by Nathan Christophel

3/23/10

The USC-Union campus in downtown Union was transformed into a sea of campaign signs Saturday evening — it’s main campus building a ship anchored in the sea’s center; it’s passengers an audience of Union County residents searching for answers.

All aboard found themselves in the presence of four crew members seeking a chance to navigate the flag ship that is the U.S. House of Representatives Fourth Congressional District — encompassing Spartanburg, Greenville, Union and part of Laurens counties — in the right direction and help buck the tides of troubled waters in Washington, D.C.

All of the four shared their qualifications for the job and their answers to some of the day’s hottest issues and each of them made their cases as to why he or she should be the next to captain the ship.

But in the end, the decision lies in the hands of those passengers present Saturday night and their fellow Republicans and it’s a decision that will affect the future of the Fourth District.

“The votes we will cast on June 8 are the votes that will decide the future of this country,” said Union County GOP chair Mike Fowler.

It’s votes the four candidates for the Fourth District seat — currently held by Rep. Bob Inglis — are vying for and they were given the chance Saturday evening to debate the issues to show their fellow party members from Union County why each of them is the candidate of choice.

Inglis was unable to attend the debate because of congressional business in Washington. His challengers — State Sen. David Thomas, State Solicitor Trey Gowdy, businessman Jim Lee and Wofford College professor Christina Jeffery — were present and accounted for, however, to answer questions submitted by their prospective constituents.

The debate event was hosted by the Union County Young Republicans and the USC-Union government class. Tom Crabtree of WSPA News Channel 7 served as moderator.

Candidates fielded questions from a variety of sources, including those submitted by the general public in advance, some asked by local media and others from the USC-Union Government class and the student governments of Union County High School and Monarch Elementary School.

Candidates were allowed about one minute a piece to answer each question and also some rebuttal time if they chose. Otherwise, the debate was relatively informal and Crabtree asked candidates to be as clear, concise and straightforward as possible with their answers.

The question he chose to open the debate, the issue he called “the donkey in the room,” was what each candidate would have done differently when it came to the landmark health care legislation that passed the house later in the weekend.

All four candidates seemed to agree a free-market health care system was a better option.

Gowdy said the U.S. Constitution says no where that health care is a guaranteed right to the citizens of this country and that Congress hasn’t handled the issue well.

He, along with the rest of the forum, also seemed to agree that some type of reform is necessary — only not the type that eventually passed with a slim majority in the House.

“Do we need reform? Absolutely,” Gowdy said.

“You’re going to find that it’s less effective than the free market,” Thomas said about the now approved and signed bill and adding that if elected he would urge the conservative Republican majority to rescind the bill.

“We need to allow the free market to work,” Jeffery said.

Lee went as far as saying if the bill that passed over the weekend was really the best option, elected officials would have taken the time to sit down and share it in its entirety with the public — which, in his opinion, they did not.

“This is another example of the federal government run amuck,” he said.

Health care was the immediate issue on people’s minds as the debate began but candidates soon found themselves fielding questions from several topics, including student loan program reform, education cuts, the federal budget and what programs they would cut to fix the deficit and social security, Medicare/Medicaid and other entitlement program reforms.

But perhaps the most common topic of questions during the event circled around the issue Karen Floyd, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said she hears at every stop she makes in the state.

Jobs, jobs and jobs.

The four candidates took several questions from local media, including representatives from WBCU Radio and The Union Daily Times, as well as Crabtree in regard to unemployment and job creation.

One of which was what their game plan would be to bring jobs to the Upstate and Union County, specifically, if elected.

Thomas said one of the keys to bring jobs to Union County is getting prospective companies in the area to see the abundance of resources the area already has in place while working on getting additional resources — such as more water — for the county.

By doing that, he said, jobs will come.

“We’ve got a lot of great things going for us in Union in terms of the facilities that exist, in terms of the people that are here that are going to be great workers,” he said. “Jobs will come and that’s got to be the first thing. We have to focus on that”

He added through options such as grants and partnerships between local governments and the private sector, the task of bringing more business and industry to Union County could be achieved.

Jeffery said a decent economy could return to the Upstate and Union County with the election of TEA Party candidates who can go to Washington and not be afraid to stand up for their principles and speak out against overspending and measures like bailouts that only increase the country’s deficit.

“We’re going to get our country back and that’s what’s going to help Union County,” she said, adding she also agrees another key to the issue is being sure to have a “fair, honest, free market economy.”

Crabtree asked for candor before the debate began and Lee lived up to that request. He didn’t hesitate in saying the government does not create jobs. He advocates getting the federal and stat governments as much out of the way of business development as possible.

“The answer is not the government coming here to Union County and giving you jobs and the state doing its job to get the state government as much out of small business so people can pursue their own self interests, take the risks and reap the rewards and ensure there being jobs for everybody,” he said.

Gowdy and Lee agreed before jobs can come to the Upstate, they have to come to the United States first. Gowdy asked the nearly full auditorium why companies would come to this country, however, when costs of litigation are skyrocketing and other measures such as a proposed tax on energy would only discourage businesses from relocating here.

He added business needs to be friendlier in the United States.

“The Upstate can sell itself,” Gowdy said. “We have a reservoir of talent, of assets that we can work with in the Upstate.”

Candidates also were asked what they think Union County already has going for it and what it needs to attract more business and industry to create those needed jobs.

Thomas said it comes down to an infrastructure issue.

“Union County needs water,” he said, looking into the future and how the county will be able to handle expansion and the utility needs of larger businesses or industries that choose to locate here.

Jeffery admitted Union County already has the beautiful land and hardworking people it needs, but cutting though the miles of red tap normally associated with the bureaucracy.

“Union County has tremendous natural resources and tremendous people who are willing to work,” Lee said.

What the county really needs, he said, is leadership that can look beyond next week and see the big picture 20 or more years down the road. If elected, Lee plans to be an ambassador for the Fourth District and do as much as he can to convince people the Upstate — and Union County — are some of the best places to locate a business.

“I’m also going to actively work with rising individuals who have an interest in seeing Union County benefit and not their own self interests,” he said.

“There is a wonderful, fierce loyalty and pride in this community,” Gowdy said.

He said the county now needs to funnel that into finding those avenues that will spur economic development and job creation. Gowdy added the people of Union County deserve a representative who won’t forget there is another county included in his district.

Candidates also fielded the question on what their roll in Washington would allow them to do as far as creating opportunities for people to receive training to be able to compete for jobs in the new high-tech economy.

Jeffery and Thomas seemed to agree that the responsibility of getting training for a new career lies mostly on the individual but Jeffery said there hasn’t been enough done to encourage people to do so. Gowdy said the idea of job training programs is a good one, but ultimately it’s an issue for the state level.

Lee said the economy has been shifting from industrial to service and information for several years and not enough has been done to encourage people to become lifelong learners. He suggested taking a look at the amount of money the government is currently wasting in the department of education and sending it back to the states to allow them to implement programs to help people get retrained.

He added it would not only help states’ economies but “give people an opportunity to gain the skills they need.”

Saturday’s event lasted a little more than 90 minutes and each candidate was given the opportunity for a short closing statement to let those in attendance know what sets them apart from the current incumbent.

But the key message, in the end, was that every vote counts and party unity will help get the GOP message to the forefront again.

“This is my final wish for each and every one of you,” Floyd told audience members. “We’re going to come out of this election on June the ninth and one of these candidates will be chosen. Whichever candidate it is, my wish, hope and prayer is that we as a party lock arms, unify like never before and get behind them because I can promise you the Republican party needs every single vote in the state of South Carolina.”