Gov. Mark Sanford’s decision to smuggle two piglets into the State House was a spur-of-the-moment reaction to weeks of frustration with legislators and what Sanford saw as their love of pork.

But what started as a last-minute stunt could turn into a defining moment of Sanford’s tenure.

It is a symbol not only of his purist philosophy, but also of his inability to operate within the world of state government.

This is critical because Sanford, while popular, is the chief executive of a state in which the governor is weak and the Legislature is strong.

“I’d say that the relationship between the governor and the General Assembly right now would be nonexistent,” said Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, who has been a Sanford ally on fiscal policy.

“He’s not accomplishing much of anything.”

Legislators said the prank killed any last chance Sanford had of pushing through any of his legislative agenda this week, the last of the five-month legislative session.

So Sanford will be halfway through his four-year term without ticking off any major items on his “to-do” list: There will be no income-tax reduction, no tax credits for private schools, no restructuring of state agencies or the way we elect constitutional officers.

And legislators will come back in January fresh from their own elections, ready to do what they want. They won’t be as beholden to the wishes of the governor, whose popularity — a whopping 80-plus percent in one recent GOP poll — has been an impetus for them to play nice this year.

“For an administration that started with a great amount of promise, they are in danger of landing with a great thud,” said Chip Felkel, a Greenville political consultant who backed Sanford’s election.

The memory of Sanford holding a piglet under each arm is indelible, he said.

“The problem is this: Governors are remembered for one or two things,” Felkel said. “Carroll Campbell is remembered for bringing BMW to the Upstate. David Beasley, for better or worse, is remembered for his efforts on the (Confederate) flag.

“Does Mark Sanford really want to be remembered for carrying two pigs into the General Assembly? I don’t think so.”

SMELLING SWEET

Still, Sanford looked happy Thursday — even with pig feces smeared on his jacket, shoes, and the State House carpet. He was upset that pet projects remained in the budget and that $16 million of an outstanding deficit would be paid with the sale of property, not cash.

“I’m not antagonizing anybody,” Sanford said Thursday, pigs at his feet. “We’re making a serious point. I don’t find it insulting. This is a real problem for the taxpayers..””

The night before the stunt, he said in an interview that he has to be true to what brought him to the governor’s office: a desire to change politics-as-usual in Columbia.

“The core of who I am is about trying to challenge the status quo, trying to look at different ways of doing things,” Sanford said. “You’re going to get beat plenty of times in that process. But it is crucial that you constantly point out truth where you see it.”

The governor’s office alerted all the local TV stations to make sure the pigs were caught on tape.

A day later, Sanford said he would bring the pigs back, to prove a point.

Former legislator Alex Sanders earned the nickname “Master of Ballyhoo” for similar stunts early in his career.

“If you’re going to do something like that, it’s got to be really be clever,” said Sanders, the Democrats’ 2002 U.S. Senate nominee. “It can’t be contrived. I’m not sure that counted.”

Still, Sanders said, there is “less to this than meets the eye” — no great governmental crisis, just the inertia he sees holding South Carolina back.

That, and the unfortunate defecation on the carpet: “In the span of a single legislative session, we’ve gone from B.S. to P.S.”HOUSE IS HURT

The pigs were the rare State House story that became a major topic of conversation on talk and drive-time radio.

One local DJ said Friday morning he thought the stunt was beneath the dignity of the governor. He was beaten back in phone calls by a ratio of 5-1 in favor of Sanford.

House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, was dismayed with the beating the Legislature was taking on the airwaves Friday, and even called in to a hometown talk show to protest.

He told listeners the House had been Sanford’s best friend, passing 12 of the 16 items on his “Checklist for Change.” That’s compared with two in the Senate.

The House also incorporated many of Sanford’s priorities in its budget, such as paying back a 2-year-old $155 million debt, although the two disagreed on how to pay back $16 million of it.

Wilkins said the Republican-led House has tried to work with its Republican governor, and had welcomed the change after four years of battling Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges.

“But, with Governor Hodges being a Democrat, you knew where the battle lines were,” Wilkins said. “It was clear cut: These are my agenda items, these are yours.

“It’s really been a whole different ball game.”

That’s because Sanford ran as an outsider and is trying to govern as one, Wilkins said.

“We continue to move forward and pass the agenda, and yet the governor continues to run against the Legislature,” Wilkins said. “He continues to use us as a whipping boy, even when we’ve passed the legislation he’s asked us to.”

”The question becomes, how long can he continue to do this, and how long can the House continue to pass his legislation?”

Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, has pushed Sanford’s plans, but he said Sanford’s approach feels schizophrenic to legislators.

One day he likes you, “and the next day he’s having a news conference against you. He says he was talking to you about item A and the news conference was about item B.

“It’s as if he wants us to live in two worlds. That doesn’t work legislatively. It might build his poll numbers. It might even be, from his perspective, intellectually honest. But he can’t get the agenda items he wants because the relationship we have has broken down.”

A WIN AND A LOSS

Sanford’s prank can be seen as a win in the world of public opinion and still a loss in politics, said Charles Bierbauer, dean of USC’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies and a former CNN White House correspondent.

It shows that a political event resonates on many different levels, depending on how much, or how little, you care.

“If you don’t care very much, it’s kind of funny,” Bierbauer said. “If you’re here and you’ve been following the whole budget context, you’ve got a different take.”

In this case, the governor went for a sight gag, Bierbauer said.

“The speaker was offended, the rug was stained, and the relationship is now strained,” he said. “Was it worth it? Not if the governor’s in this for the long haul.”

Some legislators, particularly Democrats, saw the gag as funny, especially after the governor and House clashed over Sanford’s 106 budget vetoes.

“It’s a hilarious action on the part of the governor that kind of defuses the tension that has been in this place,” said Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland.

That’s the reaction Sanford was hoping for, but what if it becomes his legacy?

“The governor would hope that he would be remembered for the many times he has and will continue to stick up for the taxpayers of South Carolina,” spokesman Will Folks said.

“It was certainly something that symbolized his efforts to do that. He was having fun, too.”

Reach Bauerlein at (803) 771-8485 or vbauerlein@thestate.com. Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com.