State candidates engage in written, verbal volleys
http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2008/apr/15/he-said-he-said/
By Greg Oliver
April 15, 2008 – 12:00 a.m. EST
SENECA — The race for the State House of Representatives District 2 seat between incumbent Bill Sandifer and challenger Ed Rumsey has turned testy.
Despite a pledge from both candidates not to engage in negative campaigning, both Sandifer and Rumsey are claiming that the other is involved in precisely that.
Rumsey said Monday that cards distributed by the Citizens Committee to Re-elect Bill Sandifer portray him as a “puppet candidate” for “big corporations and the out-of-state billionaires who control them.” That, Rumsey argues, is untrue.
Instead, Rumsey cites his longtime record of service — both in the military, where the 1955 West Point graduate served for 26 years as an Air Force pilot, and in the Republican Party, where he served six years as chairman of the Oconee County Republican Party.
“This (card) is a political piece of paper and I’m surprised that he (Sandifer) would hide that (his affiliation) in the lower portion of the ad,” Rumsey said. “Some people can read the small print and some can read between the lines.
“When I read the card, I thought this was not really a public service card, but rather a political card in favor of Bill Sandifer,” Rumsey said in a later interview.
But Sandifer said late Monday that he was merely responding to recorded telephone calls Oconee County voters received last week from a special interest group attacking his record as well as anonymously negative “push polls” designed to damage his reputation.
“This very large push poll apparently contained 15-20 negative questions in it,” Sandifer said, adding, “I think that, quite frankly, push polls are the most thoroughly disgusting form of campaigning there is.”
Sandifer, who has served in Columbia for the past 15 years, said the recorded phone calls are the work of South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG) — the same special interest group he says worked hard, but unsuccessfully, to unseat State Rep. Bill Whitmire, of Walhalla in 2006.
“I told my opponent when he told me he was running that I would run a clean and positive campaign and, quite frankly, he told me he was going to do the same,” Sandifer said. “But we have had two parts of negative campaigning and I thought it was advisable to warn people to expect this type of campaigning.”
“That (card), to me, was an alert notification — like you would have with a tornado warning. When people in House District 2 start getting all of these negative ads — whether they be print, phone or whatever it is, this is an occurrence they have not seen before and I think they need to be prepared to see this type of thing.”
Rumsey responded that he fails to see how he can be considered a “puppet.” Instead, he categorizes himself as a candidate who is disappointed with a number of state issues — with education, reform, the manner in which government is being restructured, and with spending.
“I know this ‘puppet’ wants to serve and represent the people of District 2 in Oconee County as well as every citizen in this great state of South Carolina,” Rumsey said.
Sandifer defends his characterization of Rumsey as a “puppet candidate.”
“I don’t think it’s too strong (a word) and the only reason I say so is because I know how this outfit (SCRG, as well as Club for Growth and Reform SC) operates,” Sandifer said. “If something is promoting my candidacy or attacking someone else’s, I take responsibility for it. So, when somebody says they don’t know that’s being done, I have to assume that somebody else is handling that for them.”
While Rumsey argues that he knows nothing about the groups in question or any phone calls or literature distributed against Sandifer, he adds that, even if he did, there is nothing he could do.
“I don’t have any control over those groups,” Rumsey said. “You can’t step on people or organizations and hinder their freedom of speech, just as you can’t with newspapers. I can’t tell them what they can say or what they can do and I can’t understand why Bill would say that.”
Oconee County Republican Party Chairman Eddie Adams said Monday night that he told party candidates and others attending a meeting last Saturday that he would speak out in opposition to any type of negative campaigning.
“I believe candidates should run on their own merits,” Adams said. “I think the people who run for office are exceptional people because those who take on that choice realize how difficult it is. But I believe candidates can run on a platform that is positive and that sticks to the issues that they believe will better that office.
“The Republican Party stands above negative candidates and all I care about is putting good people in office for the betterment of our county for the state and in the future.”
Adams said he has spoken to Rep. Sandifer and doesn’t feel the card was distributed in a negative manner. Instead, Adams said he believes it was a response designed to offset what Sandifer felt was negative polling and telephone calls.
But Adams made it clear that he is taking no sides in the race.
“My goal is to get us through the primary so we can stand behind one candidate,” he said.
Rumsey said he also spoke with Adams and pledged to run a high level campaign, focusing on the issues.
“I always said I was going to take the high ground on issues and that if there were groups that attacked him (Sandifer) or me, so be it,” Rumsey said. “But I’m not going to take a jab from Bill and not respond.”
Though hopeful that he will emerge victorious in the June 10th primary, Rumsey said he would support Sandifer should he win.
“In the long run, I hope he will see the points I’m making,” he said.
