the reason why the national party should get involved in some primaries. It doesn’t somehow magically impede voters’ ability to decide who to vote for, and I’m all for informed decisions.
“Forty five years ago, while still a college student, I did something that I have regretted every single day since."
Silly Democrat; mulligans are just for Republicans!
Who else is running on the Democratic side? Shouldn’t we hear about that?
At least the guy isn’t trying to hide anything. So what’s wrong with letting the voters judge him?
And it’s South Carolina. Remember what happened to Mark Sanford after he went hiking the Appalachian Trail? He got elected to Congress.
Ok, he did something one time while he was in college, 45 years ago and that’s all he felt the need to reveal. This guy is practically a fucking saint if that’s it.
Good lord - he’s apparently a lot nicer than a whole lot of other men out there so I don’t see the problem, personally.
Cut him loose.
After all, we’re not Republicans.
But he beat up his wife. Even if it’s just that one incident, that one incident is pretty bad. I’d think you would avoid public office. It was a violent crime he was lucky not to have gone to jail for. If he’s lived blamelessly since then, good, but I think the line should be drawn a little higher than that.
I actually disagree. Bad checks? OK, no sweat. This isn’t that.
Don’t call me a Boy Scout, because most people put a toe over the line now and then, but even bad checks is kind of iffy to me. Drugs, horseplay, hijinks, shenanigans, most victimless things I think can be expiated in 45 years, but I think if you’re running for office you need a pretty clean record otherwise to avoid just this kind of situation.
I agree. Bad example. I’ll go with walking an unleashed dog while doing mushrooms.
LOL perfect. I don’t have a dog but otherwise I think I have the rest of my afternoon planned.
Why should he drop out? I mean, there’s a fucking rapist in the WH. End of story.
On a slightly more serious note though, this shit was in the 70’s. Is it now the only acceptable belief…the official enlightened position…that men are in no way ever permitted forgiveness or redemption for anything wrong they’ve ever done to a woman in their entire lives? Let me know. I just want to be sure so I know whether to start wondering why the fuck I spend all kinds of time and effort, let alone emotional investment, supporting women’s issues and rights if I am apparently permanently damaged and irredeemable.
He’s got to go. This is awful.