BRACK: Maybe now it will be a great day in South Carolina

A look at Henry McMaster as governor

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  The Palmetto State is still rocking from this week’s earthquake announcement that S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley will leave office to be the country’s ambassador to the United Nations in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

The immediate impact will be for Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, one of the nation’s first state officials to endorse Trump, to get his dream job as governor, something he’s wanted for years.  For the Palmetto State, McMaster’s rise likely will mean a kinder, gentler governor who will work better with the state legislature.

Haley, like predecessor Mark Sanford, has generally had a strained relationship with the General Assembly, despite its control by fellow Republicans.  They’ve knocked heads over income tax rates, restructuring, ethics and reform, the funding of educational television and dozens of minor skirmishes over whether to keep or veto spending sought by lawmakers.

To her credit after her 2010 election, Haley focused like a laser beam on more jobs for South Carolina.  Thanks in part to federal stimulus strategies to revive the economy, unemployment went down throughout the country.  But Haley’s embrace of economic development helped too.  She also deserves part of the credit for success in removing the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds, even though it came in her second term after tragedies.

True believers see Haley as a transformational governor with natural leadership skills that allowed her to master back-to-back crises of the state’s 2015 flood and 2016 hurricane.  Opponents see her as a thin-skinned, ambitious political zealot with an eye on a more prominent national role.

Nevertheless after confirmation by the U.S. Senate – likely around March 2017 – Haley will be off to the big city, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for new great days of being absorbed in federal politics and the often mundane, less flashy work of the United Nations.

Leadership attention will shift to McMaster, a longtime political pro who has served as U.S. attorney, state Republican Party chair and state attorney general.  To get an idea of what his gubernatorial administration might be like, all you have to do is turn to his 2010 race for governor, where he came in third to Haley in the GOP primary.

“The [governor’s] race is not about individuals,” he said in June 2010.  “The race is about this state.  This is the finest place in the world…

“And the most important thing is for the politicians to put the interests of the state and her  people over their own self-interests, their own political short-term interests, and do the right thing for the future of this state.”

During that governor’s campaign, in which he endorsed Haley before a runoff, the now-69-year-old McMaster promoted the state’s assets, such as its geography, technical training system, research universities and business leadership.

More importantly, he urged long-term thinking and development of a unified, strategic plan for South Carolina – something that has been sorely missing in state government for the last 14 years.  If McMaster can get the General Assembly working together in a constructive, focused way to deal with a plethora of tough issues, he’ll be a breath of fresh air.

“We’ve got to think big,” he said when he opened his campaign headquarters in March 2010.  “There’s no power in a small idea.”

In the months ahead when McMaster becomes governor, you can also look for this establishment politician to push traditional conservative issues, such as lower taxes – but perhaps in a strategic way that looks at comprehensive reform, not just a bandage here, a splint there.

He’ll also likely keep most of Haley’s senior leadership team at agencies, continue the focus on growing jobs and the work for creation of wealth across the state.

And if McMaster can build a collaborative spirit among state agencies and the General Assembly, we may be able to tackle billion-dollar issues that have crushed past legislatures – better funding for crumbling roads and bridges; more money for better education, particularly in rural areas; a cash-strapped state pension system; and better health care access for all.

Henry McMaster won’t be all things to all people, but he may bring a new sense of urgency and collegial leadership to a General Assembly that has grappled with her recent governors more than worked with them.

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