If Elizabeth Colbert Busch had won her special election tonight against former Governor Mark Sanford in South Carollina’s First District, it would have given me a certain amount of satisfaction. I am fond of the Colbert family, I am no fan of Mark Sanford, I like winning, and I would have been heartened that the people on South Carolina’s coast have certain standards that can’t be violated. As it turns out, she lost by nine points. I am only mildly surprised that she lost, but the margin was startling. The thing is, and I pointed this out twice on the blog, I don’t really care about losing. In most ways, it’s actually a preferable outcome.
It’s highly unlikely that either Colbert-Busch or Mark Sanford can or could change the outcome of even a single vote in Congress over the next year and a half. It’s also highly unlikely that Colbert-Busch could have won reelection against any normal Republican opponent. The First District isn’t a competitive district. If Colbert-Busch had won, the DCCC would have spent a ton of money trying to defend the seat, but it probably would have been a bad investment.
However, it’s very helpful to our national narrative to have Mark Sanford in Congress. He’s probably worth three Cynthia McKinneys or five James Traficants. In a few days Sanford will be appearing in court to answer for violating a restraining order. His creep factor goes to eleven.
So, even though I like winning and I like the Colbert family, I’m basically happy that we lost this seat. I’m happy even though I recognize that feeling happy means I’ve already partially died inside. Being this cynical isn’t healthy, even if it is fully justified.
