Redstate

By CraigLinton Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

It should be no surprise that, even in the red state of South Carolina, the liberal press is working overtime to elect a Democrat, Inez Tenenbaum, to U.S. Senate. Granted, Red-State-endorsed Jim DeMint has tasted his toes twice during this past week. That still doesn't explain why Tenenbaum continues to be the darling girl of the press.

It gets heated below the fold...

Special note to SC readers: Upstate residents can show their support for DeMint by coming out to the WYFF studios this Tuesday before the DeMint/Tenenbaum debate. DeMint volunteers will meet at 5 p.m. sporting blue and holding DeMint signs outside the television studio on Rutherford Street. Then we'll all migrate downtown to Wild Wings to watch our candidate stomp all over Tenenbaum. See you there!

The Orangeburg Times and Democrat says that DeMint has been sidetracked by "fringe issues." First, the national sales tax issue:

The Tenenbaum folks have done a masterful job of putting the tax plan at the forefront, however. By pointing out in TV ads that the national tax would do away with mortgage deductions and other income tax breaks, they would have South Carolinians believe the national tax would be some kind of great break for the rich — even though middle-income Americans indeed may fair better than with the income tax.

As has been noted before on Red State, DeMint's commercials and issue paper, the 23% national sales tax is just one of the ideas that DeMint is promoting in order to get people to start thinking about tax reform. Whereas the national sales tax may not be viable in the Senate, other reforms, such as a flat tax or a commission on reforming taxes might prove to be suitable alternatives.

This issue really isn't sidetracking DeMint. From the first time I met DeMint, he was talking about tax reform, social security reform, campaign finance reform reform, immigration reform, education reform--all kinds of reform. He has also talked about it in his campaign commercials and press releases. One of the biggest crowd pleasers in middle-America has been DeMint's interest in abolishing the IRS. Now that's not sidetracking--that's sticking to a message.

If anyone is sidetracked, it's Inez Tenenbaum. Her campaign has been perpetually derailed as it has chased DeMint like a rabbit, but come up empty in the polls. One can infer from the above quotation from the Times Democrat that Inez Tenenbaum, not Jim DeMint, has been sidetracked by the national sales tax issue.

Second: yes, DeMint did stick his foot in his mouth twice this past week. He said homosexuals and pregnant, unwed women should not be teachers. (Can he be excused for thinking like a father when asked about with whom he wants the children of South Carolina to spend their time?) Quoth the Times Democrat:

In a debate with Tenenbaum a week ago, DeMint made that point that teachers must be held to a higher standard. A majority of South Carolinians may agree with him, but why in the world is DeMint putting himself in the line of fire on such matters? As his campaign spokesman said later, he has no plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit either gays or unwed mothers from teaching.

There you have it. That should be the end of the story. Instead, almost a week later, the press is still obsessed with the non-story. DeMint's stance on homosexuals doesn't exactly put Tenenbaum in a strategic position to counter-attack, either. She's never been considered pro-gay; she bucked the Democratic Party to support President Bush's Federal Marriage Amendment.

Moving on, Tenenbaum-sympathetic The State (Columbia) chimes in today with a back-handed slap against DeMint. For the uninitiated, Tenenbaum is the state school superintendent of South Carolina. That's not a particularly easy or rewarding task, considering that South Carolina schools have been historically the lowest performing in the nation. (Alabama and Mississippi: "Thank goodness for South Carolina!") Where have the schools gone since Tenenbaum has been in office? The State:

Then, he [DeMint] goes on with the usual pooge we hear from those who counsel despair over public schools: Our SAT scores are the lowest in the nation (ignoring that they’ve still climbed faster than in any other state). Our graduation-rate ranking has dropped (during a period when prerequisites for graduation were sharply increased). Education spending increased 40 percent during the Tenenbaum tenure. (That last one ignores two key facts — that the Legislature increased funding during boom times to implement its 1998 Education Accountability Act; and that it later decreased funding to levels that would have been illegal if it hadn’t used its sovereign power to change the law, thereby dumping the load on local school districts — many of which couldn’t afford it.)

The State is trying to turn silver lining into bright sunshine! It's not happening. Schools in South Carolina have undergone no dramatic change under Tenenbaum's lackluster leadership.

What's really troubling is that The State wants to sweep Tenenbaum's performance under the rug. Even Tenenbaum detached herself from the latest round of pitiful SAT scores. Certainly, however, the performance of the school system should be one way to evaluate Tenenbaum's effectiveness. Yet, The State still tries to delegitimize this critique:

Run against Inez Tenenbaum, Mr. DeMint. She’s dealt you some tough hits; deal her some back if that’s the way you want to play it. But don’t do it by denigrating what we’re trying to accomplish in our schools. The enterprise is difficult enough without that.

At least the editorialist is honest in trying to assert Tenenbaum's strength in education. After all, a state should be loathe to send off one of its best public administrators to Washington, right? Again, The State:

But at moments like this, I’m tempted to say, send Jim DeMint to Washington, and keep Inez Tenenbaum right here. We need at least one statewide leader who remains committed to doing what it takes to educate our kids.

Cheers to that!

The usually evenhanded Greenville News is running an AP story that's been covered elsewhere: DeMint's recent tax mishap. Here's the basis of the story:

Tax records showed DeMint, a three-term congressman, paid a $148 late penalty for missing the Jan. 15, 2001, property tax deadline for a vacant lot he owned in a Greenville subdivision. The penalties were added Jan. 17, Feb. 2 and March 19 to the $885 original tax assessment, according to the tax collector's office.

In May 2001, DeMint had said he thought the notice he received dated April 4, 2001, was the first and that payment was not late. He paid the tax and penalties.

A 2001 article in The Greenville News quoted a tax collector's office worker as saying too many people had called to say they had not received notices for "that many people to be telling stories."

So DeMint becomes another casualty of bureaucratic mismanagement, and, thus, fodder for the SC Democratic Party. The article quotes Joe Erwin, SC Democratic Party's media-savvy chairman, as saying, "It appears that Jim doesn't know one essential fact about taxes - you have to pay them." Har, har. Tenenbaum's campaign whips DeMint, too:

"We find it ironic that Jim DeMint is anxious to raise taxes on a huge majority of South Carolina families, but hasn't paid his own taxes on time," said Tenenbaum's campaign spokeswoman Kay Packett.

Give 'em an inch, and they'll take a mile! A truly baseless attack based upon a bureaucratic mistake--and DeMint gets dragged through the mud. This story shouldn't have even been reported. What's next? Tenenbaum misses car payment--more at 11?

DeMint is taking a beating in the press. Sure, some of the things he's said are controversial and the press rightly pounces on them. But both candidates should be a lightening rod for press criticism, yet Tenenbaum keeps escaping scrutiny. For all the articles the press has done about DeMint's clash with the textile industry, they could be writing about Tenenbaum's cozy relationship with that same subsidies-sucking industry. Alas, not in this red state.

That's why it's important to invest in DeMint. The press is not going to be critical of Inez Tenenbaum. So, give what you can--a dollar, ten, fifty, or more--and then add two cents onto your investment so we can track investments from Red State readers. Remember, it's not a donation, it's an investment in your future and the future of America.

Finally, there are two glowing bios of the two candidates. The first, from the AP, gushes praise about Tenenbaum worse that her own press releases:

The Tenenbaums dote on six dogs and four cats who live with them at their Lexington County home, but the size of their menagerie is always in flux.

...

"I'm sure when she's on the campaign trail, she's putting one in the back seat of her car," Harpootlian [former SCDP chairman] joked of Tenenbaum's penchant for rescuing animals.

The next story almost writes itself: "DeMint kicks puppies, hates kittens." No, no, no. The final story is from the Greenville News. It examines the relationship and political motivation behind Jim DeMint and his mentor, Bob Inglis. Inglis had DeMint's 4th district seat before he gave it up due to a self-imposed term limit and an opportunity to run against Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings. Inglis lost, and DeMint picked up his seat. Now Inglis is running again for his old seat--DeMint running for the Senate seat being vacated by Hollings. The ol' South Carolina switcheroo!