Brett Banter

Joe Wilson's You Lie outburst earlier this fall during President Obama's speech wound up being a gold mine for the South Carolina Congressman. Facing condemnation from much of his own party and people across the country, he hired professional public relations pros who were able to tweak his message and tuck him into every social media channel across the country. His hired guns revived his campaign and then some, netting campaign funds that currently reach into the millions of dollars range.

And meanwhile... also in South Carolina... yet more controversy has erupted.

On October 18, Orangeburg's Times and Democrat ran an editorial page column by Republicans Jim Ulmer Jr. an Orangeburg County chairman, and Edwin O. Merwin Jr., Bamberg County chairman. The column, meant to highlight U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint’s stand against congressional earmarks, inflamed some readers due to a comment about Jews perceived by many as stereotyping. By October 20, the ire ignited into a statewide story, even landing on national news sites such as The Huffington Post. Following critical comments by Joel Lourie, a Jewish South Carolina legislator, Ulmer and Merwin issued apologies alongside SCGOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd and Senator Jim DeMint.

Ulmer and Merwin have a heap of options when it comes to neatly re-packaging their reputations following this fiasco, but what is the course of action they ought to pursue? As leaders, are they now in the pile of "damaged goods", or can they repair those cracks?

Ultimately, having begged public forgiveness, they may opt to sit quietly by the sidelines in humiliation until the public moves on to the next tumultous story of the day. Over time the story will certainly wane and some people may forget, but as far as reputations go, the issue could leave a stain.

They could hire a team of PR experts to work the media field and work on more positive, image-boosting stories. If they hire the right folks to manage the right message and atone for the negative perception of the Times and Democract column, they could even see their status elevated to leaders of their party on the state level.

Or perhaps Ulmer and Merwin could become their own best public relations spokespersons and make the news show rounds, inviting the public to engage in conversations about stereotyping and other similar issues in South Carolina. By taking the bull by the horns, they could potentially unfetter themselves a bit from their sticky situation. But until then, how the latest South Carolina political blunder plays out in full remains to be seen.