WE’RE GLAD TO SEE that Gov. Mark Sanford and legislative leaders are trying once again to work together. But we’re not getting our hopes up: We’ve lost count of the times the governor and top legislators have huddled and announced that they’ve come up with a slate of items to work on together, only to see the effort degenerate into little more than a spitting match as the two sides realize that while they might have agreed on broad goals, they were too far apart on the specific proposals to get anywhere.

Even if this latest agreement pans out, the “broad priorities” they’ve agreed to can hardly be considered an agenda that our state so desperately needs to move forward. Property tax relief and Medicaid funding are important topics to address, but under the current leadership, there’s at least as much potential to move things in the wrong direction as in the right direction; lawmakers do need to address eminent domain, but that can hardly be called a major issue; and the idea of the Legislature passing arbitrary spending limits — particularly on local government — is anti-republican and counter to good government.

As for the larger agenda that Mr. Sanford hasn’t been able to convince lawmakers to buy into, government restructuring is most assuredly a major issue that would benefit our state. But the governor’s actions have made it clear that this initiative comes in a distant second (if not third) to his destructive plan to channel public money into private schools.

There clearly is more than enough blame to go around for the fact that little has been done since Mr. Sanford took office to right the course our state has been on for years. But as governor, Mr. Sanford is the one with the greatest responsibility to articulate a clear vision for the state, as well as to work to develop the strategy and forge the relationships to make progress toward that vision. And so far, he has failed.

Worse, we see little hope this will change, either in the coming legislative session or in the next five years.

Despite his dismal record of accomplishment, Mr. Sanford remains popular. And so far, we don’t see any good alternatives to another four years of stagnation. His popularity, combined with a huge warchest, has scared off big-name opponents. Even an effort by the state’s powerful business community to recruit a challenger has come up short. The best-known Democratic candidate, Aiken Sen. Tom Moore, has thus far shown no signs of electrifying anyone as a viable alternative.

It’s still early, to be sure. And it’s worth remembering that Gov. David Beasley — whose record included the forward-thinking Education Accountability Act, impressive economic development gains and the populist anti-crime and anti-tax initiatives that appealed to both his base and swing voters — was defeated by a Democratic opponent who looked every bit as much like a sacrificial lamb as Mr. Moore now does.

Mr. Sanford’s popularity despite his anemic record, along with the dearth of challengers, suggests that voters have come to accept and even expect that their government won’t work to move our state in the right direction. But we can’t accept that. We deserve better. And with the right motivation, our government can move the state in a better direction. That’s going to take either some changes on Mr. Sanford’s part or the selection of an opponent strong enough to take him on. We’d love to see both things happen — but we desperately need at least one of them. And soon.