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|                             | **May 12, 2004 **           |   |   |
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|                             | In Textile Country,\        |   |   |
|                             | Free Trade Tears\           |   |   |
|                             | At Party Loyalties          |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **One Carolina              |   |   |
|                             | Republican**\               |   |   |
|                             | **Flirts With               |   |   |
|                             | Protectionism;**\           |   |   |
|                             | **Another Doesn\'t Budge**  |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **Losing Roger Milliken\'s  |   |   |
|                             | Vote**                      |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS    |   |   |
|                             | and JEANNE CUMMINGS **\     |   |   |
|                             | **Staff Reporters of THE    |   |   |
|                             | WALL STREET JOURNAL**\      |   |   |
|                             | **May 12, 2004; Page A1**   |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | North Carolina Republican   |   |   |
|                             | Rep. Sue Myrick \-- free    |   |   |
|                             | trader and Bush acolyte \-- |   |   |
|                             | had a change of heart last  |   |   |
|                             | summer. She accused         |   |   |
|                             | President Bush of being     |   |   |
|                             | \"out of touch\" with her   |   |   |
|                             | constituents, who blame the |   |   |
|                             | president\'s free-trade     |   |   |
|                             | policies for their lost     |   |   |
|                             | manufacturing jobs. \"If he |   |   |
|                             | doesn\'t care about us, we  |   |   |
|                             | won\'t care about him come  |   |   |
|                             | election time,\" Ms. Myrick |   |   |
|                             | told a local Chamber of     |   |   |
|                             | Commerce, as jaws dropped   |   |   |
|                             | around the room.            |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | South Carolina Republican   |   |   |
|                             | Rep. Jim DeMint \-- free    |   |   |
|                             | trader and Bush acolyte \-- |   |   |
|                             | is standing firm. He told   |   |   |
|                             | fellow Republicans in March |   |   |
|                             | not to support trade        |   |   |
|                             | barriers that would shield  |   |   |
|                             | local goods from foreign    |   |   |
|                             | competition. He criticized  |   |   |
|                             | those \"who want to build a |   |   |
|                             | wall around this country    |   |   |
|                             | and go back to the          |   |   |
|                             | textile-mill villages.\"    |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | For Republicans, free trade |   |   |
|                             | poses a volatile political  |   |   |
|                             | dilemma, and how they       |   |   |
|                             | resolve it will have a big  |   |   |
|                             | impact on their party and   |   |   |
|                             | the presidential campaign.  |   |   |
|                             | With elections approaching, |   |   |
|                             | public debate is focused on |   |   |
|                             | lost jobs, shuttered        |   |   |
|                             | factories and Chinese       |   |   |
|                             | competition, especially in  |   |   |
|                             | hard-hit Carolina textile   |   |   |
|                             | country. Lawmakers who      |   |   |
|                             | backed a free-trade agenda  |   |   |
|                             | during the Clinton and Bush |   |   |
|                             | years now must decide       |   |   |
|                             | whether to abandon their    |   |   |
|                             | principles \-- and distance |   |   |
|                             | themselves from the         |   |   |
|                             | president \-- and court     |   |   |
|                             | votes from the unemployed   |   |   |
|                             | and disaffected. Or they    |   |   |
|                             | can stick to their ideals   |   |   |
|                             | of unimpeded global trade   |   |   |
|                             | and hope to ride out a      |   |   |
|                             | populist backlash against   |   |   |
|                             | import competition.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | The decision is especially  |   |   |
|                             | tough for congressional     |   |   |
|                             | Republicans, who have       |   |   |
|                             | championed free trade for   |   |   |
|                             | at least two decades.       |   |   |
|                             | Economists have long argued |   |   |
|                             | that removing tariffs and   |   |   |
|                             | quotas on imports helps     |   |   |
|                             | consumers by reducing the   |   |   |
|                             | price of those goods and    |   |   |
|                             | services from abroad. But   |   |   |
|                             | imports also can muscle out |   |   |
|                             | domestic goods and          |   |   |
|                             | services, hurting U.S.      |   |   |
|                             | firms and their workers.    |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | President Bush has, at      |   |   |
|                             | times, supported            |   |   |
|                             | protectionist measures such |   |   |
|                             | as steel tariffs and farm   |   |   |
|                             | subsidies. But now, with    |   |   |
|                             | the national economy        |   |   |
|                             | recovering, he regularly    |   |   |
|                             | attacks \"economic          |   |   |
|                             | isolationism.\" Two weeks   |   |   |
|                             | ago, four Bush cabinet      |   |   |
|                             | members rejected calls for  |   |   |
|                             | trade sanctions against     |   |   |
|                             | China to punish it for      |   |   |
|                             | keeping its currency weak   |   |   |
|                             | against the dollar and      |   |   |
|                             | barring trade unions. Both  |   |   |
|                             | practices make Chinese      |   |   |
|                             | goods cheaper for           |   |   |
|                             | Americans.                  |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Congressional candidates,   |   |   |
|                             | though, can\'t look just at |   |   |
|                             | the big picture. They must  |   |   |
|                             | deal with free trade\'s     |   |   |
|                             | economic effects locally,   |   |   |
|                             | where the policy may hurt   |   |   |
|                             | more people than it helps   |   |   |
|                             | \-- and where the losers    |   |   |
|                             | are more vocal politically. |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | In North and South          |   |   |
|                             | Carolina, the gains and     |   |   |
|                             | losses from trade are       |   |   |
|                             | mixed. Since 1990, the      |   |   |
|                             | Carolinas textile and       |   |   |
|                             | apparel industry has shed   |   |   |
|                             | 248,000 jobs, due to        |   |   |
|                             | foreign competition and     |   |   |
|                             | efficiency gains, according |   |   |
|                             | to the Department of Labor. |   |   |
|                             | In February, unemployment   |   |   |
|                             | in South Carolina reached   |   |   |
|                             | 6.3%, the fourth-highest in |   |   |
|                             | the nation.                 |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | But foreign investment in   |   |   |
|                             | both states also has        |   |   |
|                             | increased dramatically,     |   |   |
|                             | producing an additional     |   |   |
|                             | 109,000 jobs between 1990   |   |   |
|                             | and 1999, the most recent   |   |   |
|                             | year for which data are     |   |   |
|                             | available, according to     |   |   |
|                             | Economy.com, a consulting   |   |   |
|                             | firm. The foreign           |   |   |
|                             | investments typically have  |   |   |
|                             | been in the automobile and  |   |   |
|                             | chemical industries, which  |   |   |
|                             | pay higher wages than       |   |   |
|                             | textile and apparel         |   |   |
|                             | factories.                  |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | The two Republican Carolina |   |   |
|                             | lawmakers, Rep. Myrick and  |   |   |
|                             | Rep. DeMint, have chosen to |   |   |
|                             | walk very different paths   |   |   |
|                             | through this charged        |   |   |
|                             | political and economic      |   |   |
|                             | environment.                |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **Protectionist Fight**     |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Free-trade skepticism is a  |   |   |
|                             | big change for Ms. Myrick,  |   |   |
|                             | 62 years old, a feisty      |   |   |
|                             | breast-cancer survivor who  |   |   |
|                             | is given to wearing a       |   |   |
|                             | jeweled American flag       |   |   |
|                             | brooch. From 1987 to 1991   |   |   |
|                             | she was mayor of Charlotte, |   |   |
|                             | a city dominated by         |   |   |
|                             | international banks, and    |   |   |
|                             | pushed a free-trade agenda. |   |   |
|                             | She helped persuade         |   |   |
|                             | Lufthansa AG to open a      |   |   |
|                             | Charlotte-Frankfurt air     |   |   |
|                             | route to spur commerce and  |   |   |
|                             | investment. Since being     |   |   |
|                             | elected to the House in     |   |   |
|                             | 1994, she has supported     |   |   |
|                             | free-trade deals with China |   |   |
|                             | and Vietnam, despite        |   |   |
|                             | protests from local textile |   |   |
|                             | interests who feared        |   |   |
|                             | competition. And she has    |   |   |
|                             | voted to give the president |   |   |
|                             | authority to negotiate new  |   |   |
|                             | trade pacts.                |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | As a free-trade advocate,   |   |   |
|                             | she has won re-election     |   |   |
|                             | four times by wide margins. |   |   |
|                             | But she says her outlook    |   |   |
|                             | began to shift as the       |   |   |
|                             | textile and apparel makers  |   |   |
|                             | in her district, which      |   |   |
|                             | includes Charlotte and      |   |   |
|                             | nearby textile areas, lost  |   |   |
|                             | sales and jobs. By last     |   |   |
|                             | July, unemployment in       |   |   |
|                             | Gaston County reached 8.8%, |   |   |
|                             | two percentage points above |   |   |
|                             | the state average. The      |   |   |
|                             | county\'s mills complained  |   |   |
|                             | they couldn\'t compete with |   |   |
|                             | cheap Chinese imports.      |   |   |
|                             | Especially galling, she     |   |   |
|                             | says, was the unwillingness |   |   |
|                             | of the White House to       |   |   |
|                             | impose restrictions,        |   |   |
|                             | permissible under World     |   |   |
|                             | Trade Organization rules,   |   |   |
|                             | to limit soaring imports of |   |   |
|                             | bathrobes, bras and knit    |   |   |
|                             | fabrics, which were         |   |   |
|                             | battering Gaston County     |   |   |
|                             | manufacturers.              |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | When she arrived at Belmont |   |   |
|                             | Abbey College to meet with  |   |   |
|                             | the Gaston County Chamber   |   |   |
|                             | of Commerce last August,    |   |   |
|                             | she was bubbling over with  |   |   |
|                             | frustration. \"People are   |   |   |
|                             | angry,\" she told the       |   |   |
|                             | business executives. \"I    |   |   |
|                             | understand why they are     |   |   |
|                             | angry, and I agree with why |   |   |
|                             | they are angry.\" The       |   |   |
|                             | remarks surprised her       |   |   |
|                             | constituents. \"Sue Myrick  |   |   |
|                             | criticize President Bush?   |   |   |
|                             | Isn\'t that like Bat Girl   |   |   |
|                             | criticizing Batman?\" wrote |   |   |
|                             | Don Hudson, a Charlotte     |   |   |
|                             | Observer columnist.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Over the following months,  |   |   |
|                             | Ms. Myrick kept up the      |   |   |
|                             | pressure on the             |   |   |
|                             | administration. In          |   |   |
|                             | September, she signed a     |   |   |
|                             | congressional letter urging |   |   |
|                             | Mr. Bush to restrain        |   |   |
|                             | textile imports. Then she   |   |   |
|                             | led a group of six          |   |   |
|                             | lawmakers, including Rep.   |   |   |
|                             | DeMint, who convinced       |   |   |
|                             | congressional appropriators |   |   |
|                             | to add \$9.5 million to     |   |   |
|                             | hire customs agents to find |   |   |
|                             | and seize Chinese textiles  |   |   |
|                             | whose manufacturers were    |   |   |
|                             | falsely labeling them as    |   |   |
|                             | coming from other           |   |   |
|                             | countries, trying to skirt  |   |   |
|                             | U.S. import limits.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | In October, she             |   |   |
|                             | co-sponsored a bill that    |   |   |
|                             | would slap a 27.5% tariff   |   |   |
|                             | on all Chinese imports. She |   |   |
|                             | says that\'s needed to      |   |   |
|                             | counter an unfair advantage |   |   |
|                             | Beijing gets by keeping its |   |   |
|                             | currency artificially weak. |   |   |
|                             | Although the tariff isn\'t  |   |   |
|                             | expected to become law, it  |   |   |
|                             | ran counter to the          |   |   |
|                             | administration\'s China     |   |   |
|                             | policy. Since then, China   |   |   |
|                             | has said it is considering  |   |   |
|                             | allowing its currency to    |   |   |
|                             | strengthen, which probably  |   |   |
|                             | would make Chinese goods    |   |   |
|                             | more expensive in the U.S.  |   |   |
|                             | But Beijing hasn\'t taken   |   |   |
|                             | any concrete steps.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Ms. Myrick still faced      |   |   |
|                             | pressure at home to ratchet |   |   |
|                             | up her protectionist fight. |   |   |
|                             | At an October               |   |   |
|                             | steel-industry dinner in    |   |   |
|                             | Charlotte, home of Nucor    |   |   |
|                             | Corp., the big steelmaker,  |   |   |
|                             | Fred Reese, president of    |   |   |
|                             | Western Carolina            |   |   |
|                             | Industries, told Ms. Myrick |   |   |
|                             | that business groups,       |   |   |
|                             | unhappy with the            |   |   |
|                             | president\'s free-trade     |   |   |
|                             | stance, aimed to register   |   |   |
|                             | hundreds of thousands of    |   |   |
|                             | new voters. The             |   |   |
|                             | implication: many would     |   |   |
|                             | vote Democratic. \"I would  |   |   |
|                             | liken it unto the anger of  |   |   |
|                             | a betrayed spouse,\" Mr.    |   |   |
|                             | Reese, himself a Bush       |   |   |
|                             | supporter in 2000, said of  |   |   |
|                             | the anti-Bush feeling among |   |   |
|                             | Republican manufacturers.   |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | A November poll by the      |   |   |
|                             | Southern Political          |   |   |
|                             | Information Network, a      |   |   |
|                             | Democratic political        |   |   |
|                             | consulting firm, showed     |   |   |
|                             | statewide anger at          |   |   |
|                             | incumbents of both parties. |   |   |
|                             | In Ms. Myrick\'s district,  |   |   |
|                             | 44% of those surveyed said  |   |   |
|                             | they wanted a new           |   |   |
|                             | congressional               |   |   |
|                             | representative, while just  |   |   |
|                             | 22% said they were happy    |   |   |
|                             | with the incumbent.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Ms. Myrick says she relayed |   |   |
|                             | the rising discontent to    |   |   |
|                             | party leaders and the White |   |   |
|                             | House. \"Everybody is at    |   |   |
|                             | risk,\" she says in an      |   |   |
|                             | interview.                  |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | The White House finally     |   |   |
|                             | lent her a helping hand in  |   |   |
|                             | November, when it decided   |   |   |
|                             | to limit imports of Chinese |   |   |
|                             | bathrobes, bras and knitted |   |   |
|                             | fabrics. But the Charlotte  |   |   |
|                             | Republican soon may have    |   |   |
|                             | another tough call: whether |   |   |
|                             | to vote for the Central     |   |   |
|                             | American Free Trade         |   |   |
|                             | Agreement, which could      |   |   |
|                             | boost apparel imports from  |   |   |
|                             | that region. Local textile  |   |   |
|                             | firms oppose the pact, but  |   |   |
|                             | the administration supports |   |   |
|                             | it.                         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Now, with the election      |   |   |
|                             | drawing closer \-- and Mr.  |   |   |
|                             | Bush expected to carry      |   |   |
|                             | North Carolina \-- she is   |   |   |
|                             | toning down her criticism   |   |   |
|                             | of the White House. \"The   |   |   |
|                             | administration has gotten   |   |   |
|                             | its act together and is     |   |   |
|                             | doing something,\" she      |   |   |
|                             | says.                       |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Her Democratic opponent,    |   |   |
|                             | Jack Flynn, a               |   |   |
|                             | small-business owner from   |   |   |
|                             | Charlotte, dismisses Rep.   |   |   |
|                             | Myrick\'s tougher stance on |   |   |
|                             | trade as an \"election-year |   |   |
|                             | conversion.\" But her trade |   |   |
|                             | hawkishness has won her     |   |   |
|                             | points locally.             |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Bob Austell, the mayor of   |   |   |
|                             | Cherryville and a Democrat, |   |   |
|                             | praises Ms. Myrick for      |   |   |
|                             | being willing to \"stand up |   |   |
|                             | and say George Bush is      |   |   |
|                             | wrong.\"                    |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **A Free Trader**           |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Though South Carolina\'s    |   |   |
|                             | textile counties are        |   |   |
|                             | hurting as badly as North   |   |   |
|                             | Carolina\'s, Rep. DeMint    |   |   |
|                             | has adopted a very          |   |   |
|                             | different strategy from Ms. |   |   |
|                             | Myrick\'s. He rose to       |   |   |
|                             | political prominence as a   |   |   |
|                             | free trader and he remains  |   |   |
|                             | one. Rather than trying to  |   |   |
|                             | co-opt textile-industry     |   |   |
|                             | opponents, he confronts     |   |   |
|                             | them.                       |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Trim and dapper with just a |   |   |
|                             | whisper of his native South |   |   |
|                             | Carolina accent, Mr.        |   |   |
|                             | DeMint, 52, grew up in      |   |   |
|                             | Greenville, in a region     |   |   |
|                             | once called the \"textile   |   |   |
|                             | capital of the world.\" But |   |   |
|                             | since 1990, Greenville has  |   |   |
|                             | become the epicenter of     |   |   |
|                             | foreign investment in the   |   |   |
|                             | state. More than 250        |   |   |
|                             | foreign firms, including    |   |   |
|                             | German auto maker           |   |   |
|                             | Bayerische Motoren Werke    |   |   |
|                             | AG, have facilities along   |   |   |
|                             | Interstate 85, which cuts   |   |   |
|                             | through Greenville. Mr.     |   |   |
|                             | DeMint has benefited from   |   |   |
|                             | the influx: As the head of  |   |   |
|                             | a local marketing firm, his |   |   |
|                             | clients included state      |   |   |
|                             | ports and export-dependent  |   |   |
|                             | pharmaceutical firms.       |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Mr. DeMint first won        |   |   |
|                             | election to Congress in     |   |   |
|                             | 1998 and now hopes to move  |   |   |
|                             | to the Senate. He faces     |   |   |
|                             | five Republican opponents   |   |   |
|                             | in the June 8 Senate        |   |   |
|                             | primary. He will likely     |   |   |
|                             | face a                      |   |   |
|                             | protectionist-leaning       |   |   |
|                             | Democrat if he makes it to  |   |   |
|                             | the general election. And   |   |   |
|                             | the state\'s powerful       |   |   |
|                             | textile lobby is against    |   |   |
|                             | him.                        |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Outside Greenville, the     |   |   |
|                             | three-term lawmaker often   |   |   |
|                             | drives by an oversized      |   |   |
|                             | billboard, put up by the    |   |   |
|                             | textile industry, that      |   |   |
|                             | asks: \"Have you lost your  |   |   |
|                             | job to free trade yet?\"    |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | \"Those billboards are for  |   |   |
|                             | me,\" says Mr. DeMint.      |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Rep. DeMint staked his      |   |   |
|                             | career on his support for   |   |   |
|                             | free trade in 2002. He      |   |   |
|                             | supported granting the      |   |   |
|                             | president broader authority |   |   |
|                             | to negotiate new trade      |   |   |
|                             | deals, a move the textile   |   |   |
|                             | industry opposed.           |   |   |
|                             | Initially, Mr. DeMint had   |   |   |
|                             | said he would oppose the    |   |   |
|                             | free-trade bill. But late   |   |   |
|                             | in the House debate, he     |   |   |
|                             | switched his vote to        |   |   |
|                             | \"aye\" after extracting a  |   |   |
|                             | letter, signed by House     |   |   |
|                             | Speaker Dennis Hastert (R., |   |   |
|                             | Ill.), promising to protect |   |   |
|                             | American dyed and printed   |   |   |
|                             | fabrics. The legislation    |   |   |
|                             | passed by one vote.         |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | That vote ratcheted up      |   |   |
|                             | political tensions at home. |   |   |
|                             | But Mr. DeMint still argues |   |   |
|                             | free trade will boost the   |   |   |
|                             | U.S. economy.               |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Mr. DeMint\'s fiercest foe  |   |   |
|                             | is Roger Milliken, the      |   |   |
|                             | 88-year-old chairman of     |   |   |
|                             | textile giant Milliken &    |   |   |
|                             | Co., based in Spartanburg,  |   |   |
|                             | S.C. Mr. Milliken backed    |   |   |
|                             | Mr. DeMint in his first     |   |   |
|                             | House race in 1998, when    |   |   |
|                             | trade wasn\'t a big issue.  |   |   |
|                             | But the Milliken-DeMint     |   |   |
|                             | relationship has worsened   |   |   |
|                             | as Mr. DeMint has failed to |   |   |
|                             | budge in his support for    |   |   |
|                             | free trade. Milliken        |   |   |
|                             | lobbyist Jock Nash compares |   |   |
|                             | the Milliken-DeMint         |   |   |
|                             | relations nowadays to \"the |   |   |
|                             | Hatfields and McCoys.\"     |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | In 2002, Mr. Milliken       |   |   |
|                             | recruited a state lawmaker  |   |   |
|                             | to challenge Mr. DeMint in  |   |   |
|                             | the primary. Textile        |   |   |
|                             | executives aired more than  |   |   |
|                             | \$200,000 worth of          |   |   |
|                             | anti-DeMint TV ads. But the |   |   |
|                             | free-trade incumbent, aided |   |   |
|                             | by a visit from President   |   |   |
|                             | Bush, won with more than    |   |   |
|                             | 63% of the vote. The next   |   |   |
|                             | day, Mr. Nash, the Milliken |   |   |
|                             | lobbyist, sent out an       |   |   |
|                             | e-mail vowing Mr. DeMint    |   |   |
|                             | \"is toast in regard to any |   |   |
|                             | further statewide political |   |   |
|                             | aspirations,\" unless he    |   |   |
|                             | stopped supporting free     |   |   |
|                             | trade.                      |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | In the current Senate       |   |   |
|                             | contest, Mr. Milliken       |   |   |
|                             | helped recruit Mr.          |   |   |
|                             | DeMint\'s chief Republican  |   |   |
|                             | primary opponent, former    |   |   |
|                             | governor David Beasley. Mr. |   |   |
|                             | Beasley takes credit for    |   |   |
|                             | luring international        |   |   |
|                             | companies to the state in   |   |   |
|                             | the 1990s. But now he\'s    |   |   |
|                             | calling for \"fair trade,\" |   |   |
|                             | though he has yet to define |   |   |
|                             | that term.                  |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | In Cheraw, S.C., textile    |   |   |
|                             | executives are backing      |   |   |
|                             | voter-registration efforts, |   |   |
|                             | figuring mill workers will  |   |   |
|                             | vote against Mr. DeMint.    |   |   |
|                             | Textile executives also     |   |   |
|                             | have held fund-raisers for  |   |   |
|                             | Mr. Beasley. According to   |   |   |
|                             | financial disclosure        |   |   |
|                             | reports, the Beasley        |   |   |
|                             | campaign raised \$1.2       |   |   |
|                             | million in the first three  |   |   |
|                             | months of 2004. At least    |   |   |
|                             | \$160,000 of that came from |   |   |
|                             | the textile industry. Mr.   |   |   |
|                             | Milliken, his family, and   |   |   |
|                             | his company executives      |   |   |
|                             | donated more than \$50,000  |   |   |
|                             | of that sum.                |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | The U.S. Chamber of         |   |   |
|                             | Commerce traditionally      |   |   |
|                             | remains neutral in          |   |   |
|                             | primaries but is backing    |   |   |
|                             | Mr. DeMint. On Feb. 9, Mr.  |   |   |
|                             | DeMint and Bill Miller, the |   |   |
|                             | chamber\'s political        |   |   |
|                             | director, visited three     |   |   |
|                             | cities to announce the      |   |   |
|                             | surprise endorsement. At    |   |   |
|                             | one stop, Charleston Marine |   |   |
|                             | Containers Inc., in         |   |   |
|                             | Charleston, S.C., which     |   |   |
|                             | makes steel shipping        |   |   |
|                             | containers, Mr. DeMint      |   |   |
|                             | shared the stage with 15    |   |   |
|                             | workers in hard hats, a     |   |   |
|                             | backdrop intended to        |   |   |
|                             | highlight local jobs that   |   |   |
|                             | depend on free trade.       |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | Now the chamber is running  |   |   |
|                             | television ads on Mr.       |   |   |
|                             | DeMint\'s behalf.           |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | \"We can\'t go backwards,\" |   |   |
|                             | Mr. DeMint said recently,   |   |   |
|                             | sitting in his sparsely     |   |   |
|                             | furnished campaign office   |   |   |
|                             | in the state capital of     |   |   |
|                             | Columbia. \"We have to sell |   |   |
|                             | our philosophy.\"           |   |   |
|                             |                             |   |   |
|                             | **Write to** Michael M.     |   |   |
|                             | Phillips at ^3^ and Jeanne  |   |   |
|                             | Cummings at ^4^             |   |   |
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| Copyright 2004 Dow Jones &  |                             |   |   |
| Company, Inc. All Rights    |                             |   |   |
| Reserved                    |                             |   |   |
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