Sanford rebuffs SC speaker's call to resign
| Atlanta
With top South Carolina political powers turning against him, a relaxed Gov. Mark Sanford took to the Columbia airwaves Tuesday night, offering unique insights into what makes the embattled governor tick.
As part of a image-rebuilding tour through the South Carolina heartland, Governor Sanford sought to put his Argentine affair behind him, throw doubt on his growing list of political enemies, and talk about 鈥渨here we go from here鈥� during an hour talk with WVOC (Voice of Columbia) radio.
On Tuesday, Republican House Speaker Bobby Harrell 鈥� arguably South Carolina鈥檚 most powerful elected politician 鈥� called for Sanford鈥檚 resignation, reversing his previous view that the general assembly should wait for the results of an Ethics Committee investigation before taking action.
Keven Cohen, the radio host, showed early on where his sympathies lay, calling the calls for his resignation and impeachment 鈥渁 witch hunt.鈥� And only one caller threw a hardball 鈥� about the governor鈥檚 decision to add Buenos Aires 鈥� the hometown of his ex-mistress 鈥� to a Brazil trade trip.
Sanford invoked again his belief that God chooses imperfect people to do his work on earth, noting 鈥淚f God鈥檚 going to make lemons out of lemonade, you've got to stay around for the second part of the show.鈥�
He also said he wants to reform government 鈥渘ot with a shotgun, but a rifle鈥� 鈥� presumably a variation on the scalpel versus cudgel analogy of budgetary surgery.
Sanford invoked his libertarian roots when he talked about his big project: Restructuring the only state government where the general assembly completely controls the budget purse strings.
Sanford鈥檚 gambit to change the flow of 鈥済old鈥� in Columbia, the governor has contended, is behind much of the political animosity now aimed his way. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a totally weird system, and a lot of the controversy is about changing the system, involving a lot of people who profit from or agree with the system,鈥� Sanford said.
But his decision to turn some of the blame for the government standstill on his political enemies also gave fuel to those who call him out of touch and a barrier to what Rep. Harrell called 鈥渢he restoration of public trust.鈥�
The question on most listeners鈥� minds, according to Mr. Cohen: Would you do it all over again if you could?
鈥淲e all wish we could do do-overs, but that鈥檚 not where I am,鈥� Sanford said. He said he鈥檚 looking at 鈥渢he opportunities that we have before us with regard to changing the government of South Carolina.鈥�
Of course, the other big question for Sanford is whether he can build enough political capital to survive a possible impeachment proceeding when the state general assembly meets again in January. That will be far from easy.
Which leads us to the best soundbite. Cue Cohen: 鈥淚f you pick a fight with Mark Sanford, is he going to fight back? It sounds like you鈥檙e ready to fight.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not looking for a fight,鈥� Sanford said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking for the truth.鈥�
