Can’t say that I agree with this observer, but this is an interesting read:

Maybe he doesn’t really want the job

By Tommy Tomlinson www.charlotteobserver.com

The quick spin after Mark Sanford confessed his sins on Wednesday was that he wrecked his chance to be president.

Here’s another thought: Maybe he decided he doesn’t even want to be governor.

He lied to his staff, left South Carolina without a chief executive, betrayed his wife, abandoned his kids on Father’s Day and took off to Buenos Aires to be with his mistress. James Bond couldn’t pull that off without getting caught.

It’s the kind of thing you do when you don’t care if you keep your job or not.

He didn’t resign (although he did step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association). He may well hang on for the year and a half left in his term. But whatever grand ambitions he had for his political life are gone.

And maybe he’s OK with that.

When you’re a politician on the national stage, you take a lifetime seat in the dunk tank. You sign up for a daily dose of criticism from political opponents, activists, bloggers, radio and TV yappers, newspaper writers, and the guy at the next table in the restaurant. You probably get death threats, and because of that you get the joy of a security detail that waits outside the door when you go to the bathroom. You can go on vacation, but you can never get away, not completely, not even for a day.

In return you’re famous, you’ll probably get rich, they might name a bridge after you, and maybe – if you navigate the system, learn to compromise, and occasionally wield your power like a poleax – you can do a little bit of good.

Some trade.

Not a word of that excuses Sanford, or any other politician who sleeps around. At some level they reduce to the same image – that great New York Magazine cover that featured a full-length photo of Eliot Spitzer and an arrow pointing to his crotch with the caption: BRAIN.

The State newspaper in Columbia got ahold of e-mails from Sanford to the woman in Argentina that date back to last July. He moons over her gentle kisses, the curve of her hips, the “two magnificent parts of yourself” that she holds in the faded glow of the light. (Probably not her elbows.)

You have to wonder if he ever wrote a note like that to his wife.

That’s only the bottom half of the e-mail, though. In the top half Sanford talks about a weekend in Aspen with John McCain. That visit – remember, this was last summer, during the presidential race – “kicked up the whole VP talk all over again in the press back home,” he writes.

Think about that. In a secret note, written to a woman he lusts after – and maybe even loves – he starts off by talking about his job.

Could be that the only thing that truly turns him on is his own power. That’s the stereotype we like to drape over the politician who cheats. But what if it’s more than simple ego? What if Mark Sanford finally got the job he wanted, only to find out the job’s got him?

If that’s the case, Argentina won’t fix it. He could go to the moon and it wouldn’t matter. The only way to deal with it is to give up the job, turn off the lights and go home. And before long, I suspect that’s what the governor of South Carolina will do.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR MARK SANFORD, GOVERNOR

Gov. Sanford Issues Statement on Commerce Trip

Columbia, S.C. – June 25, 2009 – Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement:

“As noted by the Department of Commerce, I attended a trade mission with the Department of Commerce last June. As the agenda notes, the mission was spent meeting with government and private business officials in both Brazil and Argentina. This trip was handled very professionally by the Department of Commerce, and I’m proud of their work there.

“However, while the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip,” Gov. Sanford said.

-###-

update: news articles I’ve been quoted in: Anderson Independent Mail, Greenville News

As one of Governor Sanford’s vocal supporters in the General Assembly, the phone’s been ringing off the hook. I’ve been approached by many asking my thoughts on Mark Sanford’s recent actions. My initial reaction is that I’ve felt like I’ve been kicked in the gut. Speechless. Shocked. Angry. Disappointed. This is what happens when a good, decent person of principle gets caught up in sin. It makes him do foolish things that hurt himself, his wife, his family, and in this case the citizens of South Carolina. As we’ve witnessed, a crystal clear reputation can evaporate very quickly.

Elected officials should role models that people can look up to.

I’ve been asked if he should resign as Governor. We need to consider what’s best to heal his marriage and his family. Also, we need to consider what’s best for South Carolina and this movement of reform that I and other conservatives in the legislature are committed to. I can’t answer this question at this time.

Governor Sanford asked for forgiveness from all South Carolinians today:

“First and foremost, I apologize to my wife and my four boys. I have made decisions that have hurt and will continue to hurt them, and for that I’m sincerely sorry. Jenny has stood by me through campaign after campaign, through hard time after hard time, and neither she nor the boys deserve this. Please offer them your prayers.

“I apologize to my staff. I misled them about my whereabouts, and as a result the people of South Carolina believed something that wasn’t true. I want to make absolutely clear that over the past two days at no time did anyone on my staff intentionally relay false information to other state officials or the public at large. What they’ve said over the past two days they believed to be true, and I’m sorry to them for putting them in this position.

“I apologize to the people of South Carolina. There are many people out there right now who are hurt, angry and disappointed with me, and rightfully so. Over the time that I have left in office, I’m going to devote my energy to building back the trust the people of this state have placed in me.

“I ask for your forgiveness, and your prayers for everyone who I’ve hurt,” Sanford said.

Is forgiveness possible? Reconciliation?  Restoration of public trust? Only time will tell. The State Newspaper has extensive coverage of Gov. Sanford’s public confession and timeline of the affair.

I appreciate the First Lady of South Carolina’s impressive statement. In closing, she asks for protection of privacy for her and their children. I hope we can honor her request in the court of public opinion. Here’s her statement:

Statement from First Lady Jenny Sanford

I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. As well, for the last fifteen years my husband has been fully engaged in public service to the citizens and taxpayers of this state and I have faithfully supported him in those efforts to the best of my ability. I have been and remain proud of his accomplishments and his service to this state.

I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband’s infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage. During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us. I kept this separation quiet out of respect of his public office and reputation, and in hopes of keeping our children from just this type of public exposure. Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week.

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.

Obviously Tuesday’s (06.23.09) post was before the recent discovery of Governor Mark Sanford’s weekend. Feeling like I’ve been kicked in the gut, I need to catch my breath before giving a public statement. As I am returning home from a family vacation this afternoon, I’ll gather my thoughts and post a statement sometime soon. 

Got a Political Career? Don’t Tweet It Away.

By Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post TO: Politicians FROM: The Fix

SUBJECT: Twitter is not your friend. No doubt any number of your colleagues have urged you to begin Twittering — sending your thoughts on life, the universe and everything out to the world in bite-sized, 140-character chunks.

Don’t do it.

Twitter may be all the rage for athletes, Ashton Kutcher, Oprah and even the Fix, but it is a bad, bad idea for politicians. Why?

To with: Less than 24 hours after President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) tweeted — to the nearly 400,000 people who follow him on Twitter — the following proclamation: “White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.”

Those 95 characters (he still had 45 in reserve!) kicked off a furor that led Gingrich to acknowledge last week that his “initial reaction was strong and direct — perhaps too strong and direct.” Oopsie!

An isolated incident amid a sea of tweets, you say? We have two words for you: Mark Shurtleff.

Shurtleff, the Republican attorney general in Utah, had been for months publicly mulling the possibility of challenging Sen. Bob Bennett in 2010.

Thinking he was sending a text message to a friend last month, Shurtleff tweeted this to his 2,329 closest Twitter friends: “I’m announcing I’m running at 12 . . . all of the legislative conservative caucus and other senators representatives there endorsing me . . . time to rock and roll!” Seven minutes later, Shurtleff realized his mistake and tweeted (hair of the dog, we suppose) that he was removing the previous post.

Duh!

The lesson proved by Gingrich and Shurtleff is that any medium that encourages instant reactions dashed off on a BlackBerry or iPhone and condensed into 140 characters is a recipe for disaster in the political arena.

Sure, in theory it makes sense to provide benign daily updates letting your constituents know you are hard at work fighting for them.

And it is “kinda cool” — as Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a titan of political Twitterers, described a recent tweet interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper — to use the technology to break down traditional communication borders.

But, as in college when you were coming home from a party and it seemed like a good idea to call the object of your affections to let him or her know how you really felt, Twitter provides short-term gain in exchange for long-term pain.

The thousands of innocuous tweets you send won’t matter. It’s the one time that you decide to pop off in the space of 140 characters — perhaps after a cocktail or two at a fundraiser — where problems will arise. Make one slip of the tongue, er, finger, and the sweet joys of Twitter will sour in a moment.

Put simply: Twitter is an amazing and earth-shattering technology — for someone else.