| Textile leaders show political weight Group promises to use votes to get free-trade policies reversed SPARTANBURG, S.C. - It should have been a sight to broil the heart of any yellow-dog Democrat who remembers when the South was a solid lock for the party and freeze the innards of any ardent free-trade Republican. There they were at high noon on a cloudy Tuesday in early August - 37 Southern textile barons, lined up inside the city's posh Piedmont Club. Almost all of them raised their hands to indicate they'd yank their support from the man they all backed in 2000, President Bush, unless he reverses free-trade policies that have caused rampant job losses and plant closures in their industry. Their warning-shot rhetoric matched the scowls on their faces. "This is an excellent opportunity for any elected official or candidate who bases his platform on jobs to step up to the plate," said Roy Baxley, the chairman of the South Carolina Cotton Commission. "That's the expectation supporting American jobs. I expect to support some incumbents, but they have to support us." IN THE NOT-SO-DISTANT past, this would have signaled a potential Democratic resurgence across Dixie, even in rock-ribbed Republican states such as South Carolina. It would have also meant instant trouble for a free-trade politician such as U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who snubbed the textile barons in 2001 by casting the deciding vote that gave President Bush the power to fast-track free-trade agreements and who now wants to run for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., a staunch defender of the textile industry. Here's why: Democrats have historically been seen as the party of the working man and woman. The party's candidates, including U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and John Edwards of North Carolina, have recently scored Southern victories by emphasizing so-called "kitchen table" issues. "This is a catastrophic thing we're seeing with all these job losses, and it does offer a political opening," said Dan Carter, a history professor at the University of South Carolina. "But the Democrats can't take as much advantage as they'd like. ... It's not an issue that is as clearly drawn as a Republican or Democratic issue." Maybe not. But textile barons and other manufacturers are out for political blood, furious about the flood of Chinese imports that are putting them out of business and wiping out thousands of factory jobs. "Anybody who can't realize the enormity of the threat ... they're going to have significant difficulty gaining support not only from textile manufacturers, but manufacturing across the board," said Augie Tantillo, the Washington coordinator for the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a group clamoring for the resumption of trade quotas on Chinese goods. "We're trying to create enough of a political firestorm here to get immediate action." SINCE JANUARY 2001, the month President Bush took office, more than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the textile and apparel industry, said Mr. Tantillo. Some of the biggest names in the industry have recently gone belly-up, including Pillowtex Inc., the makers of Cannon Mills and Fieldcrest sheets and towels. The Pillowtex failure idled 6,500 workers, most of them in the Carolinas. "Our people need to see concrete action. Now. The time for talk is over," said Roger Chastain, the chief of Mount Vernon Mills in Greenville, who said President Bush will have to reinstate quotas on Chinese apparel imports by October or lose textile support. The factory bosses aren't being too picky about who pays the price for their pain - a Republican or a Democrat. While some are still loyal to President Bush, their vehemence toward Mr. DeMint is particularly unalloyed and untempered. Acknowledging the heat, John Hart, Mr. DeMint's press secretary, says his boss is concerned about massive job losses in the textile industry but hasn't changed his position on trade and worries about the impact of protectionist measures such as tariffs and quotas. "He supports free trade and believes it's created hundreds of thousands of jobs in South Carolina," Mr. Hart said. "It's not realistic to seal borders and try to have people develop customers overseas. But if you have free trade, you have to have fair trade." FORMER STATE attorney general Charlie Condon also wants Mr. Hollings' job, but he won't attack the president. Instead, Mr. Condon attempts to wrap the free-trade issue with President Bush's war on terrorism, calling for China and Saudi Arabia to be targeted for "pre-emptive action" just like Afghanistan and Iraq. "I think free trade is good for the country and good for the state," Mr. Condon said. "But when it comes to countries like China ... we need to apply the doctrine of pre-emption across the board. China is a totalitarian, Communist country. They have a history of violating trade agreements, interfering with our presidential elections and stealing our secrets. I'd be much tougher than the administration on China." Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
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