Struggling town looks to candidates for help

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., visits with voters at Workman’s Restaurant in Greenwood on Sunday. (Mary Ann Chastain / The Associated Press) e-mail this story

On this day, the U.S. senator from Connecticut was making other stops in a rented motor home, in Columbia, Greenwood and Aiken to announce a plan he says will, in four years, cut the poverty rate by 33 percent and add 10 million new jobs.

Relief — from anyone — can't come too soon for Saluda.

Shuler, a retiree, and many of the 35 people sitting inside on folding chairs wanted to hear some hopeful words about jobs, the emerging salient issue of the primary campaign.

"The economy here is worse than bad," she said of this isolated county seat where the downtown is pockmarked with empty storefronts.

Saluda is still trying to absorb the loss of its last two major plants, including a Milliken & Co. plant that closed last month.

Just 16 days before South Carolina's crucial Feb. 3 primary, Lieberman has become her choice, so much so that Shuler passed up Sunday lunch in Greenwood with her grandson.

But she worries that Lieberman, trailing in most polls, "won't be our man."

"I was very disappointed that the power people (nationally) came out for Dean and hate that Democrats have to have 50 candidates."

Jobs worry

Inside, others fret about the economy, but not all have decided which Democrat has the best plan.

Richard Jones, 43, a maintenance worker for a Columbia-based apartment management company, is "looking for what they'll do for the economy and to create jobs, to show their support for people."

Two rows forward, Lamar Berry, 74, a retired farmer and construction worker, said he wants a nominee "that will look out for our job security, mostly. In Saluda County, seems like we've sort of been left out in the cold."

Lieberman began the day attending the worship service at Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, home to one of the state's largest black congregations.

On the eve of the holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Lieberman launched "Joe's Rural Ride" in urban Columbia at the home of the late Modjeska Simkins, a matriarch of South Carolina's civil rights movement.

Standing in the parlor in front of a sepia-tone portrait of a young Simkins, Lieberman said he attended the 1963 march on Washington and was motivated by King's speech to go to Mississippi to work for equal rights for blacks.

Because that 1963 event — "a transformational experience" in his life — was rooted in equality and equal opportunity in the workplace, Lieberman said that using the Simkins home for his announcement was "the right place and the right time to talk about it."

Lieberman said that as president he would:

Increase the earned income tax credit.

Expand individual development accounts to foster home ownership, small business development and educational pursuits for individuals and families.

Boost child care funding.

Create a "Transportation for Today" program to help workers purchase cars, create ride-share programs and expand transit options.

'Uphill' fight

James Solomon, a former director of the state Department of Social Services, introduced Lieberman while a commercial television crew taped the event for possible use in a campaign ad.

In an interview, Solomon said he believes the South Carolina primary race is still open, with Lieberman having "about as good a chance as anybody. But it's going to be uphill. I think we all understand that."

Solomon said that when Lieberman can reach people, either in person or through broadcast ads, "they relate to him and will support him because he's genuine."

That said, the campaign needs more of the senator's time and money, he said.

"I think he's going to do something about both," Solomon said, although Lieberman isn't scheduled to return to South Carolina until after the Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary.

Hitting at Clark

Lieberman's visit came as his campaign has been casting a more critical eye at retired Gen. Wesley Clark.

Handbills suggesting Clark "flip-flops" on Iraq have been handed out, and critical letters have been released to the media.

While campaign aides said it was a matter of educating the voters about Lieberman's version of Clark's philosophical background, Lieberman said in an interview, "We're each asking the American people to trust us as the commander-in-chief who will protect their security and provide opportunity."

Citing an alleged "seven flip-flops of the Clark campaign," among statements on the war in Iraq, Lieberman said they "point out the fact that Clark, though he denies it, has taken seven positions" on the war in Iraq.

But Meighan Stone, Clark's South Carolina spokeswoman, said, "The general has consistently opposed the unilateral war in Iraq as a distraction from the war on terror. He successfully liberated a country — Kosovo — without the loss of a single American life. Only a career politician would question his leadership."

Clark eyes veterans

Also Sunday, Clark's campaign announced that he had been endorsed by former Sen. George McGovern, the Democrats' antiwar nominee in 1972 who lost a landslide election to Republican President Richard Nixon.

Clark aides launched a "Vet-to-Vote" drive to generate support for the candidate among South Carolina's half-million military personnel and retirees.

To unveil the effort, U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark., campaigned at locations near the Midlands' military bases at Columbia, Eastover and Sumter.

Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt, the first black student at Clemson University, campaigned for North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a Seneca native.

New York activist Al Sharpton campaigned in the Midlands.

Sharpton and Clark are scheduled to speak at today's Martin Luther King march to the Statehouse in Columbia.

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