by CARLTON HUFFMAN || I greeted the news of Mark Sanford’s defeat on Tuesday with a mix of sadness and bitterness at the current state of politics in both the GOP and in the nation as a whole. This news site has documented its issues with Mark’s voting record, but I wanted to take advantage of its open door editorial policy to submit my thoughts on the coda of Sanford’s career.
About me first, I’m a Republican operative from the other Carolina (North Carolina). Aside from a stint with Mark’s 2013 comeback race I have worked for two other Freedom Caucus members. My philosophy of government can be summed by the Thomas Paine quote which states that, “government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
So in 2003 when I see a sitting governor taking two pigs to poke shame at out-of-control spending in Columbia I immediately perk up.
If anything summed up both the promise and the tragedy of Sanford, though, it was the events of 2009. After Barack Obama’s win, combined with filibuster proof margins in the Senate, conservatism was at a crossroads, and the moderate wing of the party was poised to win the argument that we needed to cooperate with the Left. Then along came Mark Sanford to stand courageously, ALONE, against the federal stimulus package.
The stand was a shot in the arm for conservatives across the nation – and it combined with the rising Tea Party movement to stiffen a number of weak spines. While the fight to reject the stimulus money was lost – Mark Sanford deserves all the credit in the world for doing what no other governor in the nation did.
The rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say we all know. Sanford’s collapse left liberty advocates bereft of a unifying champion that could bring the libertarian and social conservative wings of the party together in the 2012 election.
Maybe it was the desire for a happy ending to the story that made me hope for a Mark Sanford comeback, and when the first district seat opened up in 2013 I made my way down to help spray paint plywood signs and pound the pavement to make it happen. After his return to Congress, I was generally heartened that Mark stood with the Freedom Caucus in pushing back against the excess spending that sadly continues today.
And then along came Donald Trump. While I agree with the pundit class that Mark’s criticism of the President damaged him, I don’t buy that it and the 11th hour tweet buried him.
If I have any critique of Mark it is that after the 2016 primary that all stops weren’t pulled out to fortify himself against the primary challenge everyone knew was coming. But that is a conversation for another day. For today I am grateful for the willingness of Mark Sanford to be the lone vote alongside Ron Paul on countless votes against the expansion of government in our lives. I am grateful for his years of service on behalf of the voters and the causes he believed in. And I am grateful for the opportunity to personally be a part of one brief chapter.
Carlton Huffman is a North Carolina native who’s worked on campaigns in both Carolinas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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