Yet again, the indiscretion of another one of our state’s political figures has attracted unfavorable national media attention. Leading the pack among Google’s most heavily searched items since Wednesday — “Joe Wilson’s Outburst.” Despite Wilson’s apologies, his incivility Wednesday night yet again raised a nagging question I have long had concerning some members of our congressional delegation and our scandal-ridden governor: Is this the best that we can do?

With rising unemployment, some of the nation’s most impoverished and underperforming schools, and with nearly one in every five South Carolinians lacking health insurance, South Carolinians should be looking to our elected officials for leadership. What do we get instead? A heckler with an anemic legislative record, an executive who abandoned and lied to his constituency while remaining unable to discharge his constitutional duties, and an obstructionist more content with being a partisan Senate backbencher than an advocate on behalf of everyday South Carolinians beset with rising health care costs, diminished job prospects and “minimally adequate” public schools.

As for Rep. Wilson, it was apparently too much for him to admit in his apology to the president that the comment generating his embarrassing response – that no part of any of the various health care reform packages on Capitol Hill will include covering undocumented immigrants — was actually incorrect. If anything, Wilson’s apologies should not stop with the White House. He should also be apologizing to his constituents in the 2nd Congressional District for whom none of his marginal legislative accomplishments could be credited with addressing the challenges of high poverty, joblessness and despair that pervade much of his district. His district includes Allendale, Hampton and Jasper counties – three counties battling with record home foreclosures, high unemployment, and in some pockets of each county, abject poverty. The congressman’s legislative record has been anemic at best, and moreover the congressman has been AWOL on the issues that matter to the 2nd District.

As for Sanford, he has ignored calls from the Legislature and throughout the state to resign and bring an end to his do-nothing, scandal-laden governorship, but is anyone surprised? Just imagine if the governor had pursued education reform or an economic development agenda just as aggressively as he did the image of faux populism and “family values” that catapulted him onto the national political stage. Sanford has ignored the needs of South Carolinians concerning our public schools and our state economy throughout his tenure, so should any of us be surprised that he is ignoring us now? What, if anything, can anyone point to in Sanford’s tenure that we can say enhanced student achievement or created a job?

Admittedly, DeMint lacks seniority in the Senate, but the senator has, however, taken pride in being the Senate’s proudest obstructionist. As evidenced by his now-infamous “Waterloo” comments, it is all too clear that the senator has no interest in moving the debate forward on health care reform.

Unlike Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has substantively contributed to our national health care debate along with countless others, we get little more from DeMint than baseless cries of “socialism” and endless plugs for his newest book. DeMint, rather, has been successful in becoming nothing more than an impediment toward South Carolina’s growth. His passionate, though misguided, stance against ALL earmarks has inhibited funding necessary for infrastructure and economic development, (i.e. the proposed I-73). Moreover, his efforts have not stifled federal spending but simply allowed monies to leave South Carolina and go elsewhere. Is this what South Carolinians want in their U.S. senator?

As we look to rebound economically and attract global industries to our state, our elected officials should realize the image of our state that we project to the rest of the nation and the world precedes us and directly impacts our ability to grow jobs, attract tourists and entice retirees looking to relocate. The recent behavior of some of our elected leadership seems to suggest that some of them – namely our governor, Sen. DeMint and Congressman Wilson – have lost sight of this.

We know these gentlemen are not the best we have to offer ourselves and to our country. We have seen political leadership work for us before in this state. We saw it in Ernest Hollings’ investment in our technical colleges and in Carroll Campbell’s ability to attract multinational corporations to our state.We have seen it in Reps. Clyburn and Spratt’s ability to gain the respect of their colleagues in the Congress to ascend to top leadership positions in the House. We saw it in Sen. Graham’s ability to put partisanship aside by casting a vote in favor of now-Justice Sotamayor, support Campaign finance reform, immigration reform and the Patients’ Bill of Rights.

We deserve leadership as good as the people of this state. One can only hope that candidates looking to replace them in future election cycles are more worthy torchbearers of the proud tradition of servant-leadership in this state. South Carolina, we deserve nothing less.

n Jarrod Loadholt, a native of Orangeburg, is currently a joint degree student at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and New York University’s School of Law. Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark, serves as first vice chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, and is an associate at the Strom Law Firm in Columbia.

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