Saloon owner campaigns for SC governor from barstool

By GLENN SMITHThe Post and Courier

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. — In the two years since he announced his bid for governor, Richard Ruth has spent more time on a barstool than he has on the campaign trail.

But if you think the 65-year-old saloon owner isn’t serious about his politics, you obviously haven’t made the mistake of broaching the subject with him.

‘‘Why do I want to be governor?’’ he asked, his voice rising. ‘‘Well, let me tell you ...’’

As Ruth paused to slake his thirst with a cup of pale Budweiser on the rocks, a bartender leaned over and chuckled. ‘‘You’re in for it now,’’ she said.

Ruth, owner of Richard’s Bar & Grill on U.S. Highway 17, is ever ready to give his opinion on the shortcomings of Palmetto State politicians and their ilk. In fact, friends decided to draft him into this quasi-campaign for the state’s highest office after years of listening to his rants and ruminations. He hasn’t filed the necessary paperwork or assembled a campaign staff, but he does have a weathered, hand-painted ‘‘Richard Ruth for governor’’ sign that tilts at an odd angle outside his establishment.

Like his sign, Ruth is a little rough around the edges. This former tugboat captain is a ruddy-faced man with wheat-colored hair and a pencil-thin mustache. He has a quick smile and a loud, resonating voice that barks out thoughts between liberal sips of beer and puffs from a cigarette smoldering between his calloused fingers.

He stabs the air with a free hand to punctuate his points, his voice rising and falling as he shifts among a hodgepodge of subjects, plucking quotations from state law, Webster’s Dictionary and the Bible with equal ease. Ruth doesn’t have a lick of experience in elected office, but he does have opinions — lots of them.

Chief among his gripes is the $3,050 he pays each year for a state license to sell booze on the Sabbath, a requirement that he likens to extortion. Politicians shouldn’t make a person feel like a sinner for having a can of suds on a Sunday, particularly when the state shares in the revenues, he says with a snort of derision.

His platform also calls for the state to lift its ban on video gambling, push the State Ports Authority to share its revenues and shorten the school day by eliminating lunch, recess and other activities. To his customers, Ruth is something of a populist, a man who can knit together an eclectic clientele of blue-collar workers, professionals, bikers and socialites in sequined gowns. Like Ruth, his bar has an earthy feel, with wrinkled dollars tacked to the heavy wood beams and ship netting strung across the ceiling over a pair of pool tables.

Longtime customer Cary Smith of Moncks Corner said he often stops by just to hear what subject Ruth is holding forth on that day. ‘‘If he’s there, I know he’s talking about something,’’ he said. ‘‘If you were to put him in front of a camera, you wouldn’t be able to shut him up. But he means what he says. He’s full of conviction.’’

Ruth’s wife, Jane, thinks her husband could make a difference in Columbia, ‘‘if he really got serious about it.’’

How serious is he about running? Only Ruth knows. He likes Gov. Mark Sanford and doesn’t relish the thought of trying to put him out of a job in 2006.

‘‘The governor has said he plans to run again,’’ said Will Folks, a spokesman for Sanford. ‘‘But if (Ruth) is treating, I would be glad to come down and meet him over a beer and personally discuss his concerns.’’