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And a word from the candidates

Attorney General Henry McMaster, a GOP hopeful for governor, released a new video to discuss the ongoing water war with North Carolina; Carroll Campbell, who wants to take Congressman Henry Brown's 1st District seat, talks about the budget deficit; Brent Nelsen, a Republican candidate for state superintendent of education, has news from the national education reform summit; and it's just announced that former U.S. Ambassador to Canada and Speaker of the state House David Wilkins will chair the fundraising efforts to improve GOP headquarters.

In McMaster's new video, he discusses the need to protect South Carolina’s water supply.

The U.S. Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments on the matter Tuesday.

Here is the video: http://www.henrymcmaster.com/water/

“We have a lot of water in South Carolina, but it’s not an endless source,” McMaster said in a statement issued by his campaign. “And we discovered just a few years ago that North Carolina had an attitude about the water flowing across the border – in the Catawba River, in this case – to where they viewed it as their water. We had no say at all in South Carolina as to what they did in North Carolina, which would reduce the flow permanently into South Carolina.

“We asked them to stop. We asked them to listen to us. We asked them to talk. And we got nowhere. So, we brought the lawsuit. What we’re telling North Carolina is they cannot unilaterally turn the water off to South Carolina. That is, the people of South Carolina have an equal right to that water as the people in North Carolina do.

“If we don’t take this action and stop them now from just unilaterally turning the water off, so to speak, then we’ll be at the mercy of that state as well as Georgia. And economic development, prosperity, recreation, agriculture, everything else will just be dead in South Carolina.”

Campbell, son of the late Republican governor, took on federal spending.

"The newly released $1.4 trillion budget deficit is proof positive that new leadership is needed in Washington," Campbell said in a statement. He identifies himself as an entrepreneur, small businessman and volunteer.

According to Campbell, the Congressional Budget Office's estimate is triple the $459 billion budget deficit record hit last year.

"This should make every taxpayer in South Carolina concerned for their future," Campbell said. "This money that the career politicians in Washington have spent must be paid back. The money will come either from current taxpayers or our children and grandchildren. The out-of-control spending must stop."

Meanwhile, Nelsen, a Furman University political science professor, is attending the national summit on education reform hosted by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in Washington, D.C.

Nelsen will discuss education reform and learn about successful policies being implemented across the country, directly from the nation's "best and brightest education minds in the nation," he said.

Nelsen pointed to Florida for its results in bridging the achievement gap between affluent and low-income school districts.

“You can’t argue with results and the quality of education has dramatically improved in Florida over the last 10 years thanks to Governor Bush’s leadership,” Nelsen said in a statement. “This national summit is a great opportunity for us to find out what has been successful in other states and what reforms we can realistically bring back and implement in South Carolina.”

According to Nelsen, student performance thrives in states that have implemented the very same ideas his campaign promotes: giving parents more choices, setting high standards, increasing accountability in schools and uniting lawmakers behind a campaign for positive change throughout the state education system.

“Any good CEO will tell you that good decisions are always based on good data,” Nelsen said. “My goal at the summit is to gather as much data on the successes and failures as I can from the very education officials who have done in their states what we need to do in South Carolina.”

For more on the summit, check out: www.ExcelinEd.org.

In other news, the GOP party announced this morning that Wilkins will chair the fundraising efforts to match the donation made Upstate textile magnate Roger Milliken.

The fundraising challenge is to raise enough to pay off all of the mortgage debt held by the Republican Party and make sustainability upgrades to the state headquarters.

The goal is to raise $500,000, including Milliken’s portion, by Dec. 7.

“Roger Milliken has been an icon in Republican Party for decades, and his leadership and vision for the Party Headquarters are to be commended,” Wilkins said in a statement. “I’m incredibly pleased to be part of this effort, and look forward to the challenge of helping meet this ambitious fundraising goal.”

Party chairwoman Karen Floyd also issued a comment:

“Like Mr. Milliken, David Wilkins is one of the true giants of the Republican Party in South Carolina. His leadership and integrity have been invaluable to our state through the years, and his involvement in this effort will be equally invaluable over the next several months.”

UPDATE: Mullins McLeod's campaign for governor raised more than $210,000 in the last quarter. That brings his war chest to $318,689.94, according to the campaign.

“The momentum for change continues to build. South Carolinians realize that recycling the same career politicians over and over again won’t get us out of this jobs crisis or improve public education,” McLeod Campaign adviser Lachlan McIntosh said in a statement.

“The career politicians and the lobbyists have plenty of special interest money to carve up between themselves, but Mullins’ ideas are catching on outside the State House complex and we’ll have the funding needed to communicate our message to hard-working South Carolina families."

McLeod is refusing to accept contributions from special interest PACs.

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