Midterms

Midterms: They’re Not Over Yet

by Bryan Cockfield

The upcoming midterm elections are proving to be a hotbed of political battling all over the United States.

This election year, the Republicans stand a fair chance of losing control of Congress since they took both houses in 1994. The midterm elections indeed could show a swing in the Senate or the House to the Democratic party mainly because of the American people’s dissent with the Republican party over the handling of the various conflicts in the Middle East. However, gaining a majority in either house will still be a challenge.

One of the more interesting stories in the midterm races so far has been Ned Lamont’s defeat of Joseph Lieberman in the Democratic primary for Connecticut’s Senate seat. While Lamont’s 51.8% - 48.2% victory over Lieberman may not seem like much of a victory, it is considered highly unlikely that a three-term incumbent would lose a Senate race for any reason, let alone lose his own primary. This primary shows that most Democrats are not supporting the United States’ current involvement in the Middle East, as Lieberman was a key supporter of President Bush’s foreign policy even after most of the party reconsidered their stance on Iraq. Whether or not Lamont will be able to defeat Alan Schlesinger, the Republican candidate who has lost the support of his party, and Lieberman, who is now running as an independent and has most of the Republican support, remains to be seen.

New England is not the only political arena in these midterm elections. South Carolina is looking like one of the swing states for the House, with six congressional districts that could go either way. South Carolina’s fifth congressional district is perhaps the most hotly contested. John Spratt is a twelve-term Democrat running against Ralph Norman, a Republican state representative. The district, which takes up much of South Carolina’s North-central region from Gaffney to Dillon county and as far south as just outside of Columbia’s city limits, has been slightly Democratic since Spratt’s election. However, the Republicans have been gaining ground on the district since George Bush’s re-election in which he increased his margin of victory by two percent.

As for South Carolina’s third congressional district, which takes up most of the state’s western counties and contains Clemson, Anderson, and Aiken, incumbent James Barrett (R) is running against Franklin Ballinger (D). Barrett’s most recent bill, H.R. 41, which proposes a commission on tax reform, should be a favorite of the conservative constituency in the district and the election is anticipated to swing in favor of the incumbent.

Also up for election this year in South Carolina is the Governor’s seat. State Senator Tommy Moore (D) is running against incumbent Mark Sanford. Sanford appears to have a commanding lead over the challenger after defeating Oscar Lovelace in the primary this summer, and since South Carolina is traditionally Republican, the results of the election are expected to reflect the polls. According to Wachovia Corp., South Carolina has had a 6.6% annual increase in goods and services exported while under the leadership of Sanford. However, Sanford’s handling of public education in South Carolina has let both public college students and parents of children in the public education system down.

Moore looks to capitalize on this point by promising to stop the budget cuts to education. He would also like to expand ports in Jasper county to help take some of the load off of Charleston, thus improving the state’s economy. His other plank includes a major reform of the health care system.