Greenville, South Carolina
Governor Mark Sanford is standing in front of Brown's Bait and Tackle. It's located on the outskirts of Greenville beside a small lake. The shop's owner wears a T-shirt identifying him as "Man's Bass Friend." A sign warns "after hours" customers: "Paid Fishermen Only. No Fines, Loafing, Drinking. Fishing Fee $2.00. Ramp Fee $3.00. Honor Box at Front Door." Sanford is surrounded by about 20 small business owners who sell hunting and fishing equipment.
The popular governor, a Republican who bucked the Democratic tide in 2006 and was reelected overwhelmingly, is in casual clothes. More often than not, he appears in public without a coat and tie, and that's the case today. He wears a Polo shirt, slacks, and loafers with tassels. His home--when he's not in the governor's mansion--is on Sullivan's Island, an upscale suburb of Charleston on the fashionable South Carolina coast. Sanford is not a country boy. He has an MBA from the University of Virginia.
With a poised and polished politician confronting outdoorsmen (and women), you might expect a culture clash. But there is none. These are Sanford's people. The issue he's addressing in what he calls "an impromptu town hall meeting" is their issue: the state legislature's insistence on cutting the sales tax to 3 percent from 6 percent for two chain stores specializing in hunting and fishing goods, Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops. The small shop owners won't get the tax break, which is partly why Sanford vetoed it, only to have his veto overridden.
If
this controversy strikes you as inconsequential, that's perfectly understandable. A tax break to encourage retailers to open stores--nothing unusual about that. Most states offer incentives to lure corporations and investment. South Carolina was famous, while Republican Carroll Campbell was governor in the 1990s, for piling on the financial favors to attract a sprawling BMW auto plant to Spartanburg.
Yet Sanford spent an entire day in mid-July flying around South Carolina to spur opposition to far less lucrative tax breaks for two retail chains. How come? Two reasons. First, Sanford is a unique governor, not given to the normal give and take of governing. He's idealistic and principled and visionary. He loathes easy compromise and special interest handouts. He doesn't court or hang out with legislators. Second, the tax issue lies at the heart of his struggle with the legislature for power and influence in South Carolina.
Sanford, 47, aims high. He's not only committed to overhauling the structure of the state government and slashing spending, he also wants to reform and modernize the state's political culture. Then there's his breathtakingly ambitious plan to drive his opponents in the legislature out of office next year by beating them in primary elections. "He truly believes if you're to begin to change South Carolina, you have to change some of the people in government," says senate majority whip Jim Ritchie. All this seems an impossible task, but Sanford is undeterred.
"My strength and my weakness is that whatever I believe, I really believe," Sanford told me. "I can be completely wrong, but I'll really believe it."
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