Giuliani-Sanford In ‘08?

WE DON’T THINK SO, EITHER, BUT THE RUMOR JUST WON’T GO AWAY

FITSNews – August 6, 2007 – S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford will endorse former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani sixty days prior to the South Carolina GOP primary in exchange for the Vice-Presidential slot on Hizzoner’s national ticket … or so goes a rumor that’s been floating around Palmetto political circles for several months now.

We only briefly mentioned this rumor when we first heard it because it seemed so far-fetched (editor’s note: still does), but on recent visits to New York City and Washington D.C. we found it gaining significant traction among several national-level politicos.

Sanford, who has been about as subtle as a charging elephant in his desire to be on anybody and everybody’s VP shortlist, is clearly more connected to Giuliani than he is to any of the other 2008 Republican candidates. In addition to sending two of his former staffers (Deputy Chief of Staff Jason Miller and Speechwriter Braden Bunch) over to Team Rudy, the current governor’s staff also seems to be quite smitten with America’s Mayor, often at the expense of his Republican presidential rivals.

So is Sanford VP material?

Ironically, if you ask a lot of the S.C. Republicans who’ve been feuding with him over the past five years they’ll tell you ‘Yes’ without hesitation. Of course in the very next breath they’ll tell you they’re just saying that because they want to get him out of the state as soon as possible.

Sanford’s drawbacks are significant – he has no accomplishments, South Carolina has few electoral votes to offer a Presidential candidate and his own personal vetting issues could put the kibosh on a potential candidacy before it even got off the ground.

On top of that, the ideal VP candidate is a well-disciplined pit bull, but Sanford is notoriously undisciplined and has always been hesitant to throw political punches.

Also, Giuliani would probably need a fire-breathing social conservative to mollify the base in the event he wins the GOP nod, which Sanford clearly is not.

For these and many other reasons, we dismissed this rumor a long time ago. But instead of going the way of New Coke in the intervening months, it has actually wafted its way up into some pretty influential backrooms both in our nation’s capital and its leading financial center.

Sanford endorsed U.S. Sen. John McCain early and aggressively in 2000, and at one point is rumored to have told the Arizona Senator that he would “be there for (McCain) when the time was right” this go-round.

We asked McCain back in April if Sanford had indeed promised to endorse him at some point during this campaign, and he told us that he didn’t remember the governor ever saying such a thing.

Tell us what you think …

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