A Proven Leader



Sunday’s editorial explains why after a promising start the editorial board soured on Nikki Haley in the governor’s race and prefers Vincent Sheheen:

 

The editorial board of The Sun News has long stated that, as representatives of the free press, our first policy priority should be advancing the cause of openness in every level of government. First and foremost, we are gatherers and purveyors of information, and we firmly believe we should always take a stand on behalf of your right to know what your government is trying to do and what your tax dollars are paying for.

Accordingly, when state Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington County flew into the Myrtle Beach airport in September 2008 with Gov. Mark Sanford to promote a bill to put lawmakers’ votes on the record, she immediately had our full attention. Of course their votes should be on the record, and here was a valiant rookie fighting an entrenched culture of secrecy and apparently unafraid to suffer politically for it.

The more we learned about Haley, the more impressed we were. She had written a whole host of bills to open up state and local government in ways her colleagues were sure to disagree with: making all their income public record, requiring even more public spending to be put online automatically, and other good ideas. With her obvious charisma and compelling personal narrative, we were genuinely intrigued, even enthusiastic, when she announced her underdog bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against three far better-known state lawmakers.

There is no doubt that Nikki Haley captures a certain political spirit of our times. Sadly, the close scrutiny of long statewide campaign has revealed a weaker candidate than we imagined.

On her signature issue, governmental transparency, Haley has made campaign decisions that raise serious questions about her personal commitment to it. When reporters requested her official emails, she gave them as few as possible and offered no explanation as to those she withheld. She was laggard in releasing her personal tax documents, and when she finally did, they showed income she’d not previously described for consulting work while a legislator that was never satisfactorily explained.

The outcome of her fight for putting lawmakers’ votes on the record perfectly exemplifies what would be the most serious shortcoming of a Haley term as governor. In an interview with us, she touted that effort as "absolutely" her most important accomplishment as a legislator - and yet, it was not accomplished. In fact, her political style so angered the rest of the legislature that the House passed their version when she was gone from the chamber and could not get back in time to vote for it, and the Senate leadership refused to take it up at all. Haley is still right to seek maximum openness on voting; the legislative leadership is still wrong to prevent it; but South Carolina still does not have it, and Haley’s inability to lead is partly to blame – just like Gov. Sanford, over and over for the past eight years.

These patterns, we worry, will follow her into the governor’s office.

It is in the realm of leadership where Haley’s opponent in this campaign, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, offers the greatest contrast. Unlike Haley – who has only seen one law she wrote passed, regarding hair-shampoo licenses – Sheheen has managed to get 22 of his ideas written into law, most of which are neither broad nor burdensome, but simply make government work better. He has replaced outdated sections of law, given law enforcement new tools, and so forth. On a larger scale, Sheheen helped create the state’s conservation bank, for example, which purchases land for preservation.

Most strikingly, Sheheen has done all these things as a member of the Democratic Party in the predominantly Republican legislature, meaning he has had to work across the aisle to draft any bill he’s had serious hope of passing - a skill that will serve him admirably as governor, and one that Haley seems never to have developed. She has been unable even to unite her own party on the campaign trail, which has fractured over her personal style and the unanswered questions about her record.

For many of our staunchly conservative readers, the fact that Sheheen will make a more effective governor is little comfort if he leads the state in a direction they disagree with. But Sheheen combines his traditionalist views on social issues with a conservative’s zeal for efficiency in state government, only lacking the outright hatred of it that sadly seems to fuel the extreme right wing of our state’s political spectrum. His pro-business sympathies are evident from the state Chamber of Commerce’s early support of him, from well before the primaries. In fact, on policy, Sheheen and Haley have often been ideological allies, working toward the same goal as Gov. Sanford to try to reform South Carolina’s antiquated power structures.

On Interstate 73, Sheheen grasps the reality that the road will require significant state investment to convince the federal government to move.

He has an infectious enthusiasm for the energy industry as a new source of jobs in the state, particular in the emerging coastal wind corridor, but also through biofuels and nuclear inland. Finally, he sees the tragedy in our state’s plummeting support for higher education, and pledges to find a way to restore it to its rightful prominence in the state budget once the state is on better fiscal footing.

If Nikki Haley is elected governor, we will continue to support her efforts toward a more open state government. The record, however, is clear that a Gov. Sheheen is more likely to actually accomplish those goals and so many others needed to get our state moving again.

 

The more we learned about Haley, the more impressed we were. She had written a whole host of bills to open up state and local government in ways her colleagues were sure to disagree with: making all their income public record, requiring even more public spending to be put online automatically, and other good ideas. With her obvious charisma and compelling personal narrative, we were genuinely intrigued, even enthusiastic, when she announced her underdog bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against three far better-known state lawmakers.

There is no doubt that Nikki Haley captures a certain political spirit of our times. Sadly, the close scrutiny of long statewide campaign has revealed a weaker candidate than we imagined.

On her signature issue, governmental transparency, Haley has made campaign decisions that raise serious questions about her personal commitment to it. When reporters requested her official emails, she gave them as few as possible and offered no explanation as to those she withheld. She was laggard in releasing her personal tax documents, and when she finally did, they showed income she’d not previously described for consulting work while a legislator that was never satisfactorily explained.

The outcome of her fight for putting lawmakers’ votes on the record perfectly exemplifies what would be the most serious shortcoming of a Haley term as governor. In an interview with us, she touted that effort as "absolutely" her most important accomplishment as a legislator - and yet, it was not accomplished. In fact, her political style so angered the rest of the legislature that the House passed their version when she was gone from the chamber and could not get back in time to vote for it, and the Senate leadership refused to take it up at all. Haley is still right to seek maximum openness on voting; the legislative leadership is still wrong to prevent it; but South Carolina still does not have it, and Haley’s inability to lead is partly to blame – just like Gov. Sanford, over and over for the past eight years.

These patterns, we worry, will follow her into the governor’s office.

It is in the realm of leadership where Haley’s opponent in this campaign, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, offers the greatest contrast. Unlike Haley – who has only seen one law she wrote passed, regarding hair-shampoo licenses – Sheheen has managed to get 22 of his ideas written into law, most of which are neither broad nor burdensome, but simply make government work better. He has replaced outdated sections of law, given law enforcement new tools, and so forth. On a larger scale, Sheheen helped create the state’s conservation bank, for example, which purchases land for preservation.

Most strikingly, Sheheen has done all these things as a member of the Democratic Party in the predominantly Republican legislature, meaning he has had to work across the aisle to draft any bill he’s had serious hope of passing - a skill that will serve him admirably as governor, and one that Haley seems never to have developed. She has been unable even to unite her own party on the campaign trail, which has fractured over her personal style and the unanswered questions about her record.

For many of our staunchly conservative readers, the fact that Sheheen will make a more effective governor is little comfort if he leads the state in a direction they disagree with. But Sheheen combines his traditionalist views on social issues with a conservative’s zeal for efficiency in state government, only lacking the outright hatred of it that sadly seems to fuel the extreme right wing of our state’s political spectrum. His pro-business sympathies are evident from the state Chamber of Commerce’s early support of him, from well before the primaries. In fact, on policy, Sheheen and Haley have often been ideological allies, working toward the same goal as Gov. Sanford to try to reform South Carolina’s antiquated power structures.

On Interstate 73, Sheheen grasps the reality that the road will require significant state investment to convince the federal government to move.

He has an infectious enthusiasm for the energy industry as a new source of jobs in the state, particular in the emerging coastal wind corridor, but also through biofuels and nuclear inland. Finally, he sees the tragedy in our state’s plummeting support for higher education, and pledges to find a way to restore it to its rightful prominence in the state budget once the state is on better fiscal footing.

If Nikki Haley is elected governor, we will continue to support her efforts toward a more open state government. The record, however, is clear that a Gov. Sheheen is more likely to actually accomplish those goals and so many others needed to get our state moving again.