By Jim Rex | After Gov. Nikki Haley’s public reversal on her position regarding the Confederate flag and the ensuing stampede by politicians of both parties to affiliate with the rapidly-growing consensus among South Carolinians supporting its removal, CNN interviewed former Gov. Mark Sanford. When asked why he hadn’t taken the opportunity to support the removal of the flag during his eight years in office as governor, he blithely responded, “Because politics is the art of the possible.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, this was a less than truthful, nor complete, description of the reality of our politics in South Carolina — or America. In reality, politics is, “the art of staying in office.” Often it recognizes the “probable” and then, and only then, to position oneself publicly as the champion of that already predestined outcome. Low risk, high reward — the cardinal rule for becoming and remaining a career politician!
The political system and the elected officials in it did not bring down the Confederate flag. The people of South Carolina, led by the amazing families of the slain victims in Charleston, brought down that flag. In doing so, they gave us a brief and, unfortunately, fleeting glimpse of what a political system could look like if it were not so terribly dysfunctional. [That means] elected officials working together to quickly and effectively address a need and a longstanding wrong. The same political system that put the flag up and protected it for half a century removed it in a matter of days because the majority of our citizens collectively demanded a different outcome, a different political response.
Another way to describe this remarkable past month in South Carolina is to say that a majority of South Carolinians “reimagined” our state. They envisioned a different outcome and that collective vision moved the system to reject the status quo. And while the removal of the flag is certainly important, the real work of reimagining our state still lies before us. And as any serious observer understands, if we are ever to successfully reimagine South Carolina, we must at the same time reimagine our broken political system.
Toward that end, the American Party of South Carolina is organizing and holding a series of “Reimagine SC” meetings around our state in the months ahead. We are calling for dialogues on a community-by-community basis about the future of our state. We are encouraging citizens to reimagine South Carolina as the peaceful and prosperous home we know it can be.
Throughout history, our country has been shaped by the creativity and energy of engaged, everyday citizens. If we envision the future together, we can build it together. This past remarkable, painful and productive month has shown us that this possibility still exists.
Contact us at: www.americanpartysc.com or 888-386-8083 and let’s get started, together!
Former Democratic state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex is chair of the American Party of South.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!