When running for office it’s ones tendency to engage in a bit of hyperbole – or fact stretching.  It’s never good to engage in such fact stretching when the stretched facts are easily found on this web thingy.  South Carolina Democratic Lt. Governor candidate Ashley Cooper appears to have stretched a bit when he claimed in a campaign video that South Carolina leads the nation in unemployment.  A quick check of that shocking revelation, because we always thought Michigan had the honor of leading the nation in unemployment, revealed that the truth might be screaming a bit as it is stretched.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the state that leads the nation in unemployment is….Michigan at 14.3%, Nevada at 13%, Rhode Island at 12.7%, and then South Carolina at 12.6%.

One wouldn’t normally equate 4th place with leading, but maybe the definition of leading has changed.  You can see the video for yourself – he makes his bold redefinition of leading just 12 seconds into the video, so you don’t have to watch it all.

By the way, Mr. Cooper appears to be the only Democrat candidate running in this race, but Republicans Ken Ard and Bill Connor are competing for the GOP nomination.