RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 4:00 PM

TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT, CLICK HERE

First Congressional District, SC - Enterpreneur, Small Businessman, Community Volunteer, and SC Republican Leader, Carroll Campbell announced today that he is a candidate for Congress in the First Congressional District of South Carolina.

His announcement came in speeches delivered in Mt. Pleasant, within the Charleston metropolitan area, and in Myrtle Beach. He also visited Georgetown today to visit with local small business leaders.

Below is the text of Carroll Campbell's speech:

CARROLL CAMPBELL FOR CONGRESS
ANNOUNCEMENT SPEECH
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009

I want to thank you all for joining me here today.

I would like to recognize a few folks here that are special to me: my mother - the former first lady of South Carolina - Iris Campbell, my brother Mike Campbell, and my fiancée Tracey Amick.

I also want to thank the hundreds of people who have already joined the team from the beginning, including a very important group: Johnnie Bellamy - the President of the Myrtle Beach Republican Women's Club, Kenneth Dilks - the 2nd Vice Chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, Thomas Marchant - a former Republican South Carolina State Representative, Warren Sloane - the 3rd Vice Chairman of the Charleston County Republican Party, and Al Tirrell - the former Chairman of the Horry County Republican Party.

Ladies and gentlemen, our state and our nation are in trouble.

We have record high unemployment - the highest in 30 years.

While every state has experienced increases in unemployment, ours has risen to as high as number 4.

While everyone has been worried about economic growth, the need for good paying jobs, and the financial security of our families, the politicians in Washington are spending our nation further into debt.

While we have been worried about extremists who try to attack our nation, our politicians are debating whether or not we should close the prison that houses these terrorists.

We have old-time elected officials who claim they are fiscal conservatives, but when it comes to spending the taxpayers' money - the money that the hard-working people of South Carolina earn - these career politicians are just as wasteful as the liberals who have been running around Washington for years.

The tea party protests right in our own backyard prove that South Carolinians are worried about the out-of-control spending - spending driven by people we ourselves put into office.

We should be worried.

We have career politicians who are more worried about building up their pension plans instead of building up our communities.

We have a President and Congress more interested in appeasing their liberal constituency - as opposed to working for real health care reform, accessible coverage, and lower costs.

As someone who has worked to improve health care, to fight for a cure of Alzheimer's, and who sits on a medical company board, I know we must improve care rather than harm it.

We have a President and Congress working overtime to spend us further into debt - a debt our children and grandchildren will have to pay. Unfortunately, we have very few leaders in Washington who are willing to stand up and fight.

Although I have avoided getting involved as a candidate in the past - opting instead to play a role behind the scenes - the time is now when I must stand up for my children, my state, and my nation.

It is easy just to sit back and complain; to ignore the tough road of getting involved.

But we cannot ignore that our economy in South Carolina lags behind those of other states. We cannot ignore that we face terrorist threats. We cannot ignore that health care costs continue to rise. We cannot ignore that Washington spending is out-of-control. And we cannot ignore that part of the blame belongs within our own party.

I'm taking the tough road.

I am going to stand up and fight for those who feel like they don't have a voice in Washington.

The people, who are concerned about our economy, who are concerned about wasteful spending in Washington, and who are concerned about our nation's security, need a voice.

That is why today, I am announcing that I am running for the United States Congress.

After months of testing the waters, talking to people throughout South Carolina's First District, listening to the needs and concerns of my neighbors, and taking the first few steps toward raising money for a potential race, I am making it official.

My name is Carroll Campbell, and I am running for Congress.

Like my father, I believe that sometimes we must make tough choices and we must fight for our principles - even if that means taking on the establishment.

We need a re-birth of the conservative spirit, we need to walk the walk - while we talk the talk.

We need new people to work for job creation, to fight out-of-control spending in Washington, to truly lower health care costs while not damaging health care quality, and to ensure that our nation stands strong against terrorism and those who want to destroy us.

As an entrepreneur, a small businessman, a member of several charitable and community economic development boards; I know we need strong, new, business leadership to fight wasteful spending in Washington and to promote South Carolina as a premier business destination to the rest of the country and also the world.

I understand that sometimes you have to challenge old ways of thinking. I know we need to change the status quo in South Carolina - even if it means doing it within our own party.

You can't say it is time to throw the bums out and then vote for your local politician who keeps bumming a ride back to Washington based on bailout votes, earmarks, and years of running for office.

We deserve better than Henry Brown.

Mr. Brown voted for the 700 billion dollar bank bailout that led to the AIG bonus scandal and put senior citizens and taxpayers of South Carolina on the hook for Wall Street.

Mr. Brown voted for the Farm Bill that doles out 5.2 billion dollars annually to many individuals who no longer farm.

Mr. Brown has been cited multiple times for sending out hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars worth of mail, just to tout himself.

And, Mr. Brown has been cited multiple times for promoting earmarks - the tactic used to stuff pork into Washington bills. He will argue he is bringing home the bacon. Well, that's exactly how our nation has gotten into debt.

Ladies and Gentleman, I have been in the Wendy's restaurant business.

And, when I take a look at Mr. Brown's record, I have to ask, "Where's the beef?"

Unfortunately, Mr. Brown's beef is nothing but pork.

Keeping the same old ways of thinking in government won't solve our problems. Doing things the same old way and expecting a different result is known to some as the very definition of insanity.

We need a change and a new way of thinking.

That is why I am running: to re-claim the mantle of a party in need of new leadership.

If we keep electing the same back-slapping, old-style politicians, we are perpetuating the same bloated system of government that we all spend our time as conservatives railing against.

You will know I'm fighting for you in Washington. You won't need to receive newsletters from me to know what I am doing.

I want to thank those who have already joined me before this effort even officially started.

I tell them right now, and I tell all of the voters - who know we need new leadership - my run starts today!

Thank you.

God bless you. And may God bless South Carolina.

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