(Speaking at a Christian college event) the candidate said she is a proponent of public education, not only K-12, but also higher education.

Third District Democratic congressional candidate Jane Dyer visited Erskine Tuesday and talked to a group of interested students, faculty and staff and local residents about her candidacy.

Her appearance was sponsored by the Drummond Center for Statesmanship. Dr. Ashley Woodiwiss, director of the Drummond Center, said Dyer’s Republican opponent, Jeff Duncan, was invited and had agreed to appear in Due West with Dyer, but had to cancel.

“In a busy campaign season, scheduling conflicts always occur,” Woodiwiss said. “You’re of course disappointed that both candidates weren’t here, but I’m grateful Jane could make it and I believe this event in its own way served the community well.”

A former pilot in the U.S. Air Force, Dyer has worked as a pilot for FedEx for more than two decades.

The Democratic candidate said she learned a lot from her unsuccessful run for the office in 2008.

“I was ignorant,” Dyer said. “If you want to be a Democrat in politics in South Carolina, you need to be a lawyer — that’s reality.”

She said she doesn’t have much money to spend on her campaign, but she has tried to meet a lot of people.

“When we win, it will be because of a real people’s campaign,” Dyer said. “It won’t be because we’ve had the best TV ad.”

The candidate touched on a number of issues during her visit Tuesday and alternative energy sources was one of the most discussed on her list.
“We’ve got to come up with effective alternative energy solutions,” Dyer said. “Oil companies don’t want us to do that.”

She said the U.S. Navy has recently announced a plan to convert 20 percent of what it takes to run its vessels to biofuels. A lot of the research on alternative energy sources takes place in the Third District, Dyer said, and could be used to draw companies to South Carolina that are moving forward to advance technology in this area.

Dyer said creating jobs is at the forefront of her platform and along with that comes education. “We need a skilled labor force,” she said. “In the future, it will take more a high school degree” to get a decent paying job.

The candidate said she is a proponent of public education, not only K-12, but also higher education.

“Here in South Carolina, we’ve figured out to make public higher education cost twice as month as it does in North Carolina,” Dyer said.

She also said that taking care of military veterans is important to her. Dyer is proposing a veterans initiative that would enable veterans to present their discharge papers when they get a driver’s license and be automatically connected with the appropriate veterans affairs office. The effort would help veterans learn about the benefits to which they are entitled.

Dyer said many people ask why she is choosing to run in such a “toxic” environment in Washington.

“I believe in our government,” she said. “I believe in who we are as Americans.”
Dyer said “common sense people” are needed in Congress to work out reasonable solutions to problems.

“We need to figure out what the real problems are, come up with options and reasonable solutions,” she said. “I really believe we can work out our problems.”

Asked about her position on the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, Dyer said what’s happened in the past can’t be changed, but Congress needs to be continually asking questions about that operation.

“We need to concentrate on intelligence and decide what our goals are,” she said, adding that she believes one of the current goals is to drive members of the Al Quaida terrorist cell from Afghanistan.

“We continue to have people being killed every day,” Dyer said, “so it’s a very serious issue.”

Dyer’s visit to Erskine was part of her “30 Towns in 30 Days” campaign plan. She also visited Abbeville and Ninety Six on Tuesday.

“Nobody can win if people don’t vote for him or her,” she said, adding that In order for her to be elected, “A lot of people will need to work very, very hard, but I’m convinced we can do this.”

Source: http://www.erskine.edu/news/10.13.10/jd.10.13.10.htm