SC Governor Says He’s Not Running For President

ABC’s Jake Whitman Reports:  Gov. Mark Stanford of South Carolina has said he’s not running for President, but he can’t seem to escape speculation in his state that he’s eyeing a run for the 2008 Republican nomination.

This morning an article in The State, South Carolina’s major newspaper, puts more of the speculation in writing.

In the story, Stanford calls any talk of him becoming a late entry to the ’08 race, "stupid."

But reporter Aaron Gould Sheinin outlines a number of recent moves by Stanford, moves Sheinin calls "circumstantial evidence" too difficult to ignore.

Sheinin includes Stanford’s recent comment that no current Republican candidate has a lock on the nomination, his refusal to rule out a vice presidential run and his recent speeches before conservative groups as evidence the governor would like to enter the race.

But Stanford still maintains a run is not in the works. 

“If you’re running for president, you have to be doing real (campaign) stuff today — not in six months, not in a year, today,” Sanford told the paper. “So what is so ridiculous about this is I’m not doing those things that you’ve got to do. And so that’s why it’s indeed a bizarre and silly story.”