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THEfeAMECOCK
EDITORIAL BOARD
EDITOR
Adam Beam
DESIGN DIRECTOR
David Stagg
NEWS EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
THE MIX EDITOR
Meg Moore
COPY DESK CHIEF
Gabrielle Sinclair
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
SENIOR WRITER
Kevin Fellner
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
IN OUR OPINION
Senate candidates
leave out students
The race for Fritz Hollings’ U.S. Senate seat has garnered mil
lions of dollars of outside investment, hundreds of hours of nega
tive TV ads and high profile debates, including a nationally tele
vised on NBC’s popular news show “Meet the Press.” The race
holds national significance because it is one of eight contested races
that will determine which party has a majority in the Senate.
Republicans hold 51 of the 100 seats.
But in a race of such importance to South Carolina and the
nation, neither candidate seems too interested in its college stu
Jim DeMintand Inez
Tenenbaum aren’t
doing enough to
encourage college
students to vote on
Nov. 2.
dents. As the flagship university
of the state, USC has hosted vis
its by President George W.
Bush, Sen. John Kerry and Sen.
John Edwards, who announced
his presidential candidacy on
Greene Street. But Democratic
candidate Inez Tenenbaum hasn’t visited here this election season,
and a spokesman from her campaign said there are no plans for a
visit before the election next week. Under USC solicitation rules, a
political candidate can come to campus if a student group invites
them. The Young Democrats have invited Tenenbaum to speak,
according to Katie Day, president of USC’s Young Democrats
chapter.
Republican nominee Jim DeMint isn t much better. While he
has visited the Russell House, it was for a news conference with
U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson and former House Majority Leader Dick
Armey. Many students attended the conference, but DeMint only
made a short statement and didn’t take any questions.
Organizations such as Rock the Vote and the “Vote or Die”
campaign by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs have flooded the 18-to-24
demographic with pro-voting propaganda. But if two Senate can
didates will not take the time to seriously campaign at the largest
university in their jurisdiction, it sends a message to students that
their vote doesn’t mean as much. College students need to vote,
and the candidates for U.S. Senate aren’t helping the cause.
IT’S YOUR RIGHT
Exercise your right to voice your opinion
Create message boards at
www.dailygamecock.com
or send letters to the editor to
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu
GAMECOCK CORRECTIONS
In Wednesday’s The Mix, an article about Bella Hristova should have stated
she was born in Bulgaria.
The Gamecock regrets the error.
> If you see an error in today’s paper, we want to know. E-mail us at
gamecockopinions@gwm.sc.edu.
i---—-------1
ABOUT THE GAMECOCK
EDITOR
Adam Beam
DESIGN DIRECTOR
David Stagg
COPY DESK CHIEF
Gabrieile Sinclair
NEWS EDITOR
Michael LaForgia
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Jon Turner
VIEWPOINTS EDITOR
Wes Wolfe
THE MIX EDITOR
Meg Moore
SPORTS EDITOR
Jonathan Hillyard
ASST. SPORTS EDITOR
Daniel Kerr
SENIOR WRITER
Kevin Fellner
PHOTO EDITOR
Jason Steelman
SPORTS PHOTO EDITOR
Katie Kirkland
PAGE DESIGNERS
Erin Cline, Staci
Jordan, Jennifer Logan,
Chas McCarthy,
Jessica Ann Nielsen
COPY EDITORS
Jennifer Freeman, Anna
Huntley, Daniel
Regensheit, Jason
Reynolds, Jennifer
Sitkowski. Shana Till,
Steven Van Haren, Joey
Wallace
ONLINE EDITOR
E.B. Davis
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Jane Fielden, Katie Miles
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Be an independent voter on Nov. 2
■ Blindly loyal partisan
politicians shortchange
greatly needed policies
Coming from the chairman of the
S.C. Democratic Party, you might be
surprised to see those words: “Be an
independent voter.” I’ve been a
Democrat all of my life, and I’m proud
of the men and women who count
themselves as Democrats and who work
passionately for the ideals and candidates
we believe in. I recognize, as our
forefathers did in shaping our
government, that a multi-party system
that encourages debate — a little healthy
competition, if you will — helps us to
push each other toward excellence. So I
believe that political parties do play an
important role in our electoral process.
But I also know that first, before we are
Democrats or Republicans or
Independents, we are Americans.
Improving the “end result” is what we as
a nation are all about: A better
tomorrow for our children. A
responsible approach to the issues
affecting us today. Pride in our history
and hope for the future. Amid the
rancor of partisanship, I think we all
agree on that.
But on Election Day, I also believe
it’s our responsibility as Americans to
evaluate each candidate for who they are
and what they stand for, regardless of
their political patty. Voting is a precious
right and responsibility, and if anyone
tells you to vote for someone merely
because they’re a Republican or a
Democrat, shame on them. For anyone
to assume that they can get away with
counting you among their supporters —
without doing the hard work to earn
that support — well, I think that’s
disrespectful to you as a voter and to our
American system of government.
They’re looking for a short cut, and
here’s what I’d advise you: don’t give it
to them. Make them earn your vote as
an individual
candidate, not as
a member of any
party.
Now, don’t
get me wrong—
I’d be remiss if I
didn’t encourage
you to take a
JOE
ERWIN
CHAIRMAN,
S.C. DEMOCRATIC
PARTY
closer look at the
Democratic
candidates this
season. Many
smart and
committed men
and women
have stepped forward to run as
Democrats this season, and if you
haven’t considered them yet, I hope you
will. I suspect you will find that
ideologically, many of their views and
philosophies very close to yours. And
while they are, as individuals, different
from one another, as Democrats they all
proudly support the words from our
U.S. Constitution that “all men are
created equal.” I sincerely hope that is a
philosophy that you will embrace as
well.
The choices you have on Nov. 2
include many capable and worthwhile
candidates — including a lot of
Democrats. I’ve always said, though,
that part of my job is making sure that
we do recruit and support candidates
who deserve your vote.
But the same goes for- the
Republicans you’ll consider this Nov. 2.
They also need to stand on their own
two feet.
The most glaring example of this is in
our U.S. Senate race between 4th
District Congressman Jim DeMint and
S.C. Superintendent of Education Inez
Tenenbaum. Congressman DeMint has
spent a great deal of time and energy not
merely aligning himself with the
Republican Party, but totally giving
himself up to it. He thinks the voters of
South Carolina won’t think past that
“R” by his name and that he won’t have
to work to earn their vote. As I’ve said, I
think that’s a disservice to you, and
frankly, even to Mr. DeMint.
In the U.S. House, Congressman
DeMint voted with the Republican
leadership 99 percent of the time. If we
wanted to send someone up to
Washington to simply follow the leader,
I suspect we could find someone to do it
for free, rather than paying the full salary
of a U.S. congressman. As we all know,
some of those votes have cost South
Carolina jobs and have hurt working
families. South Carolina has lost 70,000
jobs to overseas manufacturing in the
last four years. If the true judge of
leadership is being able to stand up for
the people who elected you, even when
it means you disagree with your peers,
Mr. DeMint has foiled us.
In contrast, Inez Tenenbaum has
demonstrated in her two terms as state
superintendent of education a unique
capacity for working with Republicans
and Democrats alike, in the best interest
of South Carolina. That includes
governors of two different parties, and a
Republican-controlled General
Assembly. She understands that as a
leader, her work touches all South
Carolina students and families, and that
first graders this year aren’t thinking
about who’s a Democrat and who’s a
Republican. They just want reassurance
that someone is looking out for them.
This is exactly the type of bipartisan
leadership that we can expea from Inez
Tenenbaum as a U.S. senator.
You probably know by now that
young voters are under-represented in
the American eleaorate. Voters between
the ages of 18-24 turn out in percentages
consistently lower than any other age
group. You, this year, have the ability to
change that. You also have the
responsibility. Regardless of who you
support, please vote and challenge your
friends to do the same. Our future
depends on it.
Get Viewpoints five days a week at www.dailygamecock.com
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President
leading
U.S. on
right track *
■ John Kerry would raise
taxes and squander this
administration’s victories
There’s a lot at stake in this election.
This presidential election presents the
clearest choice we’ve seen in 20 years —
since Ronald Reagan ran for re-election
against Walter
Mondale in
1984.
And today,
like then,
American’s
standard of
living is on the
rise. In the past
KATON
DAWSON
CHAIRMAN,
S.C. REPUBLICAN
PARTY
year, disposable
personal income
is higher now ™
than in 2000,
when President
Bush took
office. More
Americans own a home today than at
any point in our history. Household
wealth is at its highest level in
American history, American
investments are now worth more, the
stock market is up 18 percent, putting
more than $2 trillion back into
education savings accounts, retirement
accounts and 401(k)s and almost 2
million new jobs have been created in
the last year, an average of 237,000
jobs per month in 2004.
we are experiencing the fastest pace
of payroll job growth in four years and
the new jobs we are seeing are better A
jobs. Seventy percent of the jobs that ”
are being created are at a higher wage
than the jobs they’re replacing.
While we are seeing positive results,
we have much more to do. We need to
build on the president’s policy successes
by enacting his six-point plan for job
creation. His plan will cut red tape, stop
the lawsuit lottery, make tax relief
permanent, help small businesses
provide health care, expand trade and
pass a national energy plan.
John Kerry has a different plan: one
that calls for higher taxes, more
regulation and more litigation that
would kill jobs and derail our recovery.
In the United State Senate, John
Kerry voted 98 times for tax increases
totaling more than $2.3 trillion.
Sen. Kerry likes to talk about a
“middle class squeeze" on the stump
but he voted against President Bush’s ^
historic middle class tax relief in 2001
and 2003 and then failed to show up a
few weeks back when we the Senate
voted again on these important tax
cuts.
America can’t afford John Kerry s
higher taxes at a time when we are
trying to create jobs and grow our
economy.
The American people look to their
president for leadership. We want the
president to provide economic
stewardship, we want a commander in
chief who will make the difficult
decisions, and do it with resolve. Let s
face it, Sept. 11 changed the world.
Sept. 11 was the impetus for a new
approach to America’s national security,
and the global fight against terror. We
can no longer ignore the nexus between
terrorist groups and the nations that
support and harbor them.
Because of President Bush’s
leadership America is safer today,
millions of people in Afghanistan and
Iraq are free and as of yesterday, Iraq is
now a sovereign state, moving towards
becoming a representative democracy in
the heart of the Middle East.
John Kerry sees things differently
John Kerry doesn’t believe we are
engaged in a war on terror. In an
interview with the New York Times,
John Kerry balked at calling the war on
terror an actual war, saying he was
uncomfortable using that term.
Unfortunately, Osama bin Laden is
very comfortable using that term,
having five times declared war on the
United States.
The bottom line is this: Whether it’s
taxes, jobs or national security, America
can’t afford John Kerry in the White
House.
LEGE QUOTE BOARD
THEJPirr NEWS
UNldBpiTY OF PITTSBURGH
Bn season is here in full force, and political signs are everywhere, dot
ns, resting in car windshields, and occasionally acting as impromptu curtains
in tflffewindows. A0*! w'th these signs comes ensuing vandalism. A campaign of
sign steaSm|ffhd defacing has stricken several battleground states, leading some
residents to take “Spy vs. Spy”-like defensive measures, including itching powder,
againsr^vandals.
THE ORACLE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
A prison guard implicated in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal was sentenced to
eight years in prison Thursday. A witness claimed he had been ordered to do the ac
tions he was accused of by intelligence officials with ties to the CIA. It appears the mil
itary is not taking any such allegations seriously. There are more and more accusations
that similar mistreatments are occurring in Guantanamo Bay and possibly other
secret locations. Such likely human rights violations are simply unacceptable. .
* ! COURTESY OF U-WIRE