Gov. Mark Sanford, shown here at a recent appearance in Greenville, has been touring the state speaking to Rotary Clubs, Kiwanas and other local groups. Greg Beckner/Staff

Sanford: Apology Tour 2009

Since admitting to an affair Sanford has spoken to 13 civic groups. He spoke to seven during the 12 months before.

by Anna B. Mitchell

Published: Sept. 23, 4:31 p.m.

Gov. Mark Sanford has logged more than 2,300 miles on the road since he started what some in Columbia are dubbing his Apology Tour on Aug. 12.

Sanford has visited Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs in almost every corner of the state – from Beaufort to Greenville (twice), Conway to Rock Hill – with return trips to Columbia in between. If the 14 trips were taken back-to-back, Sanford and his small entourage of one assistant and a SLED officer would be on the road almost 40 hours.

Before announcing to the world in late June that he’d been out of state the previous week visiting his girlfriend in Argentina, Sanford had spoken to seven civic clubs over 12 months.

Policymakers in Columbia have been left to wonder if the governor has time for his day job.

“We’d like to see the governor concentrate more on economic development,” said Greg Foster, a spokesman for House Speaker Bobby Harrell. “It seems he’s been spending a great deal of time on his apology tour.”

House Majority Leader Harry Bingham said he hasn’t talked to the governor about the state’s business since July 27, though they had made tentative plans at that point to work together on forming an ad hoc committee for economic development. Sanford left for a European vacation that week, so Bingham met with the governor’s staff.

“I spent several hours with them,” Bingham said. “I’ve not had any conversations with them since, and I was the person they’d identified in the House that they wanted to work with. The governor called me specifically.”

Bingham, who joined the majority of Republicans in the House calling for the governor’s resignation earlier this month, said he assumes the governor’s got his hands full with personal and legal problems stemming from the Ethics Commission investigation into his travel expenses.

Sanford’s spokesman Ben Fox said the governor’s public schedule, which is posted weekly on the governor’s Web site, shouldn’t be interpreted as the totality of his boss’s activities. The governor, he said, does much more than a couple press conferences and club meetings a week.

“The governor’s schedule is full, and reflective of his focus on the job at hand,” Fox said.

Taking just Sept. 17 – a day Fox said was representative of the governor’s busy schedule – Sanford met with staff on policy issues, met the dean of USC-Lancaster, spoke with members of Lancaster Rotary, called economic development leaders and corporate prospects, spoke at an event with Sen. Mick Mulvaney in Sun City, touched base with numerous lawmakers, greeted the family of a Gaffney soldier killed in combat, and stopped by a bevy of small businesses.

“I know this is just one day, but I’d simply say that today is very representative of this week, last week, and indeed the weeks going forward,” Fox said.

Sanford told members of the Pleasantburg Rotary Club in Greenville in August that his intent in visiting with constituents is to hear directly from them – away from the static of media scrutiny and his political opponents’ criticism – what they want accomplished in Columbia. He said he hoped removing any speculation about a possible run for the presidency would bring focus to his job as governor.

Rep. Bill Sandifer, chairman of the House’s leading business committee – the Labor, Industry and Commerce committee – said he’s heard from the governor once this summer, calling to make amends for their differences in the past. Sandifer faced a well-funded opponent in the 2008 Republican primary, Ed Rumsey, whose main backers were supporters of school vouchers, like Sanford.

“The only time I’ve heard from him since he ran someone against me, and I didn’t talk to him then either, was on his apology tour,” Sandifer said. “I told him then, I said, ‘Mark, you have gone out of your way to make enemies. You’ve done nothing to make friends, and now you want us to be your friends? That really is a hard pill to swallow.’”

Building political alliances is particularly important for South Carolina governors, whose power is eclipsed by that of the General Assembly, Sandifer said. Rather than sit down with key leaders in the House and Senate, Sandifer said, Sanford has had a tendency to organize a press conference and blast what they were trying to do.

A Journal review of Sanford’s gubernatorial calendar from July 2008 through June 2009 found the governor scheduled 340 press conferences, television and radio appearances and interviews with publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New York Times, various state editorial boards and the Associated Press. The topic most often listed for those media events was Sanford’s opposition to the federal stimulus plan.

In that same 12-month timeframe, Sanford attended seven cabinet meetings, eight Budget and Control Board meetings and 19 meetings scheduled with lawmakers.

Thad Beyle at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been studying the institutional power of sitting governors for more than 40 years. In 2007, Beyle considered the South Carolina governor’s two-term limit, elected cabinet members, limited budget power, veto power and the fact that Sanford’s party also held the General Assembly. The governor was ranked 41st then and would likely be close to last now that most members of the General Assembly, including those from his own party, want him to quit.

Sanford has called repeatedly for the restructuring of state government to give the governor more power over the budget and executive appointments such as the lieutenant governor and superintendent of schools.

“The power lies with the General Assembly in South Carolina,” said Wesley Donehue, a political strategist for the Senate Republican Caucus. “If that’s where the power lies and you want to change something, then you have to change it there.”

Donehue said he could sum up Sanford’s relationship with the General Assembly over the past 6 * years with one word: Insulting.

“There is no working relationship between Mark Sanford and members of the General Assembly,” Donehue said.

Bingham said he’s never known the governor to sit down with the leaders of the House and Senate to hash out workable legislation. Sanford throws out ideas at press conferences and State of the State addresses and walks away, he said.

“We have to win with arguments and facts to get people to agree with us,” Bingham said. “We all agree in concept, but what does it look like on paper?”

Contact Anna B. Mitchell at 356-8183

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