Disgraced former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is running for Congress in the state’s first district. It’s doubtful that anyone would really care, except that he is running against comedian Stephen Colbert’s sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. And, of course, Sanford became famous when he disappeared for six days during his term as governor to visit his mistress in Argentina. Remember this?
His absence left fellow state leaders scratching their heads.
The lieutenant governor couldn’t figure out where Sanford was. Calls from a state senator and close friend rolled to voice mail. Even his wife said she hadn’t talked to him for several days.
The explanation came late Monday night from his spokesman: The second-term chief executive was hiking along the Appalachian Trail “to kind of clear his head after the legislative session.”
The Republican governor left town on Thursday, [Joel] Sawyer said, with plans to hike the trail, which passes through 14 states but not South Carolina. Sawyer said he didn’t know where exactly Sanford was along the 2,200-mile route and declined to discuss if anyone was hiking with him.
“He’s an avid outdoorsman,” Sawyer said. “Nobody’s ever accused our governor of being conventional.”
Yeah, that cover story turned out to be bullshit and he was almost impeached as a result. His wife divorced him and took custody of the kids. Then he started violating the terms of divorce under which he must get permission to go on his ex-wife’s property. The story keeps getting stranger. He’s actually due in court on May 9th to answer for his latest trespass. The special election for the House seat in on May 7th. He never mentioned that he was in legal trouble when he was running for the Republican nomination. Even worse, he managed to introduce his children to his mistress on the stage of his victory party, which upset them according to their mother.
The NRCC is cutting Sanford off from any funding for the special election. But that still doesn’t mean he won’t win. The district has a Cook PVI of +11, which means it is eleven percentage points more conservative than the country as a whole. It should be a safe Republican district, and it is only Sanford’s creepy antics that could make it close.
There are so many story lines in this election that it would make a good movie, but it’s really not that important. Picking up one seat in the House won’t change a thing in Washington and it will almost certainly be surrendered right back to the GOP after the 2014 election. Meanwhile, in an effort to avoid that fate, Rep. Elizabeth Colbert Busch would vote against us on anything contentious anyway.
Sorry to be cynical, but I think CabinGirl put it best when she said that “The NRA has created a climate where any bill that doesn’t hand out guns in the birthing room is not pro-gun enough.” That’s the only explanation I’ve heard for why the Senate voted against stronger penalties for gun traffickers, despite the fact that the NRA was in favor of the amendment. We have a climate in this country. And it ain’t pretty.
