SC1 Profile: Mark Sanford's 'Second Chance'

When the national media does a story about former S.C. Gov. Sanford and his return to the political stage, it is obligated to summarize the events of June 2009 and the fallout that resulted.

South Carolinians do not need a synopsis. They know.

The consensus among political observers is that Sanford will be one of the top two Republican finishers in the March 19 primary and make the April 2 run-off in his attempt to regain the seat he held from 1995 to 2001.

But with Sanford, there is no such thing as a certainty.

He seems to recognize the fact, and is taking nothing for granted, campaigning up and down the coastline, shaking hands and taking photos with anyone who asks.

Earlier this week he appeared at a town hall in Beaufort for an hour. Many in the audience of about 70 regarded Sanford coolly, sitting with their arms folded. When Sanford cracked a joke about how unlikely he considered his latest candidacy, only a few people chuckled.

It was a contrast to stops earlier in the day, where he was welcomed as a returning hero, which was not unexpected since Sanford has deep ties to the area, his family having moved to Beaufort when he was in high school.

Policy Wonk

Given a choice, Sanford would probably talk about economic policy and nothing else. It’s the basis for his entire political career and the reason he says he’s back at “this thing.”

When Sanford talks about the economy he does not talk numbers — though he knows them cold. He does not talk about South Carolina, or even the United States. He talks instead about “our civilization,” which gives the debt crisis something of an existential quality.

Seated next to state Rep. Shannon Erickson, host of the town hall, Sanford fielded one question after the other. A few were personal. Most were political.

Before answering a question intended to gauge his support of the Second Amendment, there was a long pause before Sanford said, “I empathize with people in a way I didn’t before.”

He then laid out an unequivocal defense for the Second Amendment, noting that he believes the Founding Fathers put the law in place, “because — and I know this might sound crazy to some people — if everything else went awry, citizens could protect themselves against the government.”

After the town hall, Sanford expanded on his answer, as though the thrust of his point was greater than the current battle over gun control.

“If you can survive the storm of your life, you get empathy in a way that you hadn’t gotten it before," he said. "And that’s true for me. Before, I empathized intellectually. I didn’t really know what it meant.”

Still Savvy

Though he is still shaking off some of the rust of being away from the limelight, Sanford has lost little of his ability to answer creatively.

When he was given a question that all but accused him of being a career politician — a fair criticism given that from 1995-2010, only one of those years was he out of elected office — he deflected it to his benefit.

“A career politician is someone who casts votes for the sole purpose of getting re-elected,” Sanford said, before recounting controversial stands he took in Congress and as governor.

He also made a case for himself that no other candidate in the race for First Congressional seat can make: “Each of us (in the SC1 race) has merits and demerits. I’ve got both. But one of my merits is that I’d pick up my tenure from my prior term, jump past about 40 percent of the other House members and be in a position to have an impact that a freshman congressman couldn’t.”

Sanford has shown that he is also more than capable of framing an issue that is of great interest to the Lowcountry, but misunderstood in the nation’s capital, such as the deepening of the Port of Charleston.

“In a few years the Panama Canal will be widened and will be able to take more freight than ever. Freight that comes into and out of the Port of Charleston,” Sanford said. “In Washington they don’t realize that the Port is not simply a local asset — it’s a national asset. It benefits people in Kentucky and Tennessee and is critical to our whole economy.”

Sanford admits he’s less self-righteous and binary than he used to be. A softened tone might be just what Republicans in Washington need. By the same token, it could be just as difficult to sustain in that culture.

“I want to be a part of the conversation,” Sanford said, when asked about what role he might plan in ratcheting down the rhetoric. He was reluctant to say what a return to public life would mean for him personally.

“At some level or another we all hope for second chances in life and if it happens and you see that for what is, it’s a blessing," he said.

"I’m going to try to win and I’m going to have fun and talk about what I believe. The people will decide if this is a second chance for me.”

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