Former Gov. David Beasley celebrated property tax relief, welfare reform and tougher sentences in 1995.

Former Gov. Jim Hodges celebrated the lottery, First Steps and a $1 billion school bond bill in 1999.

This year, Gov. Mark Sanford could celebrate only losing his most public battle by just five votes in the Senate.

Sanford ended his first legislative session as governor Thursday without any of his major initiatives clearing the House and Senate.

But all is not lost, Sanford said. The race is won by the patient and the determined. Success must be measured over the long term, not the first six months of a four-year term, he said.

"The real key to a mile race ‘.‘.‘. is each one of those quarters," Sanford said. "Do you set yourself up to be in a better position that next quarter?"

For his administration, the governor said, the answer is "an unequivocal yes."

But others predict the race will only get tougher for Sanford.

Sanford and some lawmakers believe the new governor's major proposals - government restructuring, education funding reform and tax reform - stand a better chance of passing next year, once there is more time for study and debate.

But if the first year of a governor's four-year term is considered his honeymoon, Sanford had a headache for much of it.

Much of Sanford's agenda was not introduced until halfway into the session. Some lawmakers said they didn't hear from the governor or his aides about what his priorities were.

It was a confusing time, said Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Anderson.

"He's beginning to learn the system," Cooper said. But at the beginning of the session, "I don't think he had a clue."

LEARNING CURVE

Sanford admits as much. But as the session neared a chaotic end Thursday, Sanford was in the Senate lounge personally urging senators and representatives to come to an agreement on the 0.08 percent DUI bill. He ultimately succeeded.

Sanford said he wouldn't have been able to do that in January. "I didn't know any of these guys on a first-name basis, and they didn't know me."

The governor is fond of pointing out that he's the first chief executive in 50 years not to have been a product of the Legislature. He came to the State House by way of six years in Congress and relative anonymity on the statewide political scene.

And yes, Sanford said, his progress early on was limited by his "learning curve."

"We've begun the process of building relationships with both the leaders and rank-and-file members of the House and Senate," Sanford said. "We're pleased with how that's coming along."

A LATE START

Lawmakers agreed Sanford is making progress. But his administration had little momentum early, they add.

"Because he didn't know the players, he didn't have a network," said state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston. "And it's going to be a while before he gets it.

"This should have been a crucial period. He didn't get nothing passed."

Sanford waited until mid-March to start pushing for legislation, said state Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg. That should have happened earlier, he said.

In the House, state Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Marlboro, said Sanford took a "hands-off approach." As a result, Jennings said, Sanford "accomplished as little of his legislative priorities in his first year as any governor in our lifetime."

But if Sanford was so hands-off, what was he doing personally bridging the gap between House and Senate on the DUI bill? Why did he spend more time in the House and Senate over the past several months than any governor in recent memory?

Sanford can claim some credit for the DUI bill, campaign finance reform and Division of Motor Vehicles reform. He advocated all three in his January State of the State address - but each was in the works before he took office.

And not all Democrats agree with Jennings' assessment. State Rep. Seth Whipper, D-Charleston, said the governor has been "refreshing."

"He hasn't shied away from being a leader," Whipper said.

Sanford is analytical and "has his views about the kind of governor he wants to be, and the kind of public servant," Whipper said. "He's fulfilling that vision."

But Sanford "has yet to learn some things about being the governor of the state, as well as the governor he sees in that vision," Whipper said, and he "has taken some risks."

DIFFICULT 2004 AHEAD?

One risk would appear to be expecting his major reform proposals to get through the House and Senate next year - when all 170 lawmakers are up for re-election.

That is unlikely, Ford said.

"Everyone is going to be very, very careful of doing something in a political year," Ford said.

An unwritten rule in the Senate is that little gets done in an election year.

"The nature of the beast is such that you want as little controversy as possible," said state Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Aiken. But that shouldn't prevent serious consideration of the governor's ideas.

A second and potentially much more dangerous political risk Sanford has taken is to pledge to visit districts of lawmakers - Republicans and Democrats - who did not support his income tax/cigarette tax swap. That would include just a few senators, but a majority of the 124-member House.

Lawmakers fear the governor is going to use his bully pulpit to beat them up. That would be a mistake, said House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville.

Wilkins would rather Sanford work with legislators on a tax reform package "instead of going around to districts trying to potentially hurt Republican representatives that have supported his policies."

If Sanford comes to his district to tout his tax plan, Wilkins said, the governor might "find me side by side explaining why we don't need it."

Sanford said he doesn't plan to "beat up" on anybody.

"That's not my nature," he said. "I believe in merit-based politics. I believe in ideas."

Because the Senate defeated his plan by five votes, he can zero in on fewer districts, Sanford said. "It means we can put away the shotgun and pull out the rifle."

But Sanford needs to be careful, lawmakers said, that he doesn't shoot himself in the foot.

As state Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, said earlier this year, Sanford "is running out of toes."

Reach Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.