ISSUE: Gov. Mark Sanford’s “vacation”

OUR VIEW: Response should have been expected

Gov. Mark Sanford’s critics have said his battle over acceptance of federal stimulus money was about gaining national publicity aimed at a 2012 bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

The governor lost the battle, with the Legislature budgeting $350 million for the coming year and setting up a court showdown with the chief executive. The S.C. Supreme Court ruled that the General Assembly’s override of Sanford’s veto of the budget provision was legal mandate for him to accept the federal dollars.

Lawmakers overrode that and nine other vetoes, continuing a long-standing conflict between the GOP governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

In “getting away” after the battle over the high-profile battle over the stimulus, Sanford if further raising his national profile -- and not in a way he expected.

The governor began making news far and wide on Monday with reports that he had been away from his duties and his family since this past Thursday. Inquiries by state officials including Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and media brought to light that even the governor’s staff was not in communication with him. Hi wife indicated she had not spoken with Sanford for several days, including Father’s Day. The Sanfords have four sons.

The circumstances led to a lot of speculation and intrigue, with the governor’s spokesman on Monday night issuing a statement that Sanford was hiking along the 2.200-mile Appalachian Trail.

“I want to emphasize that this isn’t something that either staff or Mrs. Sanford is concerned about. As we said earlier today, it isn’t unusual for the governor to be out of pocket for several days after the legislative session. We knew he would be difficult to reach, and that he would be checking in infrequently. Given the media attention this has generated, we’ll obviously update you once we have some more specifics to pass along,” the statement read.

Tuesday brought a new statement: “Gov. Sanford called to check in with his chief of staff this morning. It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten. Given the circumstances and the attention this has garnered, the governor communicated to us that he plans on returning to the office tomorrow.”

Sanford and his team should not be surprised at the attention. Anyone in the spotlight surrounding national campaigns is certainly going to make news as a governor who is away from his job without notice, and apparently without even his closest advisers knowing how to contact him -- and apparently without any security. Look for someone to ask whether such behavior would be his practice as president.

The criticism of Sanford from S.C. Democrats, as well as Republicans Bauer and Sen. Jake Knotts, is predictable. Democrats have long attacked Sanford as aloof and out of touch. Knotts is among the governor’s harshest critics. And Sanford was not a supporter of Bauer’s re-election bid.

Still Knotts’ words of Monday have merit: “The way things are in the world today and homeland security, we need the governor to be fingertips away.”

Certainly there is need to know who is running the executive branch if the governor is going to be away from his duties.

Sanford’s spokesman says South Carolinians know their governor is unconventional. That is true. But they do not expect that to mean leaving the helm of government in such fashion.

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