By Mike Fitts
mfitts@scbiznews.com
Published Aug. 26, 2009

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer pledged Wednesday not to seek a full term as governor if he is elevated to the post within the next month.

In a Statehouse news conference, Bauer said too many leaders had declined to take the appropriate step of seeking Gov. Mark Sanford’s resignation because it would be a political boost to Bauer. His offer Wednesday is intended to get the state past that, he said, and on to the confronting of problems such as the economy, health care and education.

“If, during the next month, I am called upon, I pledge to devote the hardest-working year of my life to solving these problems, free from any re-election campaign or other distraction,” Bauer said. “If not, of course, I will go forward with my plans to announce my official candidacy this fall.”

Bauer previously refrained from calling on leaders to seek Sanford’s resignation, but he said that the governor’s controversies had made him unable to lead.

“The best interests of the people can no longer be served with the current administration,” Bauer said. “The serious misconduct that has already been revealed, along with lingering questions and continuing distractions, make it virtually impossible for our state to solve the critical problems we are facing without a change of leadership.”

Bauer emphasized that he hoped Sanford would either resign or be removed from office in the fall, before the 2010 legislative and political season begins. He said his offer would be applicable for about a month, when he expects to launch his long-expected gubernatorial campaign.

Sanford refused Bauer’s offer this afternoon, saying to do so would let negative political attacks run him out of office, thereby weakening the governorship.

He has refused calls to resign ever since he disclosed his extramarital affair with an Argentine woman on June 24. His office had no immediate response to Bauer’s announcement.

“I’m not going to be railroaded out of office by political opponents,” Sanford said today.

The governor said that letting Bauer take over would be “a relief” personally from the stress of the office.

“It would represent heaven on earth to take him up on that offer,” Sanford said.

But he said he expects to be cleared of accusations that he has abused state travel dollars.

“When measured up against past administrations, the facts show that we have done a better job on this,” Sanford wrote in his reply to Bauer.

South Carolinians are ready to move past his personal failings and the resulting attacks on him, Sanford said, but political opponents and the media have not let the story go.

Sanford said he hopes that — now that his own political career clearly ends in 16 months — issues such as government restructuring can be advanced without causing speculation about his ambitions.

Bauer’s public call comes as talk around the Statehouse has increasingly turned toward impeachment. Two House members considered to be Sanford allies, Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, and Gary Simrill, R-York, told media outlets that they met with the governor Tuesday to urge him to step down. Sanford still seemed unmoved, they said.

Other House members have spoken publicly about an impeachment investigation, with House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Harrison saying a bill could be raised in his committee and passed out to the House floor. Impeachment is expected to be the major topic at a gathering of House lawmakers this weekend in Myrtle Beach.

The State Ethics Commission is looking into the governor’s use of state and private aircraft in the wake of an Associated Press investigation. Stories by the AP have asserted that Sanford used state planes for private travel and did not report his use of private aircraft for travel, as required by law.