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Leventis endorsed
by The Item for record, integrity
(Reprinted
from The (Sumter) Item)
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NEWS,
6/11: Leventis wins primary
Sen. Phil Leventis garnered 59 percent of the vote in Tuesday's
primary to capture the Democratic nomination.
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JUNE 8, 2008 -- As voters head to the polls Tuesday
to participate in the Democratic primary, a clear choice awaits
them in the race for the nomination to the Senate District 35
seat.
It pits incumbent Sen. Phil Leventis versus E.B. “Mac”
McLeod. It has become a heated race, with charges and counter-charges
flowing back and forth between the two candidates and their supporters.
Many of the charges have some basis in fact, others are either
distortions or outright lies. More on that later.
McLeod, a skilled opportunist, has sought to use the issue of
school consolidation to portray Leventis as someone who railroaded
legislation through the General Assembly without listening to
“the people” and allowing them to have a voice in the
decision. That depends on one’s definition of “the people.”
Leventis indeed heard from “the people,” the vast silent
majority who were drowned out by the loud status-quo and turf-protection
crowd among the local education establishment and the ill-informed
who resist change regardless of its merits. School consolidation
does have merit that, when properly applied by the newly formed
transition committee, will improve education in the classrooms
of Sumter County.
As for McLeod’s position on consolidation – well, he
really doesn’t have one. He uses a convenient escape clause
in a recent letter to the editor in which he claims, “I do
not believe sufficient research has been done for an educated
opinion to be formed.” Had he been a subscriber to this newspaper
during the past year he could have exposed himself to the over
100 articles and letters to the editor printed on these pages.
Among those articles were two in-depth and exhaustive examinations,
pro and con, of school consolidation that appeared last year.
Had he read them, perhaps that would have assisted him in forming
“an educated opinion” on the issue.
Leventis may have been the point man on school consolidation,
but there were other local legislators who joined him and supported
him in voting for the bill that became law. They were two Republicans,
Reps. Murrell Smith and Rep. Philip Lowe, and one Democrat, Rep.
David Weeks. They, like Leventis, resisted the temptation to take
the easy way out and succumb to the tirades of naysayers resistant
to progress. They, like Leventis, acted on principle and for what
they believed to be in the best interests of parents, children,
teachers and taxpayers. It’s called “leadership.”
Weeks, in particular, withstood severe pressure and criticism
from so-called black “leaders” in the community and
held firm. It’s interesting that he is unopposed in Tuesday’s
primary. Maybe he listened to real “people” and not
the noisy ones. And just maybe, the voters in his district who
comprise the silent majority, appreciate his leadership and service
to the extent they never considered supporting any challenger
for his seat in the House.
A McLeod supporter, in a gushing and fawning May 23 letter to
the editor in which he extolled his candidate’s virtues while
trashing Leventis’ 28 years in the Senate, recited a long
list of McLeod’s accomplishments. It was a nice résumé,
and indeed, McLeod does have a solid record of public service
dating back to when he served in the House and within the community,
of which he is rightly proud. But that was yesterday – this
election is about today.
Leventis also has a record of accomplishments, among which are
his ongoing efforts to secure four-year status for the University
of South Carolina Sumter; his fight to regulate and bring accountability
to the Safety-Kleen hazardous waste landfill at Rimini; lead sponsorship
of legislation last year that provides unemployment insurance
benefits to working spouses of military personnel who lose their
jobs due to a spouse’s transfer, for which he won a major
recognition award from a state and international workforce professionals
organization; his going to bat for rural counties by stopping
out-of-state factory hog operations from coming into the state
and polluting our rivers with waste, as they did in North Carolina;
his consistent support for public education, such as his strong
role in increasing teacher pay and incentives for nationally-certified
teachers, resulting in almost a 100-fold increase in the number
of nationally certified teachers in the past five years; and many
other productive initiatives. Rather than list his complete record
and resume, including his exemplary military service that earned
him the Distinguished Flying Cross in Operation Desert Storm as
a fighter pilot, we suggest that voters who’d like to learn
more about him and his positions on vital public issues to go
to his website, leventisforsenate.com. His service to the state
and this community has been admirable on issues that have impact
on all citizens.
Meanwhile, in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary, the gushing
McLeod supporter who wrote the May 23 letter is busy again sliming
Leventis as well as this newspaper with another attack piece sent
via email this week to prospective voters. In it, he chastises
Leventis for supporting the Democratic Party’s presidential
nominee Barack Obama, and then claims McLeod “has been endorsed
by the majority of the area’s black leadership.” What
exactly constitutes the “black leadership” in Sumter?
Who are they? Other than the small coterie of eight NAACP members
who showed up Jan. 2 on the courthouse steps to announce the local
branch’s opposition to consolidation at a “press conference”
before an audience of two, that’s the only “black leadership”
that comes to mind.
The McLeod propagandist goes on to warn that “relying on
the media (meaning The Item) for fair and balanced information
about the race is unadvisable. The local media is backing Leventis
despite his continued liberal stance, one that runs contrary to
the beliefs of the majority of our citizens….The public is
receiving filtered versions of the political events as they unfold
in this senate race…Dirty political tricks are once again
being employed daily by Leventis’staff with no requirement
for accountable (sic) from the media….Subtle, biased slants
in certain news articles have placed Mac in an unfavorable light
despite being unfounded and untrue.” No documentation, no
examples of “filtered versions,” “dirty political
tricks,” or “subtle, biased slants” are provided
by this guardian of the truth. Pure garbage, an example of The
Big Lie and a contemptible attempt to discredit this newspaper,
which we reject out of hand. We believe our readers (and the recipients
of this email) are intelligent enough to recognize partisan political
rhetoric that has no basis in truth.
With a minister of distortion and misinformation like this aboard
the McLeod campaign bus, it allows us – indeed it demands
of us – to enthusiastically and unreservedly endorse Phil
Leventis for nomination to Senate Seat 35 in the Tuesday Democratic
primary. He is an honorable man, a decent man, an exemplary public
servant and clearly the best and brightest candidate in this primary
contest.
We urge voters of all political persuasions, Republicans as well
as Democrats, to show their appreciation for Sen. Phil Leventis
at the polls on Tuesday.
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