BY SCHUYLER KROPF
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Charleston was fertile ground for U.S. Senate candidates Tuesday as the major contenders began their seven-day sprint to the finale by cozying up with local party elders.
Democrat Inez Tenenbaum stood with retiring incumbent Sen. Fritz Hollings, who used his booming voice to blast Republican Jim DeMint's tax reform idea as too conservative, even for some of the state's leading Republicans.
Across the harbor in Mount Pleasant, DeMint spoke to more than 250 Republicans at Alhambra Hall with former Gov. Jim Edwards at hand.
Hollings, 82, said the proof that DeMint's plan is unworkable comes from the lack of support it's getting from Republicans Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, both of whom are appearing in a pro-DeMint TV ad. Hollings said that both have little faith in DeMint's plan to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax of up to 23 percent.
"Ask either one of them, are they for a 23 percent sales tax? No, they are not," Hollings said on the steps of the Dock Street Theatre.
A spokesman for Sanford said the governor supports tax relief but wouldn't commit to the national sales tax that DeMint supports. "It's an idea that's out there," said spokesman Will Folks. Graham's spokesman did not immediately return a phone message.
Hollings called DeMint, a three-term congressman from Greenville, "just a rubber stamp for George Bush." He called on voters to continue the state's two-party representation in the Senate.
"We've got one up there already for Bush in Lindsey Graham," Hollings said. "If you want two senators for the president of the United States, fine, go ahead and vote for him. But if you want a senator for South Carolina, for Lord's sake, let's vote for Inez Tenenbaum."
Edwards, 77, said the Democrats' attempt to portray Tenenbaum, the state's two-term education superintendent, as an independent is political camouflage for the fact that Democrats nationally have thrown in more than $3 million trying to keep the Senate seat.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley re-endorsed Tenenbaum, saying she is an advocate of tourism and protecting the ports. DeMint's 23 percent sales tax also would be a tax on tourists, he noted. U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., also was in Mount Pleasant, stumping for DeMint.
A Post and Courier poll of 625 voters last week gave DeMint a 47 percent to 43 percent statewide lead over Tenenbaum. DeMint's lead in the Charleston area was 49 percent to 42 percent, the poll found.
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