South Carolina Photo ID Law Draws Heated Rhetoric From Republican Presidential …
(Reuters) – The state that fired the first shot in the Civil War is once again battling the US government in a racially charged conflict that is drawing heated rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates.
South Carolina is in a standoff with Democratic President Barack Obamas administration over a new state law that would require residents to produce a photo ID before they could vote. Federal officials say it could disproportionately keep black voters away from the polls.
For South Carolinas Republican leaders – and Republican presidential candidates seeking support in the states primary on January 21 – the Justice Departments move is the latest in a series of intrusions into state business by Washington.
Republican candidates are waving the banner of states rights as they tout their small-government credentials.
Each of our states are under assault right now by this administration, Texas Governor Rick Perry said Saturday at a candidates forum in Charleston. We may be under assault – South Carolina, theyre actually at war with you.
Such declarations might make for smart politics in a state that has a suspicion of Washington woven into its DNA, but they risk stirring up the race-baiting that has been an ugly feature of South Carolina politics in the past.
