Watching the election results coming recently, I was reminded of another year in recent South Carolina politics when similar circumstances existed.

The year was 1986, and South Carolina had grown accustomed to having one political party, the Democrats, controlling state government -- the Governor's Office, the Senate, the House of Representatives and practically everything else.

Then a funny thing happened. South Carolina voters elected a Republican to the governorship that year. It was only the second time it had happened in the 20th century, and there was plenty of anxiety. How could a Republican governor get anything done with a Legislature that was overwhelmingly Democratic?

That governor, of course, was Carroll A. Campbell Jr., and he was an extraordinary individual. People give him credit for building the modern Republican Party in the state, and that's probably correct. But I can tell you this from experience. He did one whale of a job working with the Democrats in the General Assembly to get things done for South Carolina. The reason I thought back to those days was the opportunity I think we have in this state today. To my mind, there's another potential Carroll Campbell in the race this year, and his name is Tommy Moore.

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Like Carroll Campbell, Tommy Moore as governor would face a Legislature dominated by the "other party," in this case, the Republicans. As a Democrat, Tommy Moore would find himself in a position requiring a great deal of diplomacy and negotiating skill. And, as it turns out, that's exactly what Tommy Moore has spent the last 25 years perfecting in the South Carolina Senate. He's the guy we turn to when we need to get through disagreements and conflicts. He works well with leaders like GOP Sens. Glenn McConnell and Hugh Leatherman, as well as Democrats like John Land and John Matthews. And as is often said in the Senate, "He even gets along with the old soldier, John Drummond."

That's more than can be said for our present governor, a man of high principles but low scores on teamwork. He's never seemed to understand that South Carolinians like the principle of working together and reaching agreements. They don't like the pressure which has been brought to bear from out-of-state interests and single-minded advocates. Vetoing the entire General Appropriation bill was yet another act of defiance toward the men and women elected to represent the people of the state in the General Assembly.

I say it's time for putting South Carolina interests first, and that means developing leadership which can work across partisan lines and which can build bridges between the Governor's Office and the Legislature. That's what Carroll Campbell did 20 years ago, and that's the opportunity we have today with a man like Tommy Moore.

Like Carroll Campbell, Tommy Moore was born and raised in South Carolina and has spent his life knowing, understanding and serving the people of this state. Like Carroll Campbell, Tommy Moore learned the political ropes inside the General Assembly and respects the art of compromise as part of that legislative process.

Like Carroll Campbell, Tommy Moore has worked his way up the political ladder in South Carolina and works hard at keeping his door open and his mind open for opportunities to reach out to new political constituencies.

There was plenty of anxiety in 1986 that South Carolina government would become paralyzed and chaotic with partisan warfare. Carroll Campbell proved that anxiety unwarranted. He reached out to his adversaries and taught us that the only things that paralyze the political process are closed minds and closed doors.

Let's open some doors, open some minds and let some partisanship become secondary to cooperation in the governmental process in South Carolina. I believe Tommy Moore offers that refreshing prospect for South Carolinians in November. It's the best chance we've had since Carroll Campbell.