Tensions Rising in SC1 As Finish Line Comes Into View

There are just about two weeks left for voters in South Carolina's First Congressional District to decide who will be the next representative in the House of Representatives.

Republican Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch spent the weekend reaching out to voters. On Monday, they turned their sights on each other. Supporters of Colbert Busch released another attack critical of Sanford's conduct while governor. The latest one is from a veterans organization called VoteVets. It's viewable above.

Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer released a statement calling on Colbert Busch to end her "stealth campaign." The statement also slammed Colbert Busch for not joining the former governor on his "15 in 5" tour, for limiting her access to the public to only one debate and for the large amount of outside money being spent on the debate. Several Democratic groups have stepped up in support of Colbert Busch in recent weeks, while the NRCC broke from Sanford last week. Sanford's statement urged any and all television stations to carry the debate which will stream live on Patch on April 29. The statement said, in part: 

“What my opponent is in essence doing is asking voters to make their decisions based upon false and misleading ads being aired by Nancy Pelosi and national Democrats, and I think that’s a real disservice to the people that Colbert Busch is seeking to represent. We are going to give my opponent plenty of opportunities over the remainder of the campaign to debate the issues in person, and we’re hopeful that she agrees to do so.”

The Colbert Busch campaign responded via Press Secretary James Smith as to the "stealth campaign" charges:

"Elizabeth is thoroughly enjoying talking with South Carolina voters – she has held nine public events over the past eight days, and she’ll have a robust public schedule in the coming week to talk with voters – including a major rally at Burke High School on Wednesday night. Once again, voters can’t trust anything Mark Sanford says about Elizabeth.

Earlier on Monday, Smith sent out a release criticizing Sanford for voting against funding for the Export-Import Bank:

“Mark Sanford continues to try and deceive voters about Elizabeth Colbert Busch, but the fact is that he tried to undermine Boeing and cost South Carolinians jobs. Boeing said it needed this Export-Import Bank in order to create South Carolina jobs, but Mark Sanford voted against it - dramatically scaling back production and eliminating manufacturing jobs in South Carolina.”

“Republicans like Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott and even Joe Wilson support the Export-Import bank because it supported $581 million in sales for South Carolina businesses like Boeing, General Electric and Michelin. Mark Sanford opposed helping companies that create jobs in South Carolina. Businesses in South Carolina can’t trust Mark Sanford, and neither can voters.

“On the other hand, Elizabeth Colbert Busch is working with Boeing to make sure that their workers have the skills they need to succeed and create even more good manufacturing jobs here in South Carolina.”  

The Sanford campaign shot back quickly:

"One, it's incredibly disappointing that when we're offering up chances for my opponent to meet face to face to discuss issues, we get no response and are greeted with a negative press release instead. Sadly, this is a fairly transparent attempt by my opponent to disguise her support from the union that tried to shutter Boeing, and from liberal allies like Nancy Pelosi," Sanford said.

"Second, their attack is false on its face, as I do support the Ex-Im bank, and I would humbly suggest that I don't believe Boeing would have sent a check in support of my campaign if they were concerned about my stance on that issue."

"Third, my opponent's attack goes back to the biggest problem in politics, that people want to be for 'all of the above,' when in reality, we have to make choices. There were any number of meritorious ideas I voted against while in Congress because of the way they were paid for, namely a raid on the Social Security Trust Fund."

"So I would reverse the question...is my opponent in favor of raiding social security? Is my opponent in favor of a bigger deficit? Is my opponent in favor of higher taxes? You simply cannot have your cake and eat it too when it comes to spending priorities."

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