Young Republicans make most of evening

Most of the sparks in the Young Republicans' first-ever town hall debate exploded in the days leading up to it. Thursday night's affair was low-key because two of the four invited candidates didn't attend.

Chairman Greg Rogers kicked off the evening on an upbeat note, telling an audience of about 60 people that Republicans need to stay positive this year if they are to overcome the enthusiasm being generated by Barack Obama.

Rogers thanked the party activists who enabled the Young Republicans to get started.

"It's important to stand behind somebody rather than in front of them," said Rogers. "For those people who have stood there and given us positive support, I want to give you a round of applause."

As for the candidate portion of the night, Paul Lindemann kicked things off with a fast-paced look at pressing issues in District 1, which covers Fort Mill and much of northern York County. His opponent, Jeff Updike, opted not to attend because he says he was never given an adequate explanation of the format. In fact, Updike said he didn't know of the event until reading it in the newspaper a few days ago.

Early in his talk, Lindemann mentioned the most dreaded words in York County politics: Overlay district. This time, he wasn't talking about the local airport, but instead the county's plans to protect land along major corridors by designating big pieces for either commercial or residential uses whenever they are developed.

Lindemann also noted that he is the first York County Councilman to have a child while in office. His wife and young son sat a few feet away. Thursday's audience wasn't quite as big as a recent meeting of the Regent Park homeowners association, which attracted some 450 people, according to Lindemann.

Finally, Lindemann touched on public safety. He talked about how the area between Carowinds and S.C. 160 is known as the county's "high crime box" because of its dense population, heavily commercialized roads and proximity to traffic coming out of Charlotte. The area already got an extra Sheriff's deputy. Soon, it will also become the focus of the new ProStar crime-tracking system acquired by Sheriff Bruce Bryant.

Next came state House challenger Kyle Boyd, who occupied the spotlight because his opponent, incumbent Carl Gullick, did not attend. Gullick said he was never given an explanation of the format or ground rules. The focus of Boyd's talk was education, which makes sense because he is the founder of a Christian school now in Charlotte called Walnut Grove.

Boyd emphasized his opposition to school vouchers. He also voiced sympathy for Gov. Mark Sanford, who is "not being supported like he should," according to Boyd, a self-described "true conservative Republican."

When asked about his views on illegal immigration, Boyd spoke of the need for reform. He was then asked specifically about whether illegals should be admitted into public schools. On this point, Boyd said no one should be denied the right to an education. This stance would put him at odds with many Republicans, including in North Carolina, who believe illegals should not gain access to community college systems. However, Boyd volunteer Park Gillespie said afterward that Boyd misstated his position and would need to clarify.

When Boyd was asked questions to which he didn't know the answers, and there were quite a few, he was open about saying he needed to do more research.

"Knocking on doors and meeting people, that's what I'm all about," said Boyd, who had to leave early to return to his Christian school to lock up the gym.