The easiest thing to write about in the political world is hypocrisy. It’s an easy topic because usually, you don’t have to look very far for examples of it. It’s everywhere, especially in South Carolina. Every time you turn your head in our great state there’s a politician taking a principled stand that he—it’s pretty much always a he—will later come to regret. Normally around here, when a politician is taking one of those principled stands, it’s to fight against those socialist-enabling liberals trying to destroy our way of life by expanding health insurance coverage or by sending evil budget-stabilizing stimulus funds to our school districts.
This is South Carolina after all. A day in our political world just isn’t complete until somebody blames liberals for the destruction of America.
Until last year, the guy most likely to be at the ready when the situation called, invariably full of demagogic rhetoric and spouting his own unique blend of half-truths and plain old falsehoods, was Governor Mark Sanford.
A fine example of this talent was the epic holy war he waged last year over our state’s share of President Obama’s economic stimulus bill. Those were better days for our beleaguered governor, back when the future was bright. The GOP, still smarting from its November ass-kicking, was looking for a new standard bearer. Conservatives needed to get back to their roots, and Mark Sanford was beginning his transition from Governor Sanford to Presidential Candidate Sanford by making a statement. Granted, it wasn’t a statement that made much sense, but when was the last time the extreme right said or did anything that made sense?
I don’t really have to tell you what happened next. We’ll just say that people in South Carolina who used to have no idea where Argentina is—I’m guessing that was about 80% or so—got a bit of a geography lesson.
Poof! There it all went, presidential ambitions, political credibility, gubernatorial legacy, all gone in less than the amount of time it took you to read this sentence.
So what does a guy do when he’s got nothing to lose or fight for anymore? Well apparently, he bails on the fiery rhetoric that once was his stock and trade in favor of something more sensible, governing. A couple of weeks ago, Sanford flew to Washington to support South Carolina’s bid to receive $300 million in federal education funding through its “Race to the Top” grant program. The money for the program comes partly from the 2009 Federal Budget, and partly from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the same stimulus bill that Governor Sanford railed against last year.
Apparently, the bill doesn’t represent the fundamental threat to our way of life Governor Sanford once implied it did back when his own political fortunes were different. It’s amazing what a fresh set of circumstances can do for a guy’s outlook. Is it hypocritical for a guy who never met a government program he didn’t want to slash funds from to throw his support behind a big fat government grant for public education? Better yet, do I really have to ask that question?
I have to admit, when I first read about Sanford’s new compromising tone I was a bit puzzled. Politically, he’s a beaten man, no doubt about that, but for the next year at least, he’s still the Governor of South Carolina. The General Assembly has made it clear that he won’t be impeached, and if he wanted, Sanford could run out the clock standing on the same misguided principles that got him the office in the first place. For a little while, I was really at a loss in trying to understand what had happened to our once proud libertarian-conservative governor.
Then it hit me: There’s nobody to show off for anymore.
In the political world there are only two reasons to fight the “good fight.” Either you genuinely believe in what you’re fighting for, or you think you’ll benefit from the fight itself, win or lose. Mark Sanford has no political future, so if he was still fighting the reactionary conservative fight, you’d know he really meant it. Instead of fighting though, Sanford is playing ball, doing what governors are supposed to do for their states. He’s out there actively seeking money to benefit public education. In short, it would appear that Mark Sanford’s old grandstanding ways were political theater, nothing more.
That may seem a touch unfair, and I’ll admit that it might be. For all I know, Governor Sanford had some sort of Damascus Road conversion, and was suddenly struck with a more reasonable set of political views. It is at least possible that the man who hated government so much that he occupied the highest office in South Carolina just so nobody else would do anything with it, finally decided that maybe this whole “governing” thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I’ll admit that those things are possible. I just don’t find them very likely.
It’s far more likely that Sanford, not having a stake in the game anymore, has decided that cementing some sort of legacy outside of his dalliances in South America, is going to take more than pointless ideological stands.
Whatever his reasons are, I want to thank Governor Sanford for finally using his office for something that will benefit the citizens of our state. I’m sad that it took seven years and a career-ending scandal to bring him around, but either way its good to have a real governor for a change.
Christopher George
It’s quite ironic that Sandford’s best hour as governor — or at least, most meaningful to the majority of people in South Carolin — might come from after he’s been politically neutered.