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Gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen says he wants to wait for all the evidence to come in before making a decision on whether Gov. Mark Sanford should be impeached.The state senator did call for an end to the bickering between Sanford and the increasing number of state officials who want him gone.
“At some point, everyone needs to grow up and treat this like a serious matter instead of just back and forth calling each other names,” Sheheen said. He cited the comments between Sanford and state Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, as an example.
Thomas is investigating Sanford’s travel. Sanford says Thomas has singled him out and that past governors have spent far more on travel. Thomas said it was Sanford’s behavior that led to his investigation.
“I think, clearly, if the governor has committed any impeachable offenses – and there needs to be an investigation to determine that – then it’s appropriate for that to be determined in the General Assembly,” Sheheen said.
The Camden Democrat made a campaign stop at the Williams and Williams law firm in Orangeburg on Thursday.
One of his Democratic opponents in the race, attorney Dwight Drake, suggested earlier in the day that a group of the state’s constitutionally elected officers legally should remove Sanford on the grounds he can no longer effectively execute his duties.
“I think that’s a silly way to approach the problem,” said Sheheen, who believes such a move would cause more chaos.
Sheheen called on Sanford to resign after the governor admitted to leaving the state for nearly a week to visit his Argentine mistress.
Sheheen commented on the crowded governor’s race. At least five candidates have emerged from each political party to run for the state’s top office.
“I think people are ready for a different approach to state government. We’ve had the same old cliches for years. We’ve had a do-nothing government, frankly, for almost a decade,” he said.
Sheheen said as governor he would play an active role in recruiting businesses and revamp the state Department of Commerce.
In addition, he would focus on building jobs in areas like alternative energy sources and the medical profession.
He also advocates the cigarette tax that Sanford has vetoed numerous times. Sheheen said revenue from the tax could help small businesses and working South Carolinians have access to health care. He said money from a cigarette tax could be used to get matching funds for health care from the federal government.
“It’s probably cost us $2 billion in the past decade,” Sheheen said.
On the education front, he believes the state needs to find a way to fund school districts more equitably.
“We need to make sure a child’s opportunities aren’t based on where they live,” Sheheen said.
He also favors investing more in early childhood education and giving at-risk students more support to curb the dropout rate.
“It costs an awful lot more for the taxpayer to pay for the results of dropout than it does to keep that child from dropping out,” Sheheen said.
Sheheen is a married father of three boys and has a small law practice in Camden. He graduated from Clemson University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He has served in the state Senate for the past five years and in the House four years before that.
That’s “long enough to get extremely frustrated with the lack of progress in this state but not long enough to give up hope that we can’t really make a difference,” he said.
