COLUMBIA -- Just like all good things, bad things must come to an end, too.

At least that's how many lawmakers feel after the end of the 2003 session of the General Assembly, a session plagued with tough budget decisions, divisive partisan wrangling and a general lack of meaningful activity.

Sure, lawmakers were able to pass a predatory lending bill and campaign finance reform, but they spent most of their time arguing that age old Shakespearean question, To tax or not to tax?

In the end, they didn't, and Democrats said if you don't like it, please consider returning them to power next year. Hold that thought until election season, which actually kicks off when lawmakers return to the Statehouse in January (barring a pesky special session).

For the final installment of Statehouse Week, here's a look at some of the best and worst of the 2003 General Assembly.

Most Likely to Succeed: Anybody who has a problem usually ends up in the same place, and no, it's not the Godfather's office. But you're close.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell seemingly only has to speak for things to get done. A propane dealer on Johns Island is about to be shut down by propane regulations? Next thing you know, there's a new law and an investigation of the regulatory agency that promulgated the rule to boot.

Those crafty House guys are skimming interest from Patriots Point's private donations accounts? Not when McConnell says he's not real happy with the idea.

And, in the waning moments of the session, when House members attempted to pass what he considered too stringent prosecution laws with the .08 DUI legislation, McConnell said, "That's not going to happen."

And it didn't.

Best dressed: Whether wearing a Wal-Mart smock at cabinet meetings or Air Force Reserves fatigues in Alabama, Gov. Mark Sanford set the pace for style at the Statehouse this year. (Sanford just edged out Sen. Robert Ford for this one.)

The untraditional governor did not even fall back on the traditional suit for his inauguration and ensured that the Charleston uniform, blue blazer and khakis, wasn't just for reporters anymore. One more thing, though, governor: How about an executive order banning neckties on Statehouse grounds?

Most popular: As anyone who controls the strings of a $5 billion purse, House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell easily wins friends and influences people.

Harrell seemingly just has to take the well to be smothered in supportive votes. The best evidence of this may have come on the last day of session when a bond bill to deliver $250 million to colleges and universities across the state was held up in the Senate. In a matter of hours, Harrell had the measure tacked on to a new bill and flying across the Statehouse lobby.

Best public speaker: There's a tie here between Senate Democratic Leader John Land and Sen. Kay Patterson. When Land talks, you occasionally need to look up to make sure you're still sitting under a dome (as opposed to a steeple).

The best Land quote of the year came when he noted that state employees haven't had raises in three years and were being asked to take on higher insurance premiums. "I believe you've whipped them into shape. They know you mean business now," he said.

Patterson is simply best filibusterer out there, as evidenced by this remark that has absolutely nothing to do with the at-will employment bill he was trying to kill:

"You know who decides to go to war? Old men. You know who goes to war? Young men. You ain't going to see (Vice President) Dick Cheney going over there to fight. He didn't go when he was young."

Best quote in the course of normal conversation: Bar none, the award goes to state Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-West Ashley, for many things, but in particular for his reaction to an attack by Rep. Leon Howard over the infamous naked drinking straw bill.

"If I'd known he was that influential, I would have been more respectful and deferential while he was cussing me out."

Least likely to be late for session again: This one has to go to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who was pulled over by Columbia police and briefly held at gunpoint for running a red light or two on his way to gavel the Senate into session. Perhaps if he'd been wearing that purple robe he wears on the dais, they would have thought he was just late for choir practice.

Least likely to mess with Shirley Hinson again: South Carolina First did the impossible this session by spending money that made their cause (tort reform) less palatable than it had been. When Hinson, R-Goose Creek, withdrew her support from the bill, the Chamber of Commerce-backed group sent out mailers comparing her to -- gasp -- Bill Clinton (We don't see the resemblance).

Hinson called them out on the carpet of the House floor and before long, tort reform was no longer the biggest issue at the Statehouse this year.

Then, Hinson proved it was no fluke of bravery when she took on Gov. Sanford for vetoing her bill authorizing a monument to fallen police officers.

Least likely to mess with the Charleston delegation again: As a general rule, anyone could qualify for this one, but in particular the Charleston County Council deserves this one. When the council couldn't get an answer on the delegation office budget from state lawmakers, they moved the money to a contingency account and zeroed out the budget. The delegation responded to that $150,000 slight by introducing legislation to pull about $17 million in state funds from the county budget.

You guess which side blinked first.

Best director: Without a doubt, House Speaker David Wilkins made his case for a shorter session by pushing the House through its agenda about 4,000 times more quickly than in the deliberative body and even managing to insert a furlough week, all the while taking the time to recognize, honor and applaud every single living high school sports team in the state (who knew there were so many championships?).

Wilkins runs a tight ship, even if his crew often are swabbing the decks with one another.

Best picture: Of course, "Gods and Generals," the Civil War epic that pulled off the impossible by putting Sens. Arthur Ravenel, Jake Knots and Robert Ford in the same room without there being a fight -- or any mention of video poker or the Charleston County School Board.

Next week, the Legislature is not in session and, barring a callback from Sanford, won't be back until January. At least, that is the hope of taxpayers, and the business departments of certain unnamed media outlets who are about sick of these expense accounts.

Contact Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com.