Television shows no mercy

Are ads getting too nasty? Some say it’s politics as usual

November 5, 2006

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

The arguing has been fierce. The name-calling and finger pointing seem to be at an all-time high. The verbal attacks on the personal lives of others are non-stop.
No, that’s not a description of an episode of Maury Povich’s talk show; it’s an encapsulation of the negative television ads run by political candidates and parties in this year’s election.
Negative campaign ads, which feature a political candidate disparaging the track record of his opponent, are nothing new. But many say that type of campaigning is more prevalent now than ever before.
Officials at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania recently analyzed political ads running in the top 101 media outlets in the country. They deemed 91 percent of Republican ads were negative, with 81 percent of Democratic ads being negative.
One study even shows both parties spend more attacking each other than they do praising their own candidates.
A Federal Election Commission report showed the Democratic congressional committee has spent $18 million attacking Republicans and $3.1 million backing Democrats. Meanwhile, the same report showed the Republican congressional committee has spent $41.9 million on negative ads against Democrats and $5 million praising its own candidates.
Many people in Greenwood and the Lakelands area have strong feelings about the negative ads that have dominated television and radio stations over the last month.
“When I see those things I just turn my head,” said Greenwood’s Sam Miller, a manager with CapitalBank. “You know when you hear that ‘this message is approved by’ disclaimer at the start of the commercial that it’s going to be negative.
“It’s as bad as I can remember it being this year.”
There has been speculation nationally that this year’s pre-election build-up has been the “nastiest” in memory. However, Lander University economics and social sciences professor Willis Lewis said it’s a familiar tune.
“They say that every year,” Lewis said. “People claim it’s getting worse, but, in all honesty, negative campaigning is just part of politics.”
Lewis said he is unsure of the effectiveness of ads for one party or another because of the heavy participation in negative campaigning by both sides.
Greenwood resident Johnny Rhodes, who is the president of the local chapter of the Gamecock Club, said the ads do have an effect on him — but not the effect candidates might hope for.
“Oh, they have an effect on me,” Rhodes said. “Because when I see one that’s really negative, I’m more apt to go against that candidate. I want candidates that will talk about the issues, not sling mud at the other guy.”
Some Lakelands-area residents enjoy the ads simply for their entertainment value.
Abbeville’s Matt Horne, owner of Heritage Finance, cited a recent television ad for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tommy Moore for its humor rather than its slam of incumbent Republican Mark Sanford.
The ad features a stereotypical elderly woman railing against Sanford for his implied disregard of the rights of senior citizens.
“Have you seen that one?” Horne asked, with a laugh. “That one tripped me out. It’s not right, but it was funny.”
While some might think the incessant finger-pointing in political TV ads is solely indicative of this part of the country, it is actually widespread.
Greenwood’s Ken Whittington, who owns four McDonald’s restaurants in Greenwood and Abbeville, arrived in the area five years ago after spending three decades in Illinois. He said the political hype he has seen here is no different than what he saw back in Illinois.
“Oh, it’s ugly up north, too,” Whittington said. “I think it’s just terrible. Both sides do it, but some of what we’re seeing is just unbelievable.”
Lewis said he hopes his students at Lander will get out and vote regardless of how they feel about political advertising.
“Some of my students were too young to vote in the last election,” Lewis said. “They’ve told me they are going to vote this time. I certainly hope they will.”
Chris Trainor covers area news for The Index-Journal. He can be reached at: ctrainor@indexjournal.com.

Governor makes stop
in Greenwood on campaign trail

November 5, 2006

By BOBBY HARRELL
Index-Journal staff writer

David Davids, of Greenwood, stood on the side of S.C. 72 Saturday afternoon in front of Sportman’s Friend with daughters Becca and Beth trying to get drivers’ attentions with his sign.
Davids wasn’t trying to hitch a ride anywhere —he was promoting Republican Gov. Mark Sanford in his race for re-election.
Sanford visited Greenwood Saturday as part of his “Caravan for Change” tour before the Nov. 7 gubernatorial election.
He’s running against Democratic candidate state Sen. Tommy Moore, of Edgefield.
Sanford brought his wife Jenny, their children, his brother and Jenny’s sister to the Lakelands in an RV.
They talked to Greenwood residents for about an hour before heading to Laurens.
Davids said he came to Sportman’s Friend, a hunting and fishing supply shop, to support the governor.
He said he agrees with Sanford on many issues, including lowering taxes and decreasing the size of the government.
“He says what he means and means what he says,” Davids said.
Sanford said he and his family are criss-crossing the state to reach more rural places, to talk to all possible voters and let them know his side of the issues.
He wants to restructure South Carolina government to bring it out of the 1950s.
Talking to people one-on-one is still something of importance in a campaign, despite living in the mass media age.
Meeting voters on a personal level also helps dispel any misinformation spread around during the final days of a campaign, Sanford said.
Negative campaign ads can also turn away voters.
About one-third of registered voters show up for midterm elections, Sanford said.
“Our system doesn’t work if people aren’t engaged in the process,” he said.
Sanford said he does the work that he can, but the outcome of the election is in the Lord’s and the voters’ hands now.
Dean Goldman of Greenwood already voted by absentee for Sanford, but he stopped by Sportman’s Friend to tell the governor how much he appreciated him.
Goldman thinks Sanford is one of the best governors South Carolina has ever had, no matter what anyone else says.
“I feel like he’s done more for South Carolina than anybody else,” Goldman said.
Ally Stephens, a junior at Greenwood High School, came to meet the governor Saturday.
She knows a little about the issues going on in the elections, but not much.
Stephens is too young to vote in this election, but she’ll be able to vote in the presidential election in 2008.

Cold morning greets state’s top runners;
EHS’ Whitmire finishes second in AA/A

November 5, 2006

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

COLUMBIA — Cold weather and short shorts might seem odd to most folks, but for the runners who participated in Saturday’s state high school cross country championships at the Sandhills Research Park in Columbia, it was quite normal.
With the early-morning frost still visible, fans showed up in full-force to cheer for their teams while also trying to keep warm.
The performance of the day belonged to Emerald’s Stephanie Whitmire. The speedy freshman finished second in the race with a time of 19:52, only six seconds behind the winner.
“I was worried about the cold weather, but I was just working towards the front group most of the time and we were just pushing each other along,” Whitmire said. “My teammates and the people watching were really supportive. I had no idea I was second but I tried my hardest.”
In the Class AA/A girls race, Emerald finished 7th, while Ninety Six and Dixie took 17th and 20th, respectively. Emerald coach Emily Polatty was positive about her teams’ efforts.
“I thought that both our girls and boys squads performed very well today and I am very pleased with their placements and times,” Polatty said. “They proved that they could come out and accomplish the goals that they set.”
The Lady Vikings posted strong times throughout the race and that was a factor in the high team finish. Senior Katie Henderson (22:31), sophomore Shelby Harris (22:35), sophomore Kirstie Lee (23:21), senior Katie Doud (24:05) and Allison Tolbert (24:07) all finished under the 25-minute mark.
Ninety Six was led in the race by senior Andrea Downey (22:39) and she was followed by sophomore Lea Barrett (23:03).
“I am very pleased with the overall performance of the team,” said Ninety Six coach Sandy Zehr. “As a team I think we did an awesome job today.”
The Greenwood boy’s team came into the Class AAAA race hoping to build on their third-place region finish and springboard themselves into competition next season.
“We came up here for the experience and it was a reward for the guys,” said Eagles coach Robbie Templeton.
Seniors Brenden Feucht, who finished in 16 minutes, 53 seconds, and Rett Templeton (18:17) were the top finishers among the Eagles in their final race. They were followed by junior Josh Smith (18:20), sophomores Josh Cabrera (18:39) and Sebastian Palecki (18:55), who helped the Eagles finish 17th overall.
Freshman Jenna Ficklin, the Lady Eagles’ lone representative after making it to the state finals in her first year, finished with a time of 22:28.
“I’m glad to be here and do it,” Ficklin said. “I feel like I could have done better but it’s awesome that I made it to state.”
The Class AA boy’s race was highlighted by top-20 team finishes by Ninety Six (6th) and Emerald (14th). Abbeville senior Evan Carroll was the only Panthers runner to qualify and he finished with a time of 19:10.
Leading the way for Ninety Six was senior Michael Rounds, who finished 11th overall with a time of 17:17. Teammate Jordan Hine, also a senior, fnished the race with a time of 18:11. They were followed by sophomore Judd Larkins (18:27) and seniors Daniel Longmire (18:34), Alex Trowbridge (18:57), Jamie Burton (19:10) and Bobby Harvley (19:29).
Former Wildcats runner John Haley, who spent five years on the team before moving away, had somewhat of a reunion with his old teammates before helping Northwestern pick up a second-place trophy in Class AAAA. Haley finished with a time of 17:20.
“It feels great seeing my old team all together again,” Haley said. “It’s just hard to explain.”
Emerald’s strongest run in the boy’s race came from junior Mavrick Harris (17:37). He was followed by sophomore Matthew Menard (17:49), senior Andrew Wilson (18:57), freshman Kevin Quan (19:23) and senior Corey Reardon (19:26).
The Lady Wildcats, like many teams, had a young runner who made it to the championship.
Seventh-grader Ashley Rounds finished the race with a 23:39. Senior Laura Sampson finished right behind her with a time of 23:42, followed by sophomore Erinn Turner (24:13), freshman Candace Jones (24:52) and sophomore Miranda Boyle (26:56).
Dixie received a solid run from freshman Rebecca Evans (21:50), who finished 28th. The Lady Hornets should have a bright future with the amount of young runners returning. Freshman Ashley Martin finished with a time of 22:46 and she was followed by eighth-grade tandem Kaitlin Miller and Erin Iannone, who finished with times of 26:41 and 26:42, respectively.
The Lady Hornets’ lone senior who participated, Sarah Cawood, finished with a time of 27:26 followed by junior Kylie Burdette (28:20) and eighth-grader Hannah Swanerbury.
Abbeville’s Emma Williams was the lone runner for the Lady Panthers. The freshman represented well with a top-50 finish (22:26, 46th) out of the 173 runners.
Leading the way in the Class A race for the Dixie boy’s team was junior Andrew Evans, who ran a 19:05 and finished two spots out of the top-10 individually. Evans was named to the All-State team for his performance.
“It was really cold and there was a lot of sand, but I think this is a pretty quick course and I felt pretty good out there,” Evans said.
He was followed by sophomore Caleb Stadridge (19:58), senior Dustin Fox (20:15), junior Kovon Tanner (21:02), junior Chase Griffith (21:35), junior Ray Hunt (21:57) and freshman Rashun Tanner (23:55).
The Hornets finished ninth among Class A boys teams with a total time of 1:41:55.

Opinion

Digging up the negatives eliminates the positives

November 5, 2006

Never has so much misleading and sometimes outrageously duplicitous rhetoric been thrown around in a political campaign as there has been is this election season. It would be difficult to focus on one particular subject that has been given this kind of attention in South Carolina. However, education would have to be right up there somewhere near the top.
Some of the claims made about what candidates and other people would do to schools and education in general have been beyond the pale. Some of the critics should be ashamed of the cheap shots they’ve taken. They have been beneath contempt in some cases, as have some of the other campaign rhetoric in other races.

TOO MANY CANDIDATES, it seems, spend so much time trying to dig up something negative about their opponents they never take the time to tell us anything positive about themselves. Do they think, maybe, their opponents’ negatives outweigh their own positives?
Then, of course, there’s that one thing common to every election ..... every election. “We need change!” say those out of office. To what? We’re always told we need change but seldom, if ever, are we told what we need to change to. Or, if told, we’re never told how to achieve it. We’re just told we need to change.
Maybe that’s our problem. We keep changing too much ..... just for the sake of change.

Obituaries

Esperanza Butler

Esperanza L. Butler, formerly of Greenwood High Apartments, widow of Lonnie T. Butler, died Saturday, November 4, 2006 at Carolina Health Rehab Center in Columbia.
Born in Equador, she was a daughter of the late Alfonzo Larrea Alba and Maria Laura Ferrsola. Surviving are three sisters, Lourdes “Luly” Gonzalez-Rubio of California, Azucena Larrea of Peru and Cunsuelo Molino of Connecticut; two brothers, Alfonzo Larrea of New York and Dr. Romero Larrea of Equador.
No services will be held.
Harley Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Bobby Ray Edwards

ABBEVILLE — Bobby Ray Edwards, 74, of 3043 Hwy 20 Abbeville died Friday, November 3, 2006 at the Abbeville Area Medical Center.
He was born in Abbeville County to the late Lewis Perrin and Daisy Link Edwards.
Mr. Edwards worked at the Milliken Abbeville Plant for many years, and spent most of his life farming. He was a member of Upper Long Cane Presbyterian Church but had been attending Cold Spring Chapel.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his daughter, Marsha Gail Howard, and a brother, James Edwards.
Surviving Mr. Edwards are his two sons, Robert Joe Edwards and his wife Alisa of Abbeville and Michael Perrin Edwards of Abbeville, a sister, Joyce Strawhorne and her husband Richard of Calhoun, Ga., three grandchildren, Tish Provan, Savannah and Austin Norryce, and one great-granddaughter, Katelyn Marie Metz.
The family will receive friends from 6-8 p.m. Sunday, November 5, 2006 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Monday, November 6, 2006 in the Harris Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Long Cane Cemetery.
The family will be at the home of Joe and Alisa Edwards 3337 Hwy 20 Abbeville, SC 29620.
Online condolences may be sent to the Edwards family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com.
Harris Funeral Home of Abbeville is assisting the Edwards family.

Robert Harrison

HODGES — Robert Gordon Harrison II, 32, of 411 Lagrone Road, husband of Tonya Cobb Harrison, died Friday, November 3, 2006, at Palmetto Richland Healthcare.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home & Crematory.

Jaylen Marshall

Jaylen Lillie Rae Marshall, 3-month-old infant daughter of Aaron Marshall and Kimber Tullis, died Friday, November 3, 2006.
Surviving are her parents of the home; grandparents, Lee Ann Tullis, Quinn Mack and Angela Edwards, all of Greenwood and Larry Marshall of Aiken; great-grandparents, Lonzo and Teresa Tullis of Greenwood.
Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Melrose Cemetery, Abbeville, with the Reverend Kevin Carter officiating.
The family has requested that flowers be omitted and memorials be made to the Harley Funeral Home c/o Jaylen Marshall, PO Box 777, Greenwood, SC 29648.
The family will receive friends at Harley Funeral Home on Monday from noon until 1:30 PM.
The family will be at the home of 107 Sara Drive, Greenwood Sunday night from 5:00 PM until.
Harley Funeral Home & Crematory are in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

William David Morton

ABBEVILLE — William D. Morton, 73, of 115 Rockhouse Circle, died Saturday, November 4, 2006, at Hospice Care of the Piedmont.
The family is at the home of his sister, Leola Spearman, 1587 Secession Ave.
Services will be announced by Brown and Walker Funeral Home.

Beatrice Rhynes Scott

SALUDA — Beatrice Rhynes Scott, 66, of 1941 McCormick Highway, widow of James M. Scott, died Friday, November 3, 2006 at Self Regional Healthcare.
Born in McCormick County, she was the daughter of the late Rufus and Genell Settles Rhynes. She was a member of Springfield Baptist Church, Edgefield, and a retired employee of Amick Farms.
Survivors include a son, James D. Scott of Saluda; a daughter, Geraldine Johnson of Saluda; five sisters, Lorene Gilchrist, Cora Bell Cummings and Annie Ruth Page, all of Edgefield, Genett Palmore and Sherry Ann Adams, both of Saluda; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are 2 p.m. Tuesday at Springfield Baptist Church conducted by the Rev. Henry Gilchrist, assisted by the Revs. Craig Myers and Herman Jenkins. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. The remains will be placed in the church at 1 p.m.
Public viewing will begin 1 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Pallbearers are nephews and flower bearers are family and friends.
The family is at the home.
Butler & Sons Funeral Home is in charge.

George Willis

George V. Willis, 72, widower of Glenda Gail Jones Willis, died Saturday, November 04, 2006 at Hospice House.
Born in Aiken, he was the son of the late Austin and Alice Fulmer Willis. He was an U.S. Navy veteran and retired from Ralph Mathis Plumbing.
He was predeceased by a grandson, Austin Smith.
Surviving is a son, Tim Willis of Concord, N.C.; two daughters, Judy Fox and Linda Smith, both of Ninety Six; five sisters; two brothers; seven grandchildren, Amanda Smith, Gerren Willis, Brandon Willis, Jennifer Williams, Kristian Smith, Timothy Smith and Landon Smith; and two great-grandchildren, Tori Smith, and David Smith.
A memorial service will be held 3: 00 p.m. Tuesday where he will be laid to rest with his beloved wife at Oakbrook Memorial Park Mausoleum, with the Reverend David Evans and the Reverend Marty Dorn officiating.
The family would like to express their gratitude to nurse Donna Trell.
The family is at the home of his daughter, Linda Smith, 101 Hicks Court, Ninety Six, SC 29666.
Memorials may be made to Hospice House, 408 West Alexander, Greenwood, SC 29646.
Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com.