Putting The “Govern” in Governor

The 2010 political races are already out of the gate and in South Carolina, the focus is gonna be on the contest for Governor.

In what is supposed to be the “reddest of the red states,” it’s natural to assume that the real front runners are the Republican candidates. No disrespect to State Senator Vincent Sheheen or the other Democratic Party candidates, but there IS that “pie eating” analogy.

So we’re left with the Republican candidates.  Well, these days, “Republican” is hardly descriptive.  Any party that has both a Bobby Harrell and a Mark Sanford ain’t so much “big tent” as it is philosophically gelatinous.   Still, (R) is the magic label in the state, even if it’s as accurate as calling a Democrat “progressive.”

At this writing, there are three front runners for the GOP nomination: Third District Congressman Gresham Barrett, Lt. Governor Andre Bauer and Attorney General Henry McMaster.  All of these are smart men with admirable credentials, but each with electability problems.

Barrett is gonna have to contend with the body slam he got at a Tea Party rally last month.  He AND the electorate will be haunted by that next Fall.

Andre Bauer has to overcome perceptions of being a lightweight.  His Office on Aging is a good and noble cause, but recent revelations about the effort’s cornerstone, Senior Shield, has been a distraction and could lead to questions – legitimate or not – about his judgement.

Henry McMaster has done a great job as Attorney General.  He’s got Strom Thurmond and even Ronald Reagan connections, which I admire.  But, bless his heart, McMaster looks old school and, in several ways, is old school.

In fact, all of these guys are old school.  There’s plenty of that in the Legislature and THAT is what has to be changed, not just the name on the Governor’s Office door.

To overcome the feudal hegemony of the Legislature that has held down the state’s progress and prosperity for generations, there must be a new governance in the state. In what has been called “a national embarrassment,” South Carolina’s de facto form of government is the primary boot on the neck of social, educational, economic and industrial improvement.  There are historical and personal, as well as political reasons for this.  I’ll let this article (with a nod to Will Folk’s post), speak to those reasons.

So, is there a remedy other than a seismic reformation that ain’t gonna happen?

Yeah, there is.

The Chief Executive needs to have a strength that comes from the voters – a populist. But not the current flavor of populist who spouts certain sound bites and strategically appeases one-issue groups. No, I mean the classic populist – one who rises from the ranks of and truly speaks for the citizenry. With that populism, such a governor would not only speak with authority, but (s)he would be feared because of that authority.

Ronald Reagan is the modern populist model. He defeated a contrived populist (Jimmy Carter) and, even though his party didn’t control either house of Congress, he was able to move on his policies because he had the people on his side.

And Congress knew it.

The next Governor of South Carolina needs that same advantage. Simply being elected on a state-wide ballot won’t do it. That can be (and usually is) interpreted as just being the person with more votes and maybe, MAYBE, a temporary mandate.

No, South Carolina’s 116th Governor should be someone the voters believe in enough to rally behind his/her policies and willing to make that support tangible by supporting legislators of the same mind.

I don’t believe either of the aforementioned Republican candidates have or can get that kind of voter enthusiasm.