All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford said in a pair of interviews this week that he will not succumb to intensifying pressure to resign as a result of an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman revealed earlier this year.

Sanford, who described his current state of mind as "Zen-like," told the Wall Street Journal that his critics now "smell blood in the water." But he rejected the notion that he should "crawl into a cave" and step down, an action advocated by 50 percent of his constituents, according to a recent InsiderAdvantage poll.

Republicans in the South Carolina House say they have the votes necessary to impeach Sanford when they reconvene in January, and the Journal reports that many of his strongest allies have called for his resignation over the past week. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is among those who have called for Sanford to step down.

Sanford also spoke to the Washington Times, where he insisted that God wants him to fight on. He told the paper his experience has been like that of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has faced what he considers baseless criticisms.

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The most recent Democrat to jump into the 2010 South Carolina gubernatorial race is calling on the state legislature to immediately remove Gov. Mark Sanford from office -- and he is using a bit of humor to do so.

Democrat Dwight Drake released a Web video on Friday called "500 Days of Sanford" -- a play on the summer film "(500) Days of Summer." It also pokes fun at Sanford's extra-marital affair -- the source of the governor's political troubles -- which Sanford described as a "love story."

"This is not a love story," says a narrator in the video, which is formatted like a movie trailer. "It's a story about a governor's last year and half in office. Five hundred days left. Of uncertainty, of wondering where he is... of more lay-offs, of no new jobs, of less education funding... 500 days of doing nothing on the economy, of wasting taxpayer money, of embarrassment."

The video urges viewers to sign a petition to bring Sanford's term to an end.

Last week, Drake called on state officials to immediately remove Sanford from office using their state constitutional powers.

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Jenny Sanford loved helping her husband South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford run his political campaigns, she reveals in a new interview -- but the strain it put on their marriage prompted her to secretly wish for his career to stay within certain confines.

"Campaigns are exhilarating because all sorts of people come out of the woodwork to help," Sanford tells Vogue magazine.

"Nevertheless," Vogue writes, "when her husband was on the short list to be John McCain's running mate, Sanford silently prayed it would not come to pass. Life in the fishbowl that is the governor's mansion has not always been easy for her or her children."

That life became much more difficult after Mark Sanford admitted in June to having an extramarital affair. Since then, Jenny Sanford and the couple's four sons have moved out of the governor's mansion in Columbia to the family home on Sullivan's Island.

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South Carolina's attorney general is reportedly requesting an investigation into whether Gov. Mark Sanford violated state ethics laws through his use of state planes, or by other means.

State Attorney General Henry McMaster sent a letter Thursday to Herb Hayden, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, according to the Associated Press.

"This is to request the South Carolina Ethics Commission to investigate these allegations involving the use of state planes and any other potential violations of the State Ethics Act," McMaster wrote, the AP reports.

The request follows a report from the AP that Sanford used state planes for personal travel, in violation of state budget law. Additionally, a probe by the state legislature showed that Sanford broke state law by using taxpayer dollars for business and first-class commercial flights, rather than more economical flights.

In an op-ed published in local newspapers on Thursday, Sanford said the accusations took his use of state planes out of context and that he actually used the state plane less than previous governors did.

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South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford won't be facing disciplinary measures from the U.S. Air Force Reserve, the Greenville News reports.

Sanford, a captain in the Reserve, could have been reprimanded over his heavily publicized extramarital affair with an Argentine woman. As the Greenville News reports, adultery is punishable under military code.

Air Force Reserve Command spokesperson Cliff Tyler said the Reserve "looked at all the facts and they looked at the circumstances and the decision was made as a command not to take any action against him.”

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said he had no comment on the decision. He told the newspaper that the governor is "looking forward, not backward."

Sanford joined the Air Force Reserves in 2002.

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Congress continues wrestling with health care legislation...

**Quiet day for President Obama... no public events on his schedule...

**Sotomayor hearings wrap up...

**Administration on defense over economic stimulus...

**Frugal Sanford not so frugal, it seems...

HEALTH CARE: "Up one day. Down the next. Sometimes legislation to remake the nation's health care system moves in both directions at once," writes the Associated Press' David Espo.

"President Barack Obama's top domestic priority is on an unpredictable, midsummer trajectory as the White House and Democrats struggle to bring the complex, controversial issue to a vote in both houses before lawmakers leave town for their August break.

"For a brief moment Thursday, Senate Democrats could celebrate," adds Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown.

"Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus suggested for the first time publicly he was hoping for a bipartisan deal to pay for health care reform by the end of the day. The good feelings didn't last long.

"Within hours, Baucus (D-Mont.) said the talks were suspended until next week — defying President Barack Obama's request to produce an agreement by the weekend and throwing into doubt any hopes of meeting the president's August deadline to pass a Senate bill.

"That wasn't the only grim news for health reform advocates. Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf said plans being considered in the House and the Senate health committee would drive the nation further into debt — not create the savings repeatedly promised by President Barack Obama.

"And on top of that, Baucus had to call the White House and apologize for saying earlier in the day that Obama's resistance to taxing employer health benefits 'is not helping us' get a bill."

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Day 2: President Obama in Russia...

**Palin explains herself...

**Obama adviser says a second stimulus package should be considered...

**Sanford censured by S.C. GOP...

**Franken to be sworn in today...

PRESIDENT OBAMA IN RUSSIA: "President Barack Obama, working to drastically reshape U.S. relations with a skeptical Russia, said Tuesday the two countries are not 'destined to be antagonists," reports the Associated Press' Ben Feller.

"'The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game,' Obama said, speaking in the Russian capital to graduates of the New Economic School but also hoping to reach the whole nation. 'Progress must be shared.' Obama used his speech to further define his view of the United States' place in the world and, specifically, to argue that his country shares compelling interests with Russia. 'Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia,' he declared.

"Obama's upbeat comments came on the second day of his summit in Russia, where polls show people are wary of the United States and taking a skeptical measure of Obama himself. Earlier Tuesday, Obama held private breakfast talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Putin's country home outside Moscow. The atmosphere seemed cordial, and both voiced hope for improved relations between Washington and Moscow."

Mr. Obama sat down with CBS News' Chip Reid in Moscow this morning and described Putin as "smart, tough, shrewd… he is unsentimental."

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South Carolina's top Republicans voted overwhelmingly to censure Gov. Mark Sanford – who admitted to a lengthy affair with an Argentine woman – but fell well short of calling for his resignation.

The state's GOP executive committee met for about three hours Monday. Twenty-two members supported the censure. Ten voted to call for his resignation and nine others voted against any reprimand.

In a statement, Sanford says he appreciates the party's position and will continue to work to earn back its trust, the Associated Press reported.

The governor has said repeatedly that he will serve his remaining 18 months in office.

Some members of the state's Republican party reportedly do not want Sanford to resign because they wish to compete for the governor's mansion in 2011 and the state's current lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer, might have an advantage in running for reelection as the incumbent governor.

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBSNews.com Politics Editor Kevin Hechtkopf:

**Obama to discuss jobs amid new employment report

**Major operation underway in Afghanistan

**Exclusive new Sarah Palin e-mails revealed

**The latest on Gov. Mark Sanford

President Obama Today: Before heading to Camp David for the holiday weekend late this afternoon, President Obama will meet with company leaders that are "creating jobs even in this tough economic environment," according to the White House. Following the meeting, Mr. Obama will deliver remarks about innovation and jobs in the Rose Garden.

Mr. Obama's remarks come as government reports this morning that 467,000 jobs were lost in June, which is more than what was expected. The unemployment rate was tagged at 9.5 percent, a 26-year high.

"The pace of job losses quickened in June after slowing just a month earlier, casting a shadow over the Obama administration's attempts to stanch months of declines in the labor market," writes The New York Times' Jack Healy.

"Economists said a decline of 322,000 jobs in May had raised expectations that the market was bottoming out as the economy struggled to right itself, but the numbers on Friday dashed some of those hopes. The figures also raised questions about whether the Obama administration, which has already passed a $787 billion stimulus plan, needed to step in again to shore up the American worker. …

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After a revealing interview with the Associated Press Tuesday, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is facing tougher critics than ever.

On Wednesday, word came that 12 of 27 state senators and six South Carolina newspapers are calling upon the governor to resign following his mysterious disappearance and revelations of adultery. Even the Greenville News revoked its statement supporting the governor after the interview.

"Gov. Mark Sanford should resign immediately and allow South Carolina to begin picking up the pieces. The two-term governor has destroyed any shred of credibility with his lies unnecessarily added on top of other lies. His ability to govern this state has been compromised so severely that he cannot fulfill the duties required of this state's governor until a successor takes the oath of office in January 2011," the paper wrote.

Seven U.S. senators, meanwile, issued a letter Tuesday demanding he leave office, The New York Daily News reports.

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