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Published June 26, 2009
Those who are clamoring for Mark Sanford’s resignation as governor should take a deep breath and look beyond the governor’s personal transgressions to decide what’s best for the state of South Carolina instead of acting in the heat of the moment.
In the hour of our state’s worst economic peril in a generation, our leader has been paralyzed by a personal crisis that he allowed to affect his duty as governor. He admitted he has been unfaithful to his wife. He angered the state’s political elite — and many voters — by flying off to Argentina to see the other woman without telling anyone in authority where he would be and by lying about it before and after. This left the state vulnerable.
This correctly calls into question the judgment of the chief executive of South Carolina and leaves many wondering how his decision-making might have been affected during the past year. Clearly, other motivations were guiding his actions than the well-being of his state and its citizenry.
The General Assembly likely will address the issue of clarifying the law on who is in charge in the governor’s absence. Although difficulties in his marriage are his personal business, a decision on a possible resignation based on Sanford’s ability to govern beyond this moment forces us to consider the abilities of Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer sooner than anticipated. Despite his current distraction, Mark Sanford could remain the better of the two to occupy the governor’s office for the next 18 months.
Although the lieutenant governor’s post affords fewer opportunities for demonstrated leadership than the governor’s mansion, Bauer has in his second term as lieutenant governor has shown neither the demeanor nor the stature to lead the state. Even without the vetting of a gubernatorial election process, he could have distinguished himself to make this a clear choice for South Carolina, but he has not done so.
Bauer’s biggest headlines as lieutenant governor call into question his judgment. Lately, Bauer has been active only as a likely gubernatorial candidate, as an advocate for the aging and in his role presiding over the Senate.
Before anyone knew of Sanford’s indiscretions, the challenge of digging South Carolina out of perhaps the worst economic crisis in our lifetime was daunting. Today, we must consider whether the crisis is now more difficult with him in office.
Sanford has offended many people in his single-minded pursuit of a narrow ideological agenda of low or no taxes and little or no government regulation. He made undying enemies in the General Assembly when he entered their chamber with two small pigs, which promptly defecated on the expensive carpet in the Legislature. He has likewise shown his contempt for working people in fighting additional funds to pay unemployment compensation, and for teachers and families in opposing federal stimulus funds aimed at softening the recession’s impact on schools.
Sanford needs to put his personal problems in their proper place — at home — and seek reconciliation with voters and the political oligarchy of the state. If his tattered reputation is to be reconstructed, he must spend the remainder of his term in office trying to help the people who elected him.
Job creation, education and public assistance for suffering, out-of-work South Carolinians should be his focus. His aspirations for national office have been dashed. His highest calling in the next 18 months is to do everything in his power to raise his state out of its economic slump and reverse the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation.
If Mark Sanford can do that, he might yet avoid a judgment in the history books as South Carolina's least-effective governor ever.
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