South Carolina's failure to persuade Airbus to build a 150-employee engineering center near North Charleston dealt a blow to Republican Gov. Mark Sanford's re-election effort. But it's unlikely to alter next year's outcome, analysts say.

"I still think he's in a solid position for re-election," says University of South Carolina political scientist Blease Graham. "It's his to lose."

Still, the latest economic development setback raises questions about the governor's ability to recruit major industry and create new jobs in a state with a 6.3 percent jobless rate, the nation's fourth highest.

Airbus was a lost opportunity for South Carolina, and the company's decision to locate in Alabama brings into question Sanford's leadership.

For those looking to the governor for an explanation as to what went wrong, Sanford likens the competition to the NCAA Final Four. If you get there often enough - as South Carolina has been with Airbus and, before that, DaimlerChrysler - you're bound to win one sooner or later.

But Sanford needed this one. Economic development has been a hallmark for rating the state's governors for years.

Sanford's record is mixed.

Former GOP Gov. Carroll Campbell, who brought us BMW and Huffmann-La Roche to mention a few, certainly would be at the head of the economic development class, Graham says. He was engaged, aggressive and relentless.

Some question whether Sanford has that kind of commitment.

Three years ago, during the gubernatorial campaign, candidate Sanford pounded then-Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges for losing a DaimlerChrysler facility. He accused Hodges of not doing enough personally.

Today, Sanford is taking the heat for not getting personally involved - until the 11th hour - in the state's bid to attract the Airbus engineering firm. Even then, the Sanford-hosted dinner for a handful of Airbus executives in Paris was upstaged by the folks from Alabama, who had their Airbus reception at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Critics are prepared to tar Sanford with his own brush. They will take the words he pummeled Hodges with and throw them back in the governor's face.

Sanford said Hodges was damaged politically by DaimlerChrysler's decision to locate in Georgia "simply because each of us are judged by the promises we make and the expectations we build. If expectations are built up and not met, then there is some political fallout to that."

Sanford placed the blame for the DaimlerChrysler decision at Hodges' feet. "I don't think we saw the level of personal involvement that we saw in Carroll Campbell's reign as governor."

Sanford already is hearing those words as he campaigns for re-election. This time, however, they're aimed directly at him as he tries to explain the Airbus loss.

South Carolina was once considered the toughest state to go up against in competing for industry. Today, industrial recruiters will tell you the state is not the player it once was.

Business leaders are leery of Sanford. He is unpredictable. They never know when he'll go off on one of his populist tangents.

Sanford manages to survive thanks to the folks in the hinterlands. They love him. He does a good job cultivating people who are frustrated with government. His anti-government message resonates.

Francis Marion University professor Neal Thigpen, a Republican activist, says the Airbus decision alone is not enough to threaten the governor's re-election. But combined with other factors - like his inability to move the needle on his education agenda - Sanford could be in serious trouble, he says.

"Right now, it looks as if he has one foot on a banana peel."