Brack: About a former governor and someone who wants to be

Today’s commentary comes in two pieces – one about former Gov. Mark Sanford, a month-long candidate for Congress who dropped out Thursday, and current Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, who stepped in something ripe that’s related to a speech invitation.

First Sanford, who is featured on the cover of the new issue of the Charleston City Paper in a story describing his congressional bid. And here’s where the story twists: The newspaper had to create a second cover for its online edition after Sanford unexpectedly dropped his bid for the First Congressional District seat.

The updated online cover for May 1 after Sanford suspended his campaign.

Last week, the newspaper interviewed Sanford for the cover story because his bid for a third stint in Congress was fascinating. He first ran for the U.S. House as a firebrand in 1994 and won three terms. Then after serving as governor from 2003 to 2011, he ran in a special election in 2013 and then won full terms in 2014 and 2016. On March 30 – the last day he could get in the race that already had nine Republican candidates – he rocked the political world by filing at the last minute. Why? Because he said he wanted to get people in Washington talking about the nation’s growing $39 trillion debt and to restore fiscal sanity to Washington.

So all of this led to a good story that the City Paper put on the cover. The newspaper sent the issue to its Seneca printer on Wednesday afternoon. Soon, the paper was printed, only to be delivered late Thursday. But in what was the journalism equivalent of an unforced tennis error, Sanford dropped out of the race on Thursday, making the cover story moot.

So the newspaper developed a new online version of the cover (same image with a big red X across his face), added an editor’s note to the story and offered a column explaining why there were two covers this week for the first time ever.

This whole mess caught the newspaper flatfooted. And frankly,, the staff kind of feels like it got a little Appalachian-trailed on this one, even if unintentionally. (IYKYK).

Please note: The newspaper isn’t mad at Sanford – just a little disappointed that it got put in this situation. If you can get a physical copy of the printed issue, it’s sure to become a collector’s issue. Let’s just hope it’s not ever on eBay.

For his part, Sanford apologized Thursday. “I am so sorry,” he texted. “My doubts had been growing and a conversation … broke the dam and it cascaded from there.”

Now to Evette, a gubernatorial candidate who was slated to give a May 8 commencement speech at S.C. State University until students started protesting this week. They didn’t like some of her political rhetoric about diversity, equality and inclusion. They asked the administration for another speaker.

Evette Credit: S.C. Office of the Governor

Evette should have ignored them and should have said she looked forward to talking about non-political business issues. But in politics, grace sometimes isn’t in the forefront, especially when you’re behind in the polls like she is.

So she castigated students as a “woke mob,” which was like throwing gasoline on a political fire in Orangeburg where during a 1968 protest, three students were shot and 28 wounded in what is known as the Orangeburg Massacre. (Perhaps Evette, a native of Ohio, doesn’t know much about the event – but as lieutenant governor, she should.)

What seems to have happened here is that Evette tried to create a controversy using the Historically Black College and University to bait MAGA voters to support her for governor – a cynical strategy not that much different from the politics of fear spewed in 1968 by successful GOP presidential candidate Richard Nixon.

And we all know how that turned out.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.