June 25, 2009 1:43 PM
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Washington Unplugged: The Sanford Fallout
Even after yesterday's emotional press conference, "there's still a lot of questions left out on the table" about Mark Sanford's current situation, Politico's Andy Barr told CBS' Nancy Cordes on Thursday's installment of "Washington Unplugged."
Among them are whether the South Carolina governor's trips to Argentina were properly paid for, the nature of the governor's interactions with his staff, and the role of Sanford's political opponents in pushing the story prior to the press conference.
The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe, quoting a South Carolina political columnist, said what happens now rest on the shoulders of Sanford's wife, Jenny.
"How quickly she forgives him, if she forgives him at all, is really where this all goes," he said. "It will determine whether or not he can continue as governor, because frankly the state probably won't have much confidence in him if his wife didn't."
Cordes pointed out that some politicians, such as San Francisco's Gavin Newsom, have managed to survive sex scandals (in Newsom's case, an affair with an aide), and asked if Sanford could do so as well.
O'Keefe said an affair becomes a disqualifier for a politician "when you so miserably explain yourself to your staff, your family, the press and the public in the way he did yesterday."
He acknowledged that 2012 is still far away and that Sanford could still turn things around.
"I would be shocked, however, if a Southern governor goes into early primary states and is able to convince people that besides the fact that I went missing for a week and didn't tell anyone where I was, you can still trust me to be president."
Barr noted that Sanford is very well known in the political community and among the "tea party" crowd, but for many people nationally the scandal will be their first exposure to him.
"The first thing they're going to know about Governor Sanford is this kind of weird series of events," he said. "…the just weirdness of this whole episode is really going to stick with people."
Watch the entire installment of Thursday's "Washington Unplugged" above.
Among them are whether the South Carolina governor's trips to Argentina were properly paid for, the nature of the governor's interactions with his staff, and the role of Sanford's political opponents in pushing the story prior to the press conference.
The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe, quoting a South Carolina political columnist, said what happens now rest on the shoulders of Sanford's wife, Jenny.
"How quickly she forgives him, if she forgives him at all, is really where this all goes," he said. "It will determine whether or not he can continue as governor, because frankly the state probably won't have much confidence in him if his wife didn't."
Cordes pointed out that some politicians, such as San Francisco's Gavin Newsom, have managed to survive sex scandals (in Newsom's case, an affair with an aide), and asked if Sanford could do so as well.
O'Keefe said an affair becomes a disqualifier for a politician "when you so miserably explain yourself to your staff, your family, the press and the public in the way he did yesterday."
He acknowledged that 2012 is still far away and that Sanford could still turn things around.
"I would be shocked, however, if a Southern governor goes into early primary states and is able to convince people that besides the fact that I went missing for a week and didn't tell anyone where I was, you can still trust me to be president."
Barr noted that Sanford is very well known in the political community and among the "tea party" crowd, but for many people nationally the scandal will be their first exposure to him.
"The first thing they're going to know about Governor Sanford is this kind of weird series of events," he said. "…the just weirdness of this whole episode is really going to stick with people."
Watch the entire installment of Thursday's "Washington Unplugged" above.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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