Exclusive: McConnell Blasts Sanford

The war of words between Republican leaders escalated to an all-time high today, as S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell addressed rumors of his alleged involvement in a scheme to suppress conservative power in the Senate by pointing an accusatory finger at Gov. Mark Sanford.

“Whoever concocted this idea has an imagination greater than the writers of Star Wars,” McConnell said. “This is fantasy land, someone deliberately trying to stir up dissention in our ranks. It smacks to me of daydreaming and imagination in the Governor’s Office.”

According to our report this morning, sources have accused McConnell, State Sen. Harvey Peeler and State Sen. Hugh Leatherman of plotting to shift the balance of power in the Senate by changing the rules governing committee chairmanships.

These sources claim that a move is underway to strip several conservative Republicans of their committee chairmanships (and send a group of incoming conservatives to the back of the line) by shifting the chamber from its current party-based system of chairmanships to one based on seniority.

If successful, this shift would mean Democrats would inherit control of at least four committees.

McConnell bristled at the theory, saying that there would be “minor, technical alterations” to the Senate rules for the coming year, but “as far as committee chairmanships are concerned, there will not be any changes.”

He also pointed out that on the first day of session, a simple majority in the Senate (24 votes) can change the rules, not the two-thirds majority (31 votes) that was outlined in our story.

McConnell acknowledged that it was possible for a “corrupt bargain” along the lines of what we discussed to occur after the first day of the upcoming session, but he pointed out that it would be foolish of the alleged conspirators not to make the shift on the first day – when all they would need is a simple majority.

“The danger would be on the first day,” McConnell said.

McConnell added that the rumors he has heard all summer focused on “an effort by the Sanford group to change the rules to depose Leatherman.”

Our original sources – who stand by their assertions – are not affiliated with Sanford’s office, but that didn’t stop McConnell from taking out his verbal bat and delivering some of the harshest whacks against the governor that we’ve heard in a long time.

“They’re very imaginative down there,” McConnell said of the Governor’s Office. “They always come out with these plots and excuses to explain why they haven’t gotten anything done. They seem more intent on allegations and attacks against Republicans than getting votes for what they want accomplished.”

“They think they can prosper through turmoil,” he added. “Well I can tell them there will be no turmoil.”

McConnell wasn’t the only one pointing fingers at Sanford, but he was by far the most vocal – using the opportunity afforded by the “Moving Chairs” story to weigh in on a relationship between the two men that appears to have reached its nadir.

“I’ll just say I’m very disappointed in him,” McConnell said. “I think he hurts the Republican Party in this state. He creates such ill will because he just doesn’t understand that if you want to get something done you try to get votes, you don’t try to scare them off.”

McConnell pointed to the debate over immigration reform during the last session as a key turning point in his relationship with Sanford.

“He told me what he wanted to see in an immigration bill and I went out and I got him every single one of those things from the Senate,” McConnell said. “Then within twenty minutes, he holds a press conference calling us cowards and saying we lacked the courage of our convictions.”

“I’ve never had the rug pulled out from under me like that in my life,” McConnell added, saying that his relationship with Sanford has been “coolly cordial” ever since.

“He’s a weather vane,” McConnell said of Sanford. “Whichever way the wind blows is where he goes. He did it on immigration and he’ll do it again on the energy debate, just watch and see.”

Sanford’s office – which, again, was not affiliated with the sources we spoke with for our original story – chose not to engage the rumors of power plays in the Senate, but did have plenty to say about McConnell’s comments.

“There’s an old saying that a hit dog hollers, and Senator McConnell has been doing a lot of yelping lately,” said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer. “It’s no secret that the Senate has been the graveyard for many of the reforms we’ve gotten through the House. It’s funny that Senator McConnell would bring that up, because one could certainly argue there’s been a failure to advance conservative ideas in the Senate, given things like our longstanding budget battles with people such as the Chairman of Senate Finance.

“There’s a growing disconnect between some in leadership and the sentiments of younger members – and most certainly the taxpayers – given the ramp up in government spending of 40 percent over the past few years,” Sawyer added.