Governor Sanford is being pummeled by South Carolinians

Our friend, South Carolinian Alvin McEwen, passed along a post he wrote about the media backlash underway against the state's Governor, Mark Sanford, for his politicking with stimulus money:

To put it nicely, Governor Sanford is being destroyed, annihilated, and figuratively tarred and feathered for his stance against taking stimulus money to help education.

I don't think that I have ever seen an editorial page take such as vocal position. Other than one letter to the editor and a some comments, Sanford has absolutely NO support.

And as well he shouldn't. He was elected to be the guardian of the citizens of South Carolina. And how can you be a guardian if you choose your political future over the needs of those you are elected to serve.

Today's editorial in The State is titled "The state of South Carolina vs. Gov. Mark Sanford: A chorus of opposition":

THAT FAVORITE conservative punching bag, The New York Times, handed Gov. Mark Sanford a fabulous gift Monday when it chastised him for refusing to request $700 million in federal stimulus funding that our state so clearly needs. That let the governor frame this as his battle against “the left-leaning media.” But that ignores the near-unanimity of media opinion here in South Carolina — from the conservative Upstate to the hometown paper that has been Mr. Sanford’s most consistent supporter.

The Aiken Standard begged the governor to request the funds. The Rock Hill Herald’s opinion editor, James Werrell, wrote that “anyone who would consider turning down federal help in getting this state back on its feet should be tarred and feathered.” The Anderson Independent-Mail argued that “Not accepting the money does nothing for South Carolina except perhaps enhance the governor’s image as the conservative’s conservative in the national arena with regard to fiscal matters.”

And on and on across the state, editorial pages echo most of the state’s Republican officeholders and the public (in the past week, our letters to the editor have been running 4-to-1 against the governor’s position).

The Governor is at war with his constituents just to score cheap political points with the hard-core GOP nuts who will pick the party's presidential nominee in 2012. The people of South Carolina are onto Sanford.

Sanford's actions also fit into the general theme that there's not really an economic crisis. It's a pervasive attitude among Republicans. If it's not a real crisis, it's okay to play political games. That's what Sanford is doing.