Politicians don't just fight over public policy positions. They fight over turf. And some prominent members of the General Assembly were fighting mad Thursday when, in their view, Gov. Mark Sanford violated their turf.

That view is at best dubious, at worst evidence that those legislators need thicker political skins. The affront they perceived from the governor was a press release, issued by his office Thursday and later e-mailed to supporters across the state. It aimed to bolster his call for state spending limits with quotes from influential House members Jim Harrison, Doug Smith and Harry Cato.

Unfortunately, the press release became super-sensitive politically when it was noted that the three committee chairmen were House Speaker Bobby Harrell's opponents in last year's speaker's race. The governor explained Friday that the three simply happened to be among the five House leaders with whom he met with earlier this week -and among the four who backed his position. While the three approved the use of their quotes, the governor said they didn't know, nor did he, that they would be the only three quoted. It just didn't hit his office's radar screen, and "for that we apologize," he said, stressing that the use of that trio's quotes was not intended as a slap against the speaker.

But Speaker Harrell clearly saw it that way, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell questioned "why in the world they would issue that kind of press release," and the Republican caucus convened for two hours behind closed doors. Speaker Harrell told our reporter: "I think it's absurd for a press release to be sent out before the first (budget) number is voted on. The major source of my disappointment is over how the governor did this. But then, antics aren't anything new for this administration."

Yes, Gov. Sanford has resorted to "antics" before, as when he brought piglets he dubbed "Pork" and "Barrel" to the Statehouse late in the 2004 session to highlight his disapproval of legislative spending. But how can Thursday's press release - a renewed plea for budgetary restraint - be fairly described as an "antic"?

Actually, the governor was trying to avoid being accused of waiting too late to stake out his position. He has experienced session-ending budget frustrations in previous years when his only remaining option has been to veto what he regarded as excessive spending. He resolved to become more involved in the budget debate sooner this year. And he told us Friday that "given the comments out there" by House members this week, showing a weakening commitment to the spending cap and trust-fund restoration, "we felt compelled to act."

As for those fanning the political flames, the governor had this summary of the flap: "I think some people want to muddy the waters on this so that we talk about process instead of spending."

Gov. Sanford has rightly urged the Legislature to use some of this year's surplus revenue to complete the repayment of trust and reserve funds. His proposal for capping spending increases at the sum of the annual inflation rate and population-growth rate - about 5.6 percent for the new budget - also deserves broad support. Legislators should get over their hurt feelings and fairly consider the governor's budget pleas.