Mark Sanford's Political Obituary

The Nation: Governor is the Latest to Join the Graveyard of 2012 GOP Presidential Hopefuls, But Don't Focus on his Affair

(The Nation)  This story was written by Paul Wachter.

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Add the name Mark Sanford to the ever-expanding list of politicians done in by extramarital dalliances. On June 24 the South Carolina governor and potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate resurfaced after a weeklong disappearance--during which his staff and family denied knowledge of his whereabouts--and announced that he had flown to Argentina to rendezvous with a woman with whom he had been having an affair. At the press conference, a shaken Sanford apologized for his indiscretion, though he acknowledged that his wife, Jenny, had known about the affair and that they had sought counseling. "I've spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina," he said. "I am committed to trying to get my heart right."

Sanford immediately resigned as chair of the Republican Governors Association, and a day later he pledged to reimburse the state for a government-funded trip he'd taken to Argentina in 2008. It remains unclear whether he will survive the mounting calls for his resignation, though it's almost certain the exposed infidelity has torpedoed any chance he might have had of attaining the Republican presidential nomination.

But if now is the time to write Sanford's political obituary, it would be a disservice to place so much emphasis on his affair. What brought Sanford to national prominence and prompted Republican National chair Michael Steele to anoint him as a rising star was the months-long, headline-grabbing campaign Sanford led to turn down portions of the Obama administration's stimulus funds. His stance played well among the fiscal conservatives who rallied behind the "tea party" protests this past spring, but many South Carolinians questioned the judgment of a governor who was willing to turn away money (jobs, really) designated for a state that desperately needs it and that boasts the nation's third-highest rate of unemployment. In order to establish his economic bona fides among conservatives, it seemed, Sanford was prepared to run his state's economy into the ground.

The showdown ended June 4, when the South Carolina Supreme Court ordered Sanford to apply for the disputed$700 million earmarked for his state. As questions mounted about the governor's absence, his staff initially said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail to recharge after the defeat. But if there is an irony to be found in Sanford's rambling public apology, it's not the standard tale of comeuppance. Rather, it's that he was finally asking South Carolinians for forgiveness--but for the wrong reasons.

Young, handsome and rich, Sanford swept into the House as part of the 1994 Republican revolution. A firm believer in the Contract With America--the party leadership's paean to limited government--he pledged to serve no more than three terms. Yet even by his own reckoning, his time in Congress was undistinguished. The Trust Committed to Me, an autobiographical account of his six years in Congress, is a strange political memoir--a masochist's chronicle of one legislative failure after another. In the fights over term limits (for), sugar subsidies (against), Congressional pay raises (against), Social Security reform (for) and the pork-laden highway bill (against), Sanford was always on the losing side--opposed not only by Democrats but often by his own party, which enjoyed a majority in both houses.

Among his former colleagues, Sanford's Congressional days are remembered for his public displays of frugality: he trimmed office staff, helped stop the daily delivery of ice to Congressional offices, slept on a futon in his office and showered at the House gym. "It was one gimmick to the next, and I never thought there was much substance to him," said House majority whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Until the recent stimulus kerfuffle, Sanford's years as governor had been most notable for public theatrics, as well. In May 2004, a day after the Republican-led House overrode 105 of Sanford's 106 budget vetoes, the governor carried two piglets into the Statehouse chambers to protest "pork-barrel spending." (That the pigs proceeded to defecate on the governor struck some miffed lawmakers as poetic justice.) The following year, he brought a horse and buggy to the Statehouse, saying it symbolized the state's "outdated" Constitution and ways of governance. At first, it looked like the governor's recent "disappearance" was yet another in his long resume of zany but harmless capers.

"Sanford's ideal for a perfect South Carolina would find the state with very limited government, no income taxes, limited roles for public education and little governmental involvement with job creation," wrote S.C. Statehouse Report publisher Andy Brack in 2005. In less dire economic times the governor's fiscal austerity resonated with many South Carolinians. But as the economy tanked, his style of governance, which can best be described as obstructionist, has proved costly.

One sunny morning in late April, I attended a job fair at Columbia's National Guard Armory, not far from the Statehouse. Hundreds of down-on-their-luck South Carolinians went from booth to booth discovering that for every company hiring--Verizon was looking for sales staff--there were others pitching training programs with no guarantee of a paycheck.

As he was leaving, I spoke with Gary Grimes, 55, who had been laid off seven months earlier from his job at Flextronics, a multinational manufacturing company with a plant in West Columbia. He and his wife, who had also recently lost her job, were scraping by on food stamps and unemployment insurance--insurance that Sanford had threatened in December to cut off unless the state agency that disbursed unemployment checks agreed to a new audit. (On January 1, just hours before the fund was to run out, Sanford capitulated and applied for a $146 million federal loan.) A lifelong Republican, Grimes was puzzled by Sanford's stance on the stimulus. "I know we'll have to pay the money back later, but at the same time, the state's hurting and we need the money," he said. "It looks like the governor's just playing politics."

I spent that afternoon in the observation balcony of the State Senate chambers alongside children from Greenville's Welcome Elementary School. The third graders were on a field trip, and they caused a brief commotion as they leaned over the railing to take photos. The august men below--there's not a single woman in the State Senate--were debating the 2009-10 appropriations bill. Tax revenue had plummeted; even though the $5.7 billion spending plan the Legislature passed included the $700 million in federal funds, it fell about $1 billion short of the previous year's plan.

Congress has mandated that the disputed $700 million--one-tenth of the total allocated for South Carolina under the $787 billion federal stimulus package, but the only part the governor believed was within his power to reject--be disbursed over two years for education and law enforcement. Sanford wanted to redirect the money to pay down state debt, and he stood prepared to see it go to other states even though South Carolinians would still have been on the hook to pay it back. "Going further into debt will not solve a problem that was created by too much debt," he said in a televised address defending his position.

But the governor's position was not a popular one in South Carolina. His approval rating had fallen to 40 percent by April, and other GOP lawmakers were questioning his priorities. South Carolina's AAA credit rating places it among states with the lowest general-obligation debt, and it is not unduly burdensome, said State Treasurer Converse Chellis. "If my house was burning down, I don't get in my car and drive to the bank to pay off the mortgage," added GOP State Senator Hugh Leatherman, chair of the budget-writing committee. "I try to put out the fire."

Leatherman's metaphor was apt, because South Carolina was going up in flames--literally. At the very moment the legislators were deliberating, the state's worst wildfire in more than thirty years was raging around Myrtle Beach. Months earlier, state forester Gene Kodama had warned that budget cuts at the Forestry Commission put the state "in a very vulnerable position," and now, at a moment of need, he was making do with fewer firefighters and creaky equipment. (More than $500,000 of the disputed stimulus money was allocated to the Forestry Commission, Sanford's critics were quick to point out.)

[uuforyou]

If sanford does not resign, how can he ride the IQUITAROD dogsled race to Argentina? Oh, yeh, he just leaves when he wants to.....

[timothyjo]

some dum a ss republician had to go back 60years to to find as many demos who have cheated to match # of loser republician who have cheated in this month alone LOL

[xlib]

rushlimpdrug-and what did spitzer do for his kids and wife? Hey, sanford should change parties, team up with spitzer and get back in the game.
Sounds good to me.

[skyk-2009]

What does Spitzer have to do with this? He RESIGNED! He was a MAN about it.. this slime dog wants his mistress and his job!! "Family Values" my behind!!

[didserve]

stick a fork in the republicans they are done...

[snowylynne]

He needs to dissapate.........

[John_Merritt]

Well, his political obituary may be written, but somehow, I feel he still has life in him. Any man that would bare his soul like he has will be a far better person in the future. His greatest gifts may not be in politics, but it could finally emerge as a father or other business leader.

Moral of this story: To completely heal from within, sometimes it requires bleeding, pain, scarring and purging of the source of our discomfort; before we can become whole again.

[rushlimpdrug]

Wonder what this jack_ss will do for an encore when next year's
Father's Day "comes" along.
1. Will he chose to be with his four sons and wife?
2. Will he chose to be with the foreign wh_re?
3. Will he take up with another wh_re?
4. Will he go hiking?
. . let's stay tuned . .

[ubrew12]

And sometimes healing needs Argentina

[ramos1129]

Sanford needs to apologize to President Clinton in a public forum and in private. While Sanford was in the House, he very agressively attacked Clinton over the Lewsinsky affair and demanded Clinton's resignation. His actions are hypocirtical and by his own standards, he needs to resign the Govenorship.

[xlib]

Again, rewriting history there libtard. Your bubba was impeached because he lied under oath. Even though your NY Times ran a story about what a great liar the guy was and wonderful it was, he still lied under oath.
Want me to explain the meaning of "is" to you?

[skyk-2009]

No xlib, Clinton was involved in a Witch hunt by the Party of Family Values. The Investigation was SUPPOSED to be about a Land Deal but when the fanatics couldn't find anything there they jumped into his PERSONAL LIFE. Now relax and enjoy the ride because Pay Back Time is HERE!!

[walt1944]

Ain't POLITICS in the USA WONDERFUL???????????

After all, in STILL-RED China, Sanford would have been SHOT!!!

But we couldn't have that happen here! Our fellow politicians just ignore the entire thing ever happened, like with David Vitter, and Larry Craig, and Tom DeLay!!!

HAIL OBAMA?????

[xlib]

Would spitzer have been shot? How about JFK, RFK and teddy? Would they have been shot? Would mcgreevy also be shot? See, you people hardly have a right to throw anything, let alone stones. All these guys on both sides are slime balls. The difference, we ask and demand ours step down. This idiot, sanford, is playing an democrat and not stepping down. See the difference.
As for all the talk about "family values, etc,etc" ya know, I hear more of that being spewed at the right from the left.

[skyk-2009]

xlib, why would you ask that? I never heard any democrat say the party or their candidates were the Family Values Candidates. I guess these creatures LYING to voters, saying such actions are wrong and people who do such things should NOT be in public office, all the while DOING that and worse, doesn't bother you... but then what does? The Fringe Right has NO standards and now everyone knows it. You folks are just into this for control over OTHER people and you will buy Snake Oil by the Gallon from these Politicians. Me? I want them to worry about the condition of the nation in the world and the economy. I'll take care of MY families values!

[omnibus66]

I worked for a government agency for a few years, and it was made abundantly clear to me that any misuse of funds would lead to immediate dismissal and criminal prosecution. My only question is why is this idiot not in jail?

[rushlimpdrug]

You are absolutely correct.
There should be an investigation of phone records from the
gov's office.
It is clear he has broken the law and both parties are turning
a blind's eye making the state look like a joke with the wh_re.

[mejordelahistoria]

stanford and palin would be excellent for the republican party's next presidential ticket, one is an adulterer fornicator who cheats on his wife and the other is a single mom, divorced, no man to stand behind and mother of a fornicating out of wedlock daughter. I guess this is the best the party of family values and apple pie can bring to the table.

[justsane-2009]

palin is a single mom? hello? pull your head out and pay attention numbnutz...

[xlib]

Wow, talk about judgmental. My, my, this from a lib.
Say, how about spitzer/edwards?? Sounds good to me. One was THE CRUSADER for New York state who was going to clean up politics in New York. He made punishment for johns stricter,etc,etc. The other, self professed good guy cheats on his dying wife. Great teams, all the way around.
And, I love the way you throw the kids in your mix. Nice job libtard.

[skyk-2009]

Oh xlib you in the Fringe Right haven't seen anything yet. With the Swift Boat Ad's and all the rest of the Rove History put together with this Air Heads attacks on the President about him being Pals with a Traitor and all the while SHE was married to one? LOL I can't wait!! PLEASE OH PLEASE put her out there!!

[tlwalker4]

Your comment doesn't make a whole of sense. It appears to be just vitriolic sounding off. It is also hard to take your criticism seriously when you label Palin as a single mom. Where have you been?

Also, why can't people in this country be adult enough to lay off the children? It is no sign of maturity to attack someone else's child. In fact, attacking children is fairly indicative of a person who has no real argument on his or her side, and is no better than those small minded gossip mongers most of us detest in the workplace. Palin's daughter made a bad mistake. Although I would say that the one positive that came from this is that Palin now has a sweet little grandchild. Many other peoples' daughters have made the same mistake. That does not mean these younsters--who, after all, do not have an adult's perspective--are bad people, or sleazy, or anything else. Young people and children are just that, and they make decisions based on their age level and maturity.

If you, or anyone else, want to attack Sanford, or Palin, or Obama, or Clinton, or any other politician (however petty and silly your criticism may be), then be my guest. They knew what was probably going to be thrown at them when they ran for office. But--leave their children alone. To attack children is the sign of a very small mind combined with a very small character.

[bpai99]

I think one subtext of the Mark Sanford story is how gender roles played a part in the direction of the couple's professional lives after they got married.

His wife, Jenny, had a more impressive career going up to the point where the 2 of them met, then she gave it up to concentrate on raising her children while he went into politics.

Like Silda Spitzer, Jenny Sanford was more impressive and accomplished, superior in every way to the man she married, but because she was a woman the husband was the one who got to pursue his professional ambitions, not the wife.

[ubrew12]

Good points.

[pvperson3]

Sanford is a slime, but if his wife wants to keep him, well that's her misstate and business. But, his refusal to accept the money was self publicizing and grandstanding to the GOP base, plain and simple, then his disappearance to visit his mistress was the icing on the cake. THIS MORON NEEDS TO GO!

[imnho]

It sounds like the gonvernor fiddled in argentina while the state forests burned.