Beasley, DeMint define positions on trade

Former Gov. David Beasley, left, and Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., shake hands in their first televised debate of the runoff for the GOP's U.S. Senate nomination at the WIS-TV studio in Columbia Tuesday as moderator WIS-TV anchor David Stanton looks on. AP Photo/Rich Glickstein e-mail this story

Some Upstate residents seemed as divided on the trade issue as the two candidates — Beasley, a former governor who favors cracking down on trade cheaters and slowing the pace of international agreements, and DeMint, a congressman who supports existing pacts and expanding trade to promote job growth.

Beasley led the field of six in the June 8 primary and DeMint was second, setting the stage for Tuesday's runoff.

Throughout the campaign, Beasley and DeMint have made trade the salient issue in a campaign in which they otherwise have few serious differences.

Kara Snodgrass, 19, of Greenville said she really hasn't paid much attention to the DeMint-Beasley race, but doesn't think America should renege on its international trade agreements. "Maintain the status quo," she said, a position more in tune with DeMint.

Nannette Radley, 37, who moved to Greenville from Chicago more than a year ago, said she hasn't followed South Carolina politics yet, her interests being more on the national level.

Radley holds a more Beasley-like view on cracking down on China, although for a different reason: China's hostility to women's rights and female babies.

About existing trade pacts, LaMont Grissett, 28, of Greer, said "we need to maintain them."

Caroline Longworth said she would like to follow the senate race but is too busy with school and work.

Longworth, who is studying massage therapy, said too many people are not doing enough to help themselves.

"I think there are a lot of people who are complaining," she said, adding that some of the displaced workers need to retrain themselves and take the jobs that are available to them.

"I think people need to see the bigger picture and not think about image," said Longworth, 24, a Greenville resident

The one-hour debate was aired on Columbia's WIS-TV in the Midlands and cable systems along the coast.

Standing on a stark studio platform devoid of adornment, the candidates' dark blue suits at times blended into the black backdrop and matched their mostly somber demeanor.

Each candidate often found a way to bring the discussion back to trade and jobs, or a related issue.

"The answer is neither overzealous protectionism and neither is the answer free trade fanaticism," Beasley said. "The answer is fair trade and as governor I supported free trade and I still do."

Beasley said his position dovetails with that of the late President Reagan who "believed in free trade, but he also believed it must be realistic trade. What we have now is unfair foreign trade because of predatory trade practices that are really destroying South Carolina's economy."

He laid the blame at the feet of "Washington politicians (who) are allowing policies that destroy our jobs and send them to China."

DeMint, the third-term 4th District congressman from Greenville, said that when he went to Congress in 1999, the United States was getting a raw deal with many of the existing trade agreements.

By working with Sen. Strom Thurmond and others, "we developed trade agreements that forced China to tear down their trade barriers. Since then, American exports to China have increased 126 percent and they have become the fast-growing customer of American products. To say our jobs have gone to China is simply not true."

DeMint said Beasley's plans for limiting trade agreements would devastate the state's ability to develop emerging markets in everywhere, especially in the Western Hemisphere.

They bickered over their television ads.

A Beasley ad on the outsourcing of jobs overseas was "more Beasley exaggeration and doom and gloom," DeMint said.

A DeMint ad portraying Beasley as "wishy-washy" and a "flip-flopper" on the Confederate flag and a state lottery brought a rebuke from Beasley.

"Not fair, not accurate," he said, and "breaking" of DeMint's promise not to run attack ads.

Beasley further chided DeMint: "You talked about running a campaign on the future and ideas and here we are reaching back to the past on two of the most controversial issues this state has faced. To bring it up now is wrong; people want that issue behind them."

But DeMint said the ad wasn't about the lottery or moving the flag from the Statehouse dome, "but is about changing your position."

Beasley promised in his 1994 campaign to leave the flag in place, but in 1997 promised moving it to the Statehouse grounds. When that effort failed, he said he wouldn't approach the issue again. The flag was moved under his successor, Democrat Jim Hodges.

As governor, Beasley opposed a state lottery, but later said he wouldn't oppose a voter referendum.

Although the candidates and their surrogates have clashed long-distance, Beasley and DeMint kept it low key, only occasionally throwing mild verbal jabs.

Underscoring their lack of disagreement on most issues, both candidates more often than not echoed each other, from supporting a buyout of federal tobacco allotments to getting tougher on illegal immigration to limited agricultural trade with Cuba.

They also stood by President Bush's decision to limit stem cell research, backed White House Iraqi policy to the hilt, and each supported the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and Europe to lower costs for consumers.

Both endorsed school vouchers to promote greater choice, opposed reinstitution of the draft and supported tort reform to eliminate frivolous suits they said penalize American businesses and health care consumers. They opposed tapping into the Strategic Oil Reserve and supported energy policies to encourage the development of alternate fuels.

"Jim and I agree on most issues," Beasley noted in his closing and got no rejoinder from DeMint.

Prior to the debate, Beasley announced his endorsement by several supporters of Thomas Ravenel and Charlie Condon, the Charleston candidates who finished third and fourth, respectively in the June 8 primary. Ravenel has endorsed DeMint. Condon has not made an endorsement.

Spartanburg's George Graham, a state co-chairman for Ravenel and a former state party chairman, and Dan Ross, another former chairman and one of Condon's top have signed on with Beasley.

Other Condon allies now with Beasley include Robert Bolchoz, a Condon finance committee member; two former Greenville County GOP chairmen, Stephen Brown and Lisa Stevens; Tom McLean, Lexington County Republican Party state executive committeeman; and Sam Cerezo, Lee County Republican chairman.

Beasley also called on DeMint to join him in signing a pledge to ask outside groups not to run advertising campaigns aimed at influencing the outcome of the runoff.

He said the GOP nominee "should be chosen by South Carolina Republicans, not special interest groups from Washington."

Terry Sullivan, DeMint's campaign manager, said, no deal.

"This is another example of David Beasley's flip-flopping," Sullivan said. In the 1998 re-election campaign he lost to Democrat Jim Hodges, Beasley didn't complain about outside groups promoting his candidacy, Sullivan said.

Beasley's campaign said new ads by an independent group promoting DeMint prompted the request. Sullivan said he was unaware of the ads or the organization.

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.