President Sanford? Perhaps

e-mail this story print this story Dan Hoover • President Sanford? Perhaps (02/05/05) • McAuliffe paved way for Democratic fund raising (01/29/05) • GOP, Dems eyeing state for '08 (01/29/05) • The right hails a 'new friend' (01/16/05) • Graham, DeMint may differ on high court nominees (11/14/04)

Whether the notion turns you on or off, there are folks promoting South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford for the presidency in 2008.

Sanford said last week he's not one of them.

"Crazy talk," Sanford said. Ditto those draft Sanford Web sites.

So, has the thought crossed his mind?

"No."

"I'm not a guy that signals things by tea leaves. If that was something I wanted to do, I'd say that's what I wanted to do," Sanford said.

Then he adds the politician's old standby: "You never say never about anything. My time in politics has been a series of different accidents. I didn't think I would ever run for Congress; I didn't think I was going to run for governor; I sure don't think I'm running for president.

"So, I think a lot of people get way ahead of themselves when they start getting dreamy-eyed and they miss the whole boat of what politics ought to be about, which is how events fall today."

New directions?

Sanford did note a series of developments that caused him to change directions during his life, from teens to 40s.

"But I can say in absolutely good conscience it's nothing on my mind, it's nothing I'm focused on."

Unauthorized "strange Web sites" are the extent of any Sanford for president movement, he said.

Whether Sanford likes it or not, the speculation is floating around. Those Web sites — one by the Republican Liberty Caucus of Thousand Oaks, Calif., the other by Sean Wisnieski, a community college student from Brunswick, Md. — are drawing some hits.

When this year's General Assembly convened Jan. 11, Sanford's alleged presidential ambitions got a mention on the Senate floor.

Charleston Democrat Robert Ford told his colleagues that changing Senate rules — to give Sanford's legislative agenda increased likelihood of success and more power to the governor — is part of the presidential package:

"If Mark Sanford's going to run for president in 2008, why hand it to him on a silver platter?"

During Sanford's State of the State address a week later, as the governor devoted the first portion of his speech to global economics, Rep. George Bailey, R-Dorchester, scribbled a message, then held it aloft: "Is this a presidential speech?"

No '08 favorite

With a wide-open field already gathering for 2008, when President Bush will be constitutionally ineligible for a third term and Vice President Dick Cheney will retire, Sanford says he hasn't made a presidential choice.

"There are no automatics," Sanford said when asked about Arizona Sen. John McCain, a fellow maverick Republican who was his initial pick for the 2000 GOP nomination. "I'm not focused on that."

Nor on a McCain-Sanford ticket, he said.

The Draft Mark Sanford Web site gets right to the point:

"In the face of soaring deficits and skyrocketing federal spending, America needs a leader who can say "NO!" to Washington tax-and-spenders."

It goes on to outline Sanford's six years in the U.S. House where he often found himself among a handful opposing deficit spending and as governor where he proposed income tax cuts and has kept a veto pen in frequent use.

It concludes:

"Therefore, we, the undersigned, strongly urge and implore Gov. Sanford to consider a presidential run in 2008 on a platform of fiscal conservatism, responsible government and the preservation of constitutional rights." Through mid-week, the undersigned numbered 132, up from 65 on Dec. 12 and 122 on Jan. 12. They represented 23 states, including South Carolina.

Allies weigh in

Thomas Donahue, a New York independent, wrote, "You are the only hope of our conservative base for 2008. Run and I'll back you big time."

Travis Snyder of Chapel Hill, N.C., is "ready to volunteer."

"Bush is no Reagan," offered Bill Ostendorf of North Aurora, Ill. "(Sanford) will give us back our liberty."

To Stephen Prather of Atlanta, Sanford is "the real deal." Bryan Grimaldi of Akron, Ohio, urged: "Run! Run! Run!"

"It's very flattering, very amusing, but it's not where I'm focused," said Sanford.

That focus, he said, is on an array of tax and governmental restructuring changes that so far have been denied him by the Legislature.

It was about this time in the administration of Republican Gov. David Beasley that speculation of a White House in his future began to surface.

"Yeah, I saw what happened," Sanford said of Beasley's re-election defeat in 1998. Dan Hoover's column appears on Sunday. He can be reached at (864) 298-4883 or toll-free at (800) 274-7879, extension 4883, and by fax at (864) 298-4395.