Sanford’s confession disappoints supporters, energizes critics

Rushing to a must-keep appointment, I heard the first disclosures of Gov. Mark Sanford’s confession today. By now you know the Republican governor of South Carolina has admitted an affair with a woman in Argentina. Media and politicians made much of his unexplained absence over a period of days.

He wasn’t, as most of us assumed, on a sabbatical to clear his head after the political upheaval over rejecting federal stimulus money. He only took the money in the end because the state’s Supreme Court issued a mandate.

I also assumed the flap over the governor’s unexplained absence was driven by politics. I think it was, even now. I figure news was probably about to surface—his affair probably was discovered and he knew it was time to admit what was going on. Maybe he didn’t want to be another John Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidate whose affair surfaced only after a tabloid slapped the public in the face with details. That's my opinion; I have no facts to back it up.

South Carolina’s largest daily newspaper is probably having a field day right about now.

That’s all conjecture. I just read an email from a friend in South Carolina. Like many of us, she is sorely disappointed.

However, I still think it is a rare man who stands up to the federal government and a rock star president.

Whatever the issues at stake, they are personal and best left to the governor and his family. He was wrong, however, to slip off for personal purposes and ignore protocol. For that I am certain he will pay a heavy price politically, as he should.

I’ll say what many may think—if Sanford were a Democrat, this would be no big deal. But he’s not—he’s a Republican and that party is more adept at punishing its own than media could ever be. Democratic Party members have forgiven every sin known to man. Many of the forgiven sit in prestigious positions and have done so for what seems like an eternity. Voters re-elect them no matter what they do.

I am disappointed in the governor, but I still think he did the right thing on the stimulus money. Hopefully he will work things out with his family and with the political class in Carolina as well.

Update on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:41PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

I called it right for The State Newspaper. A story today says the paper scored its highest web hits ever on Wednesday as the story about Gov. Sanford broke. No word yet on how the paper acquired copies of the governor's private emails. I always wonder about the implications of email theft related to intellectual copyright laws. I first wondered that after a Democratic Party politician's kid published Gov. Sarah Palin's private emails.