Thomas Ravenel in Mother Jones magazine


On Civil Rights: Government should stay out of our bedrooms &our boardrooms

Ravenel has consistently described himself as a fiscally conservative and socially moderate libertarian. He's pro-gay marriage and in favor of ending the war on drugs. "The government should be limited, small, and should stay out of both the bedrooms and our boardrooms," he says in one episode.

Ravenel, with a chiseled jaw and slicked-back hair straight out of central casting for a Southern politician, has good reason to hope that voters aren't overly concerned with what goes on in peoples' bedrooms.

Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race May 12, 2014

On Drugs: In favor of ending the war on drugs

Ravenel is in favor of ending the war on drugs. [He was elected in 2006 but] his term in office didn't last long. By June 2007 he was indicted on federal charges for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. (He wasn't selling, he tells Mother Jones, just offering to friends when he was using it a couple of times per month: "I shared it because I didn't want to be a stingy guy who used it but didn't give it back," he says, noting that he "never even bought an eight-ball.") Then-Gov. Mark Sanford (R) suspended Ravenel immediately, and he resigned from office shortly thereafter.

Facing 20 years in jail and a $1 million fine, Ravenel accepted a plea deal to serve 10 months in prison and pay a $250,000 fine (he spent the last three months of that sentence on house arrest at his mother's retirement home). He again ran afoul of the law when he faced drunk-driving charges in 2013, though that only resulted in a six-month suspension of his driver's license and a small fine.

Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race May 12, 2014

On Foreign Policy: Opposed to foreign interventions

Ravenel has consistently described himself as a fiscally conservative and socially moderate libertarian. He's an acolyte of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.): against ObamaCare, opposed to foreign interventions, but pro-gay marriage and in favor of ending the war on drugs. "The government should be limited, small, and should stay out of both the bedrooms and our boardrooms," he says in one episode.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race May 12, 2014

On Health Care: Against ObamaCare

Ravenel has consistently described himself as a fiscally conservative and socially moderate libertarian. He's an acolyte of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.): against ObamaCare, opposed to foreign interventions, but pro-gay marriage and in favor of ending the war on drugs. "The government should be limited, small, and should stay out of both the bedrooms and our boardrooms," he says in one episode.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race May 12, 2014

On Principles & Values: Fiscally conservative and socially moderate libertarian

During the course of the first season of "Southern Charm" --a show that, per Bravo, "goes behind the walls of Charleston, South Carolina's most aristocratic families to reveal a world of exclusivity, money and scandal that goes back generations" and drew, on average, 1.1 million viewers per episode--Ravenel has consistently described himself as a fiscally conservative and socially moderate libertarian.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2014 South Carolina Senate race May 12, 2014

The above quotations are from Columns and news articles in Mother Jones magazine.
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