Editorial for Oct. 28, 2004

The two major candidates for U.S. Senate in South Carolina have not given voters many reasons to vote for them.

Rep. Jim DeMint and Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum have spent most of the last few weeks telling why we should vote against the other. In a race as important as this, it is unfortunate that both candidates have dwelled upon the negative rather than giving South Carolinians positive reasons to vote for them.

Mrs. Tenenbaum has devoted much of her campaign to a diatribe against a 23-percent national sales tax that is among the ideas that Mr. DeMint has examined while in Congress. Her attacks have deliberately avoided the point that her opponent is seeking alternatives to the current income tax – not a completely bad idea.

Mr. DeMint has spent much verbiage chastising Mrs. Tenenbaum for the lack of educational improvement during the six years she has held office. Those attacks, however, overlook the accomplishments that schools have made, and they are also critical of the efforts of the thousands of hard-working educators in South Carolina.

Mrs. Tenenbaum has not ably articulated her stand on many issues of importance to South Carolinians. Her idea of protecting textile jobs is naive and opposed to Mr. DeMint's free trade approach to economics. She has stumbled in her efforts to discuss the issue of abortion and when a child is created.

Mr. DeMint's comments that gays and unwed mothers should not be permitted to teach in public schools brings into question his understanding of discrimination against segments of our population. Much of his time in recent debates has been a battle against John Kerry and Tom Daschle – neither of whom is running for senator in South Carolina.

These two candidates are acting anything but senatorial in their efforts to win the votes of South Carolinians.

Despite the drawbacks of both candidates, we feel that the more effective person to represent the state in the Senate will be Mr. DeMint. He has ably served in the U.S. House of Representatives and has shown that he is not in lock-step with the Republican administration in all votes.

South Carolina needs senators who will represent the people of this state, not those who are rubber stamps or who take their orders from a political party.

A senatorial team of Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham will also be a strong one-two punch for issues dealing with South Carolina, especially for the Savannah River Site and its future. Jim DeMint has shown in this campaign that he is far from the perfect candidate, but he will better represent this state and the beliefs of its citizens than will Mrs. Tenenbaum.

While this is an endorsement of Mr. DeMint's candidacy for Senate, it is not an endorsement of his comments on discriminating against various groups within our state. We hope that he has learned that all South Carolinians regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or marriage situation are to be accorded the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

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