Few 7th District hopefuls spar in Columbia

COLUMBIA -- Four hopefuls for South Carolina’s newest Congressional district agreed exactly once during a Tuesday afternoon debate in Columbia: Washington is broken, rife with inaction and politicians more interested in bickering than governing.

But how they’d actually represent the 7th District brought a mostly disparate but occasionally similar slate of ideas that ranged from making I-73 a toll road to repealing controversial health care reforms passed into law two years ago.

The candidates appearing at a business forum in Columbia were an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats: former Lt. Governor Andre Bauer and Mande Wilkes sparred for GOP support, and Parnell Diggs and Rep. Ted Vick vied on the Democratic side.

Noticeably absent were many candidates — both past and present — in the fluid field for the newest seat.

Rep. Thad Viers dropped out of the race last week after being arrested, and Debbie Harwell removed herself Tuesday, citing her husband’s ailing health. Others simply didn’t make the trip, which was probably for the best: the small dais for the debate could not have held the field, which currently bulges with at least a dozen candidates.

How candidates would handle I-73 dominated much of the discussion. Wilkes said the interstate — praised by tourism leaders as a pipeline to the beach but criticized by environmentalists and others — should be funded with tolls. Wilkes said the federal government simply could not afford the road, projected to cost $2.4 billion.

“The people up North, the kind of people that come to Myrtle Beach, they travel toll roads all the time, they don’t think twice about it,” Wilkes said.

Diggs promised to lobby for federal earmark dollars for the project, and Vick said he’d do so as well. Bauer said he would lobby strongly for the road but wouldn’t ask for federal earmarks.

Bauer and Wilkes also issued strong pleas to overturn the health care reforms passed under the Obama administration, after a question about how the candidates would repeal the law. Bauer and Wilkes said the law endangers small businesses and is an overreach of the federal government’s constitutional powers. The law will face the Supreme Court’s test later this year.

Vick was torn on the law, saying he didn’t want to hurt small businesses but believed the country had serious health care issues. Diggs said he supported the president in 2008, supported the health care law and would support the president again in 2012. That comment drew some laughs and murmurs from the audience, which consisted primarily of politicos and business executives.

“You all might not have liked some of the things I said today, but you know what you’re going to get from Parnell Diggs,” he said. “I’m not going to lie.”

Vick said he “thought he voted” for Obama in 2008 but was unsure who he’d support in 2012. Wilkes didn’t vote in 2008; she said neither Obama or John McCain deserved support. Wilkes now supports Ron Paul.

As for Bauer?

“If I voted for Obama in 2008, Ted, I’d want to forget it too,” he said.

After the debate, the former lieutenant governor said his strongest opponent was himself, as recent comments, including a reference to those on welfare as stray animals, have landed him in trouble.