Read 'em and weep. And we're not talking about a poker hand here, but polls on the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina

This summer I thought we had a great shot at winning the U.S. Senate seats in four of our sister states, Louisana, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. I was estatic when Kerry chose Edwards, knowing this had to help in the Carolinas.

Democrat Sen. Fritz Hollings is retiring, and Republican Congressman Jim DeMint got the nod during a hard-fought GOP primary to face South Carolina's superintendent of education Inez Tenenbaum.

Because DeMint had been labeled as a free trader backing the administration so much, he was thought to be the easier candidate to face a Democrat given South Carolina's high unemployment rate.

Some recent South Carolina polls have caused my hopes for retaining this Senate seat to fizzle.

Like the rest of America, South Carolina Democrats had hoped Kerry would relentlessly slam Bush on classic Democratic pocketbook and kitchen table issues -- unemployment, health care, education and Social Security. Not only has then expectation not played out, but Bush is besting Kerry on traditional Democratic issues such as the economy and education.

If there is relief on the national level, hopefully any resulting rising tide will lift our boat in South Carolina.

Some S.C. polls are discussed in a 9-20 article in the Augusta Chronicle.