COLUMBIA -- During his gubernatorial campaign, Republican candidate Mark Sanford criticized then Gov. Jim Hodges for failing to improve public education, nurture economic development and provide decisive, strong leadership.

"Clearly, politics as usual won't improve the lives of our citizens," Sanford said.

Sanford pledged to fight for an education voucher system, eliminate the state income tax, cap school enrollments, grow business and streamline government. But nine months into his tenure, critics charge the first-year governor's performance has fallen short of expectations.

"If you look at the record, Sanford has yet to show much in the way of accomplishment," said Bruce Ransom, chairman of the Policy Studies Program at Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute. "He did not exert very much leadership. His tax proposal didn't go anywhere. The legislature pretty much took the lead."

Critics say poor communication with legislators, inexperience and ill-defined ideas have handicapped Sanford.

House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said legislators often were unclear on what Sanford wanted.

"But even though we had difficulty sometimes with communications, everyone knew that his heart was in the right place," Harrell said.

The first South Carolina governor in 50 years lacking state government experience, Sanford "had a tough learning curve," Harrell said.

Fritz Hollings, South Carolina's Democratic U.S. Senator, recently became one of Sanford's most outspoken critics, claiming Sanford was the state's weakest governor in 50 years.

Sanford could not be reached for comment for this story, but his spokesman, Will Folks, dismissed Hollings' criticism as partisan advocacy.

STORMY WEATHER

Hollings' spokesman Andy Davis said the senator thinks Sanford should work more aggressively and visibly to lure and retain industry.

The state is bleeding manufacturing jobs, Hollings said, and its economic recovery appears to be lagging behind that of the nation. Since Sanford took office, unemployment in the state has risen to a decade-high 7 percent. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports no growth in the number of small businesses.

"One of Sanford's major platforms was that he wanted to grow the wealth in South Carolina," said Scott Huffman, a Winthrop University political scientist. "Well, he made changes, and we're still losing jobs. Perhaps Sanford is realizing that everything wasn't due to mistakes by his predecessor."

In fairness to Sanford and Hodges, Hodges served the last two years of his term during a recession, and the economic slump has continued during Sanford's tenure. Forty-seven other states are navigating similar budget crises.

Since 2001, South Carolina lawmakers have sliced nearly $1.5 billion from the state budget and cut thousands of jobs.

This year, education spending was reduced to 1995 levels. Property taxes have been raised in at least a third of the state's school districts to compensate.

Legislators acknowledge that they, not Sanford, are responsible for the cuts.

"I don't think it was fair to blame Hodges for budget problems, either," said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. "(Hodges') budgets were dead on arrival in the legislature."

But during the campaign, Sanford held Hodges responsible for the state's budget woes. As recently as two weeks ago, Sanford's staff criticized Hodges for not rectifying a $155 million deficit from the fiscal year that ended in June 2002. Sanford proposed cutting agencies and schools by another 3 percent to 4 percent to cover the shortfall, but was overruled by fellow Budget and Control Board members Harrell, Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and Democratic State Treasurer Grady Patterson.

"Even when you have a Republican legislature and a Republican governor, there will still be power struggles," Huffman said.

FOR AND AGAINST

Many others dispute the notion that the governor has accomplished little his first legislative term. Folks said the governor's last-minute lobbying helped push a campaign finance reform bill and lower blood alcohol legislation through the state Senate. He credited the governor with passage of a bill reducing acreage requirements for public schools and a bill that reorganized the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, said the governor gets high marks for appointing "the right people to the right jobs."

Special interest groups also defend Sanford.

Holly Gattling, director for S.C. Citizens for Life, said the governor and his staff helped convince lawmakers to support a right-to-life bill to ban all human cloning, including procedures to generate transplant tissue and organs.

Environmentalists commend Sanford for using his "bully pulpit" to speak out against the Clyburn Connector, a controversial bridge proposal. Angela Viney, director of the S.C. Wildlife Federation, commended Sanford's veto of a move to raid $2.5 million in conservation trust funds.

But some of Sanford's actions have angered others.

Anton Gunn, executive director of S.C. Fair Share, a statewide nonpartisan consumer organization, complained the governor "derailed" efforts to increase revenue for Medicaid through a $170 million cigarette tax increase. Sanford refused to approve the increase unless legislators passed a long-term $750 million annual reduction in the state's income tax.

"For several years, we worked very hard to get legislators to understand the need for more revenue," Gunn said. "Gov. Sanford's requirement derailed the entire process and put both sides back in their corners."

Sanford doesn't see it that way. Two weeks ago, he told a national columnist that fellow Republicans were to blame for the failure of the cigarette tax increase.

Others complain Sanford erred by vetoing the Commission on Women's modest funding, which Folks labeled "an efficiency move."

"South Carolina ranks near the bottom in reports on the status of women," Cobb-Hunter said. "The governor has shown no real commitment to addressing that."

Mental health advocates criticized Sanford's veto of a measure to exempt mentally ill Medicaid patients from the state's preferred drug list. Dave Almeida, director of the S.C. chapter of the National Association for the Mentally Ill, said a "one size fits all" approach doesn't work for mental illness and wastes money.

Sanford opposes "carve outs" for any particular group, Folks said.

SPEAKING OUT

Sanford's first term also was marked by public relations challenges.

In his State of the State address, Sanford praised Mustafa Kemal Attaturk as a progressive leader worthy of emulation. Armenians and Greeks, who consider Attaturk the "Hitler of Asia Minor," were mortified.

Later, black citizens thanked Sanford for offering an unqualified apology for the role state troopers played in the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre in which three students were shot and killed.

And, during the most crucial week of Senate budget debates, Sanford attended a Bermuda yacht race. Some criticized him for a "lack of leadership," the same charge he had leveled at Hodges.

Republican leaders say it's too early to evaluate Sanford's performance. But USC-Aiken political scientist Bob Botsch said the governor can't afford to wait three years to produce clear, measurable results.

In Hodges' first two years in office, he launched First Steps, the Silver Card prescription program, the S.C. Education Lottery, and a $1 billion school construction bond issue.

"Next year will be the acid test for Sanford," Botsch said. "He hasn't accomplished much so far. If he doesn't succeed next year and the economy remains bad, he's in deep trouble."