Two Democrats running for 3rd District seat say they can work with GOP

Greenville News   www.greenvillenews.com

By Anna Simon • Clemson bureau • May 17, 2010

Both Democratic candidates running for the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary claim to be that person who can work across the aisle in Congress for the good of the district.

“The key is to be able to listen to what the people in your community want,” said Brian Ryan B. Doyle, of Aiken, who added that his radio show gives him experience in listening to many voices. “I have the experience to do that and go to Washington and make the change — real change and bring back what the 3rd Congressional District has been missing for the last 15 years,” he said.

Jane Ballard Dyer, of Easley points to her “wealth of experiences” as an Air Force captain, working mom and grandparent that help her understand of basic family needs the residents of this district face daily. “I’m the person who can go to Washington and sit down with people on both sides of the aisle and find solutions that will move our country forward,” Dyer said.

It was 15 years ago that Democrat Butler Derrick took his trademark suspenders and retired from the seat he held for 20 years, a seat the party, and especially the two June 8 Democratic primary contenders, desperately want back.

With U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett now in the governor’s race, the primary is being watched by party members who hope to regain the predominantly rural 10-county district that extends from Pickens and Oconee counties southward to Aiken County.

It’s a district rich in resources including water, timber and nuclear energy production but poor in jobs, a need both candidates stress in their campaigns.

Yet the bigger issue for many Democrats is which candidate has the best chance of winning back the district in November and defeating the eventual winner in a field of six Republicans vying for their party’s nomination in the June primary and a likely GOP runoff.

Neither Democratic contender has held prior political office; both can cite personal achievement and unconventional careers.

Dyer, 52, and a FedEx pilot, was the first female Clemson University graduate to become a U.S. Air Force pilot.

Doyle, 35, of Aiken, is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, dishing politics weekday mornings on the Urban Media Broadcasting Network’s “Water Cooler Moment” and counting down top tunes on weekends.

Dyer, who two years ago lost to Barrett, then the Republican incumbent, said she’s not discouraged. Her father ran for office as a Republican and lost in a race years ago, when she was a child and when predominantly Democrats were elected in South Carolina. She grew up chewing on dinner table conversation about politics and believes in a two-party system.

“Our state will be much better served if every time you go to the ballot you have a choice,” Dyer said. “It is tragic that so many people will vote based on just a party and not looking into individuals.”

South Carolina “has had its share of not very stunning leadership in the last few years,” said Dyer, who wants people to consider candidates in both parties “and see who wants to solve the problems and who just wants to talk the party line.”

Doyle describes himself as a “different kind of Democrat,” willing to buck the party line. To regain the formerly Democratic seat, “The party needs a candidate who’s willing to tell the party we’re wrong on some issues,” he said.

Doyle lobs criticism at Dyer as well, saying he’s challenged her to debates in all 10 counties in the district and she’s “avoided” his invitations. “If she is going to run from me, if she can’t debate me as a Democrat, there’s no way she can debate anyone on the other side of the aisle,” he said.

Dyer said she hasn’t avoided the invitations and hasn’t been able to schedule debates because of her work schedule.

Jobs and health care

Both candidates have proposed ways to create jobs in the district, and both are interested in capturing federal “green industry” dollars to do that.

Dyer would involve rural electric cooperatives in hiring local residents to help poorer families make their homes more energy efficient, wants to help small businesses get loans to keep them viable during the slow economic recovery, and capitalize on Clemson University and state technical colleges in the district to train a labor force for new jobs in energy and transportation.

As a congressional leader, Dyer said she would work with community, business and elected leaders to convince industry that this is a good place to bring their jobs.

Doyle attacks the North and Central American free trade agreements as a key reason for jobs leaving the district and moving overseas. He said he would call for limits and increased taxes on goods shipped into the U.S. in order to discourage large corporations from seeking cheap labor overseas and keeping manufacturing jobs here.

He also would like to suspend taxes on small businesses for six months to enable them to save money and hire more people.

On health care, Doyle, who worked as a paramedic for 12 years, said the new legislation needs to be fixed but not scrapped. People shouldn’t have to buy health insurance and small businesses making under $10 million a year should be exempt from providing employee health insurance because the cost could put them out of business, he said.

He also calls for a 30 percent cap on what insurers can charge people with pre-existing conditions.

Dyer said the new health care legislation, while not perfect, contains “lots of good things.” It will help those on Medicare, provide medications for seniors “in the gap,” allow young college graduates to stay on their parents’ plans, guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and help bring down the national debt.

“This is a first step. We need people who will work to find solutions to make it better,” Dyer said.

As a congressional leader, Dyer said she would work with community, business and elected leaders to convince industry that this is a good place to bring their jobs.

Doyle attacks the North and Central American free trade agreements as a key reason for jobs leaving the district and moving overseas. He said he would call for limits and increased taxes on goods shipped into the U.S. in order to discourage large corporations from seeking cheap labor overseas and keeping manufacturing jobs here.

He also would like to suspend taxes on small businesses for six months to enable them to save money and hire more people.

On health care, Doyle, who worked as a paramedic for 12 years, said the new legislation needs to be fixed but not scrapped. People shouldn’t have to buy health insurance and small businesses making under $10 million a year should be exempt from providing employee health insurance because the cost could put them out of business, he said.

He also calls for a 30 percent cap on what insurers can charge people with pre-existing conditions.

Dyer said the new health care legislation, while not perfect, contains “lots of good things.” It will help those on Medicare, provide medications for seniors “in the gap,” allow young college graduates to stay on their parents’ plans, guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions and help bring down the national debt.

“This is a first step. We need people who will work to find solutions to make it better,” Dyer said.