July 27th [2000] at a business interest group's lunch in Asheville I listened to candidate for Congress Sam Neill. I had expected an attack dog. For the Neill campaign had run a tasteless ad  portraying Mr Taylor as a snarling man of no
compassion. But no. The republic will survive if we send Sam Neill to
Washington. He does not smile much but is  dignified and qualified by good
degrees from Wake Forest, by service to community and church and by 12
years as a Governor of the 16-campus University of North Carolina system.
He is a Rotarian, a Methodist and a Sunday school teacher. He  builds
consensus wherever he can.

Two decent, low-key conservative men want to represent Western North
Carolina in Washington. One is there already: U.S. Representative Charles
Taylor of Brevard. The other waits his turn in Hendersonville: Sam Neill,
thoughtful employer of twelve people in  his travel agency and law firm.

My ears perked up when Mr Neill said that he seeks the common good. That
goal was once a given for all American politicians. Nowadays too many just
count noses and construct a majority among a few special interests.

Then Mr Neill let me down. He will concentrate in Washington on helping two
groups: the old and the young. Mr Neill earns his living, he said, doing
estate planning for retirees to the Hendersonville area. He understands
their needs and their desire to pass on hard earned assets to
grandchildren. That sets his face against estate taxes and "the marriage
penalty." He will  simplify the tax structure.  Sam Neill's  being himself
father of two children in UNC-Chapel Hill also shows him the importance of
affordable higher education, especially for young people  the first in
their families to go to college.  I count two important groups which can
count on Sam Neill.

But Neill does not offer policies helping any other group of Americans:
just the old and the young. I asked  why he  offers no plan to lift the tax
burden from the working poor. He replied that there is surely a good bill
floating somewhere in Congress which he can  support when he finds it.

Sam Neill, in effect, invited us to color him blue as in "blue dogs": the
30 conservative southern Democrats in Congress. who had just endorsed him.
I rather see him green as in "green eye-shaded accountant." His paramount
passion is to pay off the federal debt. That the current Federal tax
structure is messy and untidy also bothers him. That taxes weigh heaviest
on those least able to pay, the honest, law-abiding working poor, is, alas,
a barely mentioned dead last priority--if that.

Sam Neill is a man of few words and fewer specifics. Read his entire
position on jobs on the campaign web site

"I pledge to work to bring high-paying jobs in clean sustainable industries
to our areas."  No tax cuts?

To defeat Mr Neill in November Charles Taylor must show that he is the
compassionate conservative: the man with the bigger and warmer heart. The
winner must really promote the common good of all Americans.
-OOO-

for INDEPENDENT TORCH