Rep. Wilson apologizes, but says won't be muzzled

[September 11, 2009]  WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Rep. Joe Wilson may have apologized for his outburst during President Barack Obama's health care address, but he is telling supporters he will continue to speak loudly about the issue and "not be muzzled".

And with support still pouring in Friday for Wilson's Democratic opponent, the Republican from South Carolina said in a campaign video he needs help.

Since Wilson blurted "You lie!" during Obama's health care address to a joint session Wednesday night, the campaign coffers of Rob Miller, who is challenging him in 2010, swelled by $750,000 by Friday morning, according to Jessica Santillo of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It's not clear whether the people who made the donations live in South Carolina.

Wilson apologized to the White House soon after the speech and again Thursday, but did not back away from the issue that prompted his outburst. In a video posted on his campaign Web site, Wilson said he had let his emotions get away from him after a month of passionate town hall meetings with constituents.

"On these issues I will not be muzzled. I will speak up and speak loudly about this risky plan," he said.

Wilson said his critics want to use the flap over his outburst to silence opponents of health care reform, and he urged supporters to rally to him.

"I need your help now," he said.

The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee didn't respond to questions about donations to Wilson's campaign. Wilson's campaign voicemail box was full Friday and his office phones either went to voicemail or were not answered.

Wilson's outburst made some supporters shudder even as others believed it could give him a political boost in his conservative hometown.

"He's the only one who has guts in that whole place. He'll get re-elected in a landslide," said John Roper, an insurance agent, as he sat among patrons at a diner near Columbia.

Still, Southern sensibilities reign in the district the 62-year-old has represented for the past eight years. Added Roper, "He probably shouldn't have said it in that context."

The uproar may not be over, despite Obama having accepted Wilson's apology. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he favors a resolution of public disapproval if Wilson doesn't apologize to the House by Tuesday.

Wilson's shout came after Obama said extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.

The House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, but wouldn't get tax subsidies to help them. Still, Republicans say there aren't sufficient citizenship verification requirements to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded.

In Wilson's district, many voters said the heckle wouldn't affect their support for him. Some said they wished more politicians would speak their minds -- but most said they wished it hadn't happened.

"Joe was very immature. He's always been pretty under control. I'm a little embarrassed," said Roy Smith, a business manager who spoke as he ate breakfast in Cayce. "I voted for Joe and probably still will."

Wilson, who served as a military attorney, retired as a colonel in the South Carolina National Guard in 2003 after 31 years. His four sons also have served in the military, something mentioned repeatedly at Wilson's public appearances in this military-friendly state. For some, that background makes the outburst against the nation's commander in chief even more striking.

"I thought it was disgraceful," said the Rev. Kevin Roberts, who said he doesn't support Wilson. "I don't begrudge him his feeling. But I think there's a way to communicate that and a way not to, and I think it's shameful. I expect more decorum and respect for the office."

Miller said Wilson should apologize to his district too. Last year, Miller gave Wilson his most serious challenge since winning a 2001 special election to fill the vacancy left by the death of Republican Floyd Spence.

"As a retired South Carolina National Guard colonel, he should have known better. It's disrespectful to our commander in chief in a setting where the world was watching," Miller, a former Marine who runs on online military memorabilia business, said from his home in Beaufort. "It was childish."

The district stretches across 10 counties from central to coastal South Carolina and hasn't elected a Democrat to Congress since 1965. It encompasses wide economic contrasts: Allendale County has the state's highest unemployment rate -- 22.5 percent in July -- while Lexington County has the lowest rate at 8 percent.

His district is also home to some of the state's largest military installations: the Army's Fort Jackson outside Columbia, and two major Marine Corps facilities -- Parris Island Training Depot and the Marine Corps Air Station -- both near Beaufort.

At least three members of Wilson's voluntary, minority advisory committee said they resigned Thursday.

"I didn't personally want to be associated with that sort of inappropriateness toward the president of the United States of America," said J.T. McLawhorn, executive director of the Columbia Urban League, who's served on the group since Wilson formed it a decade ago.

Wilson is known in Congress for giving one-minute speeches when the floor is open for short statements on any topic, but he has been confrontational in the past.

During the 2004 presidential campaign, he demanded that Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., apologize for his 1971 comments criticizing those who served in Vietnam. Former Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, who lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam, defended Kerry and called Wilson a "chicken hawk" for supporting military action without going to war. However, two of Wilson's sons have served in Iraq.

In 2003, Wilson called it "unseemly" for the mixed-race daughter of Sen. Strom Thurmond, Essie Mae Washington-Williams, to identify the longtime South Carolina senator as her father after his death.

"It's a smear on the image that (Thurmond) has as a person of high integrity who has been so loyal to the people of South Carolina," he told The State newspaper of Columbia. Wilson had worked as an intern in Thurmond's office. After a public outcry, he said he had the utmost respect for Washington-Williams.

Wilson's eldest son, Alan -- who is running for state attorney general -- agreed Thursday that his father chose the wrong place to vent, but said the heckle shows that "what the president said really struck a chord."

"I think everyone understands that he was basically voicing the frustration of the American people," Alan Wilson told CBS's "The Early Show" on Friday.

[Associated Press; By SEANNA ADCOX]

Associated Press writers Susanne Schafer and Katrina Goggins contributed to this report.

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