Poll: Gov. Sanford's political fate
So it turns out that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was not, in fact, hunting wolverines in Alaska with at 12-gauge. Amid swirling rumors about his unexplained absence after he returned to the U.S., having spent Father's Day weekend in Buenos Aires, he admitted today to having an affair with a woman in Argentina. According to The State's Gina Smith, who broke the original story, the governor's whereabouts were unknown to his aids, who previously said they thought he was hiking in the Appalachian mountains. His wife, Jenny, told CNN Tuesday she didn't know where he was either: "I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children."
With his admission, Sanford followed Nevada senator John Ensign, pied-piper style, off the politically relevant cliff. Democrats are already taking swipes and calling for Sanford's resignation.
Sanford left last Thursday without leaving so much as a post-it note telling his aids where he went. While he denies intentionally deceiving his staff, he also described his own actions as "shrouding."
Wait, wait, since when was "shrouding" not the same as deceiving? Also, since when did trans-hemispheric e-mail conversations start leading to politically damaging physical relationships? It is one thing to need some vacation time -- don't we all -- but it is another to leave without telling anyone. As a governor, Sanford has given up the luxury to travel wherever he pleases without anyone knowing.
--Kevin Patra
Photo credit: Davis Turner / Getty Images
i hope he had fun....
Posted by: Timray | June 27, 2009 at 08:26 PM
His job and his personal life have nothing to do with each other. Lea
ve the man alone. I am sure there are skeletons in the closets of the ones who are sqwaking the loudest. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!
Posted by: Sherry Lanahan | June 25, 2009 at 05:24 AM
12 gauge. It always bothers me when others' snide remarks (however well-deserved) are misspelled.
Posted by: Adam | June 24, 2009 at 11:34 PM
The human mating instinct and its forms of expression - desire, love, affection, attachment - run deeper than a politician's promises, deeper even than vows made at the altar. This instinct is especially acute in men at midlife, when the ticking clock and the infertility of their female peers provide strong motivations for an adventurous romance. We can condemn the men who act on their instinct, yet how many of us owe our existence to the fact that an ancestor made love with someone he shouldn't have?
Posted by: Diego | June 24, 2009 at 07:44 PM
He's tax paid so was he using tax money for his trips to enjoy two parts of her anatomy? There should be a law making mistresses pay what adulterous husbands spend to reach them, house them? feed them,--as part of the husband's criminal conversion of common-property assets. The children should be allowed to take their mother's maiden name and not be stuck with his. he married so far up that it's no wonder he displays such low-class standards. We need more middle-aged women lawmakers.
Posted by: auradawnveirs | June 24, 2009 at 07:35 PM
Typical lies smeared on First Wives who helped husbands build their career. She married down;
Posted by: auradawnveirs | June 24, 2009 at 07:16 PM