Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina, said he had conducted an extra-marital affair with a woman in Argentina, ending a mystery over his week-long disappearance that had infuriated lawmakers and seemed to put his rising political career in jeopardy. He apologized for the affair and the deception surrounding his trip in a rambling news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Governor Sanford, 49, admitted that he had been in Buenos Aires since Thursday, not hiking on the Appalachian Trail as his staff had said. In revealing an affair that had gone on for about a year – and which he had disclosed to his wife, Jenny, five months ago – he said: “This was selfishness on my part.”
Mr. Sanford announced on Wednesday that as a result, he was resigning his position as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. His term leading the state of South Carolina is set to go through 2011.
I’m speechless. Given the pack of lies Sanford and his staff have been perpetrating over the last week, who even knows what else is going on here.
UPDATE: Haley Barbour will take over the RGA. That’s actually a good thing for Republicans, as Barbour actually understands something about politics.
What a douchebag.
No, it was definitely another woman.
Disappearing from the state for nearly a week and lying about his whereabouts? Completely ridiculous and unacceptable. Clearly the man is not fit to serve.
Two “family values” Republicans, both considered potential presidential candidates, shooting themselves in the foot in two weeks.
Here’s hoping the Repubs go 3 for 3. Who will it be next week?
In fact, let’s hope they make it a weekly event.
was some reporter saying that after this presser comedians and late hight hosts who had been making jokes about sanford and south carolina would have whole different attitude about him (implying that they would lay off him out of respect for his family and pity for him).
WHAT?! Did they lay off of McGreevey after he admitted his affair? Spitzer? Haggard? Vitter? Come on, this is good sport and this pompous joke of a man deserves it.
is an evil, self serving, bigoted son of a bitch.
just wanted to get that off my chest…
that the affair lasted 8 years. And all the while espousing ‘traditional family values’. But…this may explain why he didnt want to take up such issues much…perhaps he didnt want to feel like a complete hypocrite. And 8 years ia very, very long time for an affair. I dont know how his wife can remain married to this guy or how the people of SC can possibly trust him.
Their rising star of a few years ago, Thomas Ravenel, turned out to be a crack-head (literally). Last election we talked about the idoicy of Congressman Henry Brown. Lindsey Graham has been followed by rumors of a “less than family values” lifestyle for a long time. The LG seems to be a smug little fucker who the Republicans don’t even like (and seemed to be just foaming at the mouth to take down Sanford). And all of this BEFORE Argentina was brought into the picture.
take it.
A golden opportunity for the Democrats in this state. They need some strong candidates and they need them pronto.
I am willing to overlook a few pecadilloes in any republican politician. I hope he continues to govern SC. That wil help us both locally and nationally.
Ensign and Vitter in the senate is better than a Byrd in hospital.
and does this effect other races. While I don’t think something like this will effect the Senate race, there were several close races for other statewide positions in 06. Patterson Jr, Robert Barber, and Tommy Moore all ran good races. Rex got elected. Tenenbaum has a position in the admin but not in a crucial position. and then you have former Governor Hodges and Former Party Chair Joe Erwin to think about.
Its amazing that even in South Carolina, Dems have a decent bench to turn to.
I think “hiking the Appalachian Trails” should be the new epuphemism for sneaking out on the mrs.
Unfortunately for the people of South Carolina, it seems that the sale of Governor Mark Sanford to the people of Argentina was unsuccessful.
The sale of Gov. Sanford was reportedly in exchange for about US$3 billion in financial aid to the state, Craigslist-based sources say. However, this effort has been stalled due to the revelation of the governor’s affair with an Argentinian woman.
“The revelation was a surprise to us,” said a high-level diplomat through his translator, “which dramatically derailed our negotiations. We would have accepted the governor, but the affair presented a conflict of interest that we would rather not sort through.”
Here’s my take as a politics geek and life-long SC resident.
Sanford political future is history of course. I think he will resign before his term is up, but maybe not since he dislikes LG Bauer so much.
Bauer is a full-of-himself jerk that would be a lousy Governor. Then again, we have already had one for 7 years, so it will be hard to tell the difference.
Baur has made a very rapid assent in politics and managed to win re-election dispite a 110 mph traffic ticket just before the GOP primary, in which he had significant opposition. Given the rabbit’s foot this guy has, he could end up the incumbent instead of just one of three major candidates from the gOP next year.
Bauer is hot though. I’ve seen him with his shirt off and he has really nice pecs. I’ve heard the rumors of course, and I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.
Democrats have a golden opportunity and if they can’t make hay out of the curent political landscape, then they should just pack it in. We have 12.5% unemployment which is 2nd or 3rd in the nation.
Rex for re-election or Gov. Barber for Lt. Gov. Shaheen for gov or some other statewide office. Brad Hutto for US Senate, perhaps. Hodges is disliked royally by his own party. He governed as a quasi-GOPer. I would look elsewhere.
Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina — this just keeps getting weirder. He was missing for five days. He finally showed up. He claimed that he was just hiking in the Appalachian Mountains. Then just today, he revealed that he was not hiking in the Appalachian Mountains, he was in Argentina the entire time — in Argentina, where he was having an extramarital affair. Wow! It all seems insane until you realize who his mistress is — Carmen Sandiego. –Jimmy Fallon