The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 13, 2004, Page 5, Image 5
Tenenbaum, DeMint
square off in second debate
By JENNIFER HOLLAND
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENVILLE — Republican U.S.
candidate Jim DeMint tried to paint
Democratic opponent Inez Tenenbaum
_ as a liberal along the lines of Ted
■ Kennedy and Bill Clinton, while she
argued that he needs to put the focus on
South Carolina instead of national
politics in a second statewide televised
debate Tuesday.
Tenenbaum, who has campaigned as
a moderate Democrat, said the issue is
not about national Democrats but about
“who is going to put South Carolina
first.”
“Jim, you know, you need to stand on
your own two feet. You try to wrap
yourself up with national Republicans
because you are in a fight for your
political life in this race, so you bring
them in to shore you up,” said
Tenenbaum, the state education
superintendent. “I ask you tonight, stand
on your own two feet, Jim. Make this
race about Jim DeMint and Inez
Tenenbaum.”
DeMint said Tenenbaum has made
an issue out of being an independent, but
^k said she’s supported liberal Democrats
^ such as presidential candidate John Kerry
and former President Clinton.
She said she would she would vote for
Kerry, but said she disagrees with Kerry
saying that the war in Iraq is the wrong
war at the wrong time for the wrong
reason.”
“I from the beginning said we have
done the right thing to go into Iraq.
Saddam Hussein needed to be removed,”
Tenenbaum said. “I stand with our
troops, and I do believe we have done the
right thing. Now I would like to focus
after the election on how do we win this
war? How do we make Iraq more secure
so it can have freer elections on
schedule?”
DeMint, a Greenville congressman,
said he will continue to support President
^ George W. Bush, who he said has led the
world on the war on terror. Kerry,
meanwhile, has changed his position on
the war many times, DeMint said.
“To support John Kerry at a time like
this suggests a problem with judgment,
and I support this president,” DeMint
said. “Gening senators that would
support this president is key in this race.”
The race was less contentious than the
first statewide televised debate last week.
The candidates sparred over tax reform,
health care, social security and trade.
About 250 supporters of the
candidates rallied outside the Greenville
television station, shouting and waving
signs. It was literally a dog and pony
show.
A brown pony stood among the
crowd draped with a sign that said:
“Inez’s One Trick Pony,” while a black
and white dog wore a red Tenenbaum
campaign T-shirt.
To start off the debate, DeMint
apologized again to voters for a comment
he made last week that gays and unwed,
pregnant teachers are not fit to be in front
of public school classrooms.
“I answered that question as a dad,
with my heart,” DeMint said. “I
shouldn’t have answered that question.
It’s a local school board issue, and I
apologize because it’s distracted from the
debate, and I want to focus on the issues
that can help us build a better future in
this country.”
DeMint said he would not support
classifying attacks on gay men and
women as hate crimes.
“I think the law needs to treat
everyone equally, and crime against one
person or another should be punished the
same way and so regardless of who- there’s
a crime against, our laws should be
consistent,” he said.
Tenenbaum said she would support it.
“I would support a law on hate crimes
because gay men and women are singled
out many times for persecution, as well as
people of other ethnic groups, and I
would support a hate crime legislation for
that purpose,” she said.
The airwaves have been flooded with
negative advertisements with only three
weeks until Election Day.
DeMint advocated the right for third
parties to advertise during the campaign,
while Tenenbaum said there should be
more campaign finance reform to limit
special interest groups.
Each candidate had a plan to spur the
economy and create jobs.
Tenenbaum called for creating
regional economic clusters, bringing
research and development grants in to
help businesses expand and helping
universities do research to develop more
products.
DeMint said he wants to make it less
expensive to do business in America.
“It means legal reform to stop the
junk lawsuits. It means an energy policy
that cuts the cost of producing in this
country. It means lower health care costs
so they can have more employees,” he
said. “If we can do what has to be done to
make them profitable, they will raise
wages, and they will grow their markets
around the world.”
Tenenbaum said she would support
raising the minimum wage from $5.15.
“I do support a minimum wage, and I
think once the economy is going full blast
again and we have our companies up and
going again that we need to entertain the
idea to increase minimum wage, but...we
can only do this when the economy
recovers,” Tenenbaum said.
The two candidates are vying for the
seat being vacated by retiring Democratic
U.S. Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gatnecocknevjs@gtom.se. edu
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