Why Sanford? From everything I've heard, he's been a decent Governor.
Yeah… Its very very odd indeed, Sanford got sky high approvals in SC and has been doing a lot to put the state’s financial house in order.
You're kidding me, right?
In a recent Survey USA poll, Sanford had a 49% approval and 43% disapproval rating, that's only sky-high if one uses Bush as your measuring stick.
Secondly, South Carolina never got into the serious fiscal problems that some states got into during our recent recession thanks to South Carolina's dirty little secret to keeping a AAA credit rating, the Budget and Control Board. The BCB has five members, the Governor, the Treasuer, the Comptroller General, and one person each picked by the House and the Senate. (The treasuer and the CG are directly elected as constitutional officiers so they aren't beholden to the Governor as they might be in some states.) If revenue doesn't meet expectations, the BCB has the authority (indeed the obligation) to cut spending mid fiscal year so as to keep the state from running a deficit.
