Yesterday’s GA run-offs prove something MyrtleBeachSC News has warned conservatives about for almost 20 years.
Conservative values, elections, politics, and conservative America are being lost at the city and local levels of government.
CLEAR EXAMPLES
In the special election runoff between Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock, note the larger shades of red below. Contrast those with the spackling of blue areas where larger population centers voted.
Those blue areas, including Fulton and Dekalb counties, are the suburbs of Atlanta, Ga. Conservatives lost Ga. in the areas surrounding the city of Atlanta, Ga.
Conservatives would argue that they lost because there is a larger population of minorities in those areas. We believe that is the wrong point entirely.
We would argue that over the past 30 years, conservatives completely abandoned those areas in a rush to move into the suburbs.
Once conservatives abandoned those areas, every level of local government became dominated by liberal candidates, with liberal policies, with liberal values, liberal agendas, and liberal objectives.
Government accountability is the first concept abandoned when conservatives flee from local cities.
IT IS HARDER AT THE CITY LEVEL
Conservatives love to focus on Washington, D.C. We have found it is actually easier to focus nationally. Yet study after study shows that America is not being lost in D.C.
America is being lost in towns like Atlanta, GA., Detroit, MI., Pennsylvania, PA. and Minneapolis, MN.
EXAMPLES IN SOUTH CAROLINA
In South Carolina, Greenville, S.C. remains a red city. However, Columbia, S.C. is solid blue.
The City of Charleston has become purple. The City Government of Myrtle Beach is now entirely blue in its policies.
While national politics are a blood sport, city politics are nastier by far. These are the areas where elected leaders literally laugh off any attempts at accountability or full transparency.
The mantra for such towns are: ten year plans, private-public partnerships, Municipal Association of Cities mandates, downtown revitalization, and ongoing executive sessions.
Meanwhile, our October question to the City of Myrtle Beach concerning the ballistics report as to which bullet killed MBPD police officer Jacob Hancher has been stonewalled.
Policing city streets, picking up city trash, and managing city budgets lose priority to big government tax concepts like downtown revitalization.
Why does downtown need revitalization? Because conservatives fled those neighborhoods taking their values with them.
THE PROBLEM AT THE CITY LEVEL IN ONE POST
Most local reporters graduating from college sign a two year contract to work with Myrtle Beach Area TV stations. They come out of college knowing little about the political landscape or the past history of the town.
Once they start work, they invest two years, and then move on to a larger broadcast area. They transfer just as they are beginning to understand the nuances and politics of the area.
Transient journalists provide ongoing coverage that allows elected officials to operate below the radar ongoing. Transient journalists experience on the job training ongoing.
It's a sad day for all of us at ABC-15. Summer Dashe has accepted an anchor position in Knoxville, TN and today is her…
Posted by Ed Piotrowski WPDE on Tuesday, July 14, 2020
It is imperative news media improve the nature of journalism at the local levels of government. Local, independent providers like Charleston’s Post and Courier, MyHorryNews, and MyrtleBeachSC News need to lead in these areas.
Fifty years ago, all local city media was independently owned.
America has to demand more from local news, ensuring local media hold city leaders accountable.
Conservatives will not win the future of America if the current trends continue.
The assumption that blacks and minorities are all liberal voters simply is not true.
Were it true, a much more liberal Pete Buttigieg or Bernie Sanders would have won the state of S.C. at the most critical moment in the 2020 election cycle. Black voters refused to vote for Buttiegieg.
Black voters in S.C. have more in common with white church attending Christians than they do with Pete Buttigieg.