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WEDNESDAY'S EDITORIAL

THE ISSUE: Gov. Sanford prospects for re-election

OUR OPINION: With campaign dollars flowing in, governor is favorite for re-election

Despite critics, Sanford still in driver's seat

Gov. Mark Sanford is being put on the defensive not only by Democrats looking to oust him next year but also by the leadership in his own party. But don't bet against the governor's re-election.

The Charleston Republican's clashes with the Legislature are nothing new. But when the newly elected speaker of the House, Rep. Bobby Harrell of Charleston, goes public with statements that the governor is not doing enough to foster economic development, the alarm should be going off at the Governor's Mansion.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Harrell said that for several years the state has been lax in recruiting business, creating jobs and boosting the economy.

He cited the state's loss of the AAA credit rating in saying the rating agency "gave us a wake-up call by telling us that we better get focused on jobs and job creation in this state."

When former Govs. Carroll Campbell and David Beasley were in office, those issues were top priorities, Harrell said. "Since Mark's become governor, I don't think we've picked it (job growth) back up like it was when Carroll Campbell was governor."

It's the same kind of criticism of Sanford that has been coming from Democrats, who have looked for every opportunity to question the governor's leadership.

Even the celebration surrounding the new Cooper River bridge was fodder for the opposing party, which issued a press statement reminding South Carolinians that the governor while in Congress voted against funding for the bridge. The Democrats indicated the vote must be why Sanford decided to bypass the July 16 bridge dedication in favor of a governors' meeting in Iowa.

Just days before, the Democrats were trumpeting Sanford's standing in a poll by Survey-USA, which showed the governor's approval rating at 50 percent, down three points since June. Sanford's disapproval rating stood at 39 percent.

Most disturbing for the governor in the poll are numbers showing 21 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of self-described conservatives disapprove of the job he is doing.

As yet, however, such indicators have not translated into the loss of campaign dollars in a fashion that would indicate support is moving toward Sanford's likely Democratic foe, Sen. Tommy Moore of Aiken.

Campaign finance reports filed this past week with the State Ethics Commission show Sanford is accumulating a campaign war chest larger than his opponents combined. The governor's campaign generated $642,987 between March and June. It spent just more than $80,000 and had a total of $3.4 million on hand.

Compare that to Sanford's only GOP foe, Dr. Oscar Lovelace, a physician from Lexington County, who reported raising $20,940. Moore and his Democratic opponent, Florence Mayor Frank Willis, raised $208,792 and $192,900 respectively during the quarter.

The bottom line: Criticism now does not necessarily translate into lack of support come election time. Sanford does not appear to face the kind of defection from Republicans and independents that helped Democrat Jim Hodges defeat incumbent Beasley in 1998. During that campaign, Hodges was able to amass a lot of campaign dollars that otherwise might have gone the way of a Republican.

And don't expect Harrell and other key Republicans to defect when it comes time to be counted.

Couple the dollars with the continuing strength of the Republican Party in South Carolina and Sanford will have every opportunity to get out his message, rekindle the campaign fire and consolidate support before facing off with an opponent.

As Francis Marion University political science professor Neal Thigpen told The Associated Press: "Money talks and it is going to be an awfully hard row to hoe" for Sanford's challengers.