South Carolina's fitness-minded
governor has shown an affinity for coming to The T&D
Region to set an example of a healthy lifestyle.
Last
year Mark Sanford bicycled through the area. Earlier this
month, he took part in a walking event in Orangeburg to raise
money for charity.
But his announcement Thursday of his
next "Family Fitness Challenge" — also in The T&D Region —
strayed into volatile political territory.
The
Republican governor and his family extended an invitation to
fellow South Carolinians to join them in a May 1 kayak tour of
Sparkleberry Swamp in the northern portion of Lake
Marion.
"Not only will this trip help us focus
on the need for our state to be a little more active, but it
also provides an opportunity to promote one of the more
beautiful places in South Carolina," Sanford said in the news
release.
"Ecotourism has become a vital part of our
state's economy, and places like Sparkleberry Swamp are the
true natural advantages we have over other
states."
Just in case the news media didn't connect the
dots, the governor's news release laid it out, explaining that
"U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has proposed building a $110 million
bridge across the swamp ... to connect the rural hamlets of
Rimini and Lone Star."
"According to the Department of
Transportation, if the bridge were constructed it would lower
the drive times between the two main cities in the area —
Orangeburg and Sumter — by only three minutes," the governor's
news release added.
"In 2003, the proposed bridge was
the focus of a 'Fleecing of America' report on NBC News," the
news release stated.
Clyburn, a Democrat and a
long-time champion of the road and bridge project, denounced
the governor's kayak trip as a political
"gimmick."
"Sanford is talking a good game, but his
deeds do not measure up to his words. He has never been a
protector of the environment, and is not now," Clyburn said in
an interview.
"Remember, Gov. Sanford was Congressman
Sanford for six years. I would invite you and all the media to
look at his voting record while he was in Congress. He got
failing grades time and time again from the people who
evaluate congressional votes as they relate to the
environment," the congressman said.
"The governor is
very good at misrepresenting facts," Clyburn said. "His press
release (gives the cost of the bridge as) $110 million. I have
never seen that figure anywhere from anybody. I'd like to know
where he got his facts."
Clyburn said the project is
not about reducing the drive time between Orangeburg and
Sumter. Nor is it about just the hamlets of Lone Star and
Rimini.
"It's about the thousands of families who live
along (the state roads 33 and 120 corridors) and what we can
do to improve the quality of life of those people," the
congressman said.
"I'd like for the governor to get out
of his kayak and walk into those homes I have walked into and
talk to those people I have talked to," Clyburn said, "and
stop with all the gimmickry and start doing some positive
things to improve their health."
Rural residents of
Calhoun and Clarendon counties are "devastated with diabetes,"
he said. "They are dying every day because of heart attacks
and stroke. And they are, every day, drinking water that is
unfit for human consumption."
Clyburn is well known for
taking an active role in developing health and economic
initiatives, particularly for rural, low-income and minority
residents.
What has the governor done, except to
"politicize the plight of poor people" and "continue to block
every effort anybody makes to improve their lives?" Clyburn
asked.
"Most of us, Democrats and Republicans, are
trying to work to better educate our children, to bring
stability to the lives of rural communities and viability to
their economic situations," the congressman said.
"When
the Legislature tries to address issues to improve the quality
of life, the governor brings pigs to the floor; he brings
horses. He's always doing gimmicks!" Clyburn said. "I wish he
would be as creative with programs that would improve people's
lives."
That's what the governor's Family Fitness
Challenge was supposed to be — an effort to encourage people
to make healthier decisions in their daily lives and to become
more physically active, even if it means just working in the
yard or walking around the block.
The governor pointed
to a 2004 United Health Foundation study that reported the
Palmetto State finished 47th in health rankings of the states,
despite ranking 11th in per capita public health spending.
South Carolina has not been rated higher than 40th in the
annual study since 1990.
