Gov. Sanford: God Will Make Me Better

(AP)  Gov. Mark Sanford, still clinging to office after admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released Sunday that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a more humble and effective leader.

"(W)hile none of us has the chance to attend our own funeral, in many ways I feel like I was at my own in the past weeks, and surprisingly I am thankful for the perspective it has afforded," Sanford wrote in the opinion piece widely published online Sunday by South Carolina newspapers (including the Greenville News).

Sanford, a two-term Republican who was a rumored presidential contender, returned from a mysterious, nearly weeklong disappearance last month to reveal a romance with a longtime friend in Argentina. In a series of Associated Press interviews, he described the woman as his "soul mate" but said he would work to repair his relationship with his wife, Jenny, the mother of their four sons.

Some lawmakers have called for Sanford to resign, and one state senator plans hearings on whether state money was used to facilitate the trysts. A criminal probe found nothing illegal.

Sanford and his wife left the state earlier this week for an undisclosed location and are expected to return Sunday evening, spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

In the essay, Sanford vows to work with lawmakers he's long fought and cites scripture and his faith in God - just as he's done in his few public appearances since admitting the affair.

"It's in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience to both trust God in his larger work of changing me, and from my end, to work to becoming a better and more effective leader," he wrote.

The promise comes as the term-limited governor approaches his final legislative session. Even before the scandal, he admitted the session would offer him little chance of success in pushing a small-government agenda that sought to give his office more authority. The possibility of a White House run in 2012 has all but disappeared.

Sanford's infidelity admission late last month spelled more trouble for the out-of-power Republican Party as it looks to rebound against the popular President Barack Obama and his emboldened Democrats. The episode has been another distraction for a party seeking a turnaround after disastrous losses in consecutive national elections as it struggles to identify a leader of stature to guide the party back to power.
By Associated Press Writer Seanna Adcox

[ladd09]

If this man was capable of doing what he did to his Wife and his Sons, would you trust him to show you Mercy if you did something wrong in his State?

[Joe_NY_15]

What did he 'do' to his wife and kids ?? you mean taking a couple days to visit an argentinian lady....that's what he 'did' and last time I checked, democrats said it was his personal and private business (ie: clinton)

[ladd09]

My statement is directed at anyone who would do this Joe.

[ladd09]

Also, a chain gang would be poetic justice. As the Prison Guard in "Cool Hand Luke Said, We gonna get yo mind right!"

[ladd09]

Here's the BIG difference between a Governor and a mere mortal; A Governor has the authority to send people to Prison and even to their Grave...The question here is, can a person with Gov. Sanfords judgement be trusted with this authority??? I remember what the Warden did in the end in the "Shawshank Redemption" As far as I am concerned, he would be getting off easy if the Good People of South Carolina ran him out of Town on a Rail...

[ladd09]

It's Time For Larry the Cable Guy!

[CLoverNYC1]

Forgive me for being a bit crass, but the reality is that God couldn't make him stop porking that Argentine woman, so how does he figure God is going to make him better?

This is Sanford's song of woe because he got caught. It's all about losing his constituency and his bid for the presidency, nothing more.

Another weak man brought down because he followed his gonads. Next.

[ladd09]

He was thinking with his dipstick, JIMMY!

[ladd09]

I wonder if Jeff Foxworthy is conjurin a little somthin, somethin bout the good Guvnha?

[psk123-2009]

If a spouse strays outside the marriage, it is not the fault of the one being "cheated" on. It is the fault of the cheater for not having the character and personal strength to stick to their vows. Remember that one? "Keeping unto each other so long as you both shall life?" While we are on that topic, wasn't this same Gov. one who was all on about the "sanctity of marriage?" You know, keeping it between ONE man and ONE woman. Or is that only for you know, the "other" people? By "other", he means the rest of us and not himself.

The rules of Christianity apply to all who profess to be Christian. Being "saved" is not a free get out of jail card that allows for any sin you wish to commit as long as you ask to be forgiven later.

I've little use for or tolerance of CINOs (Christian In Name Only) and this man is obviously one of them. He beat his chest about having a higher morality than anyone else, the waved his bible around quoting and preaching its contents about how others should live. Yet does not follow his own words. I for one and disgusted. His whole crocodile tears on the news every chance he gets is garbage through and through, he means not a word of it.

[ladd09]

JERRY, JERRY, JERRY!!!

[hamiltongrad]

June 18 1969, was 40 years ago, for that other tragedy. Ted, TIME TO TALK.

[hamiltongrad]

I am not blaming TED, but we need closure, Dialogue and Understanding. We need to MOVE ON, and so...CBS, one last interview, in depth, with tears and tenderness, before it is too late. For the Senator who proclaimed that the Surge would not work, and that the elections were "bogus" in IRAQ, we need to know, what was he thinking ? his whole life.