Now that Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina has polished his credentials with the Republican right by recklessly rejecting $700 million in federal education stimulus money, we keep hoping he will change his mind and put the needs of his recession-ravaged state ahead of his political ambitions. It will be up to more responsible political leaders to act if Mr. Sanford sticks by his disastrous choice, which would drive an already depressed state economy deeper into a hole and place even more South Carolinians at risk of losing their homes.