Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sanford admits affair for a year & trip to Argentina was to see mistress

Thinkprogress:

As the New York Times notes, the press conference “began rather oddly, with Mr. Sanford rambling about his love for the Appalachian trail, his exhaustion from a legislative battle over the federal stimulus and a need to get away from the public eye.” Sanford, who is married and has four children, eventually admitted that he has been having an affair with an Argentine woman. He also announced that he would be resigning as head of the Republican Governors Association.

And the real question is did Sanford use taxpayers' money to see his mistress? Also, why was Sanford so determine to use stimlus money for state budget? There is more:

While serving as a U.S. congressman, Sanford was incredibly critical of his colleagues’ marital misdeeds, including the affairs of former congressman Bob Livingston and President Bill Clinton:

“The bottom line, though, is I am sure there will be a lot of legalistic explanations pointing out that the president lied under oath. His situation was not under oath. The bottom line, though, is he still lied. He lied under a different oath, and that is the oath to his wife. So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously.” [Sanford on Livingston, CNN, 12/18/98]

“We ought to ask questions…rather than circle the wagons for one of our tribe.” [Sanford on how the GOP reacts to affairs, New York Post, 12/20/98]

Update: A Fox News chyron listed Sanford as a Democrat.

Update 2: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) -- who has also been floated as a potential 2012 candidate -- has taken over as head of the RGA.

Update 3: Jim Geraghty at the National Review writes:
There will be an effort to impeach Sanford, a Republican strategist with ties to South Carolina tells me. "He's going to have to resign. It's South Carolina." His rivals in the state legislature were among those fanning the flames of "Where the hell is he?"questions yesterday.

Update 4: Former South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson today said that there will likely be heavy pressure on Sanford to resign. "That call will come at a fevered pitch shortly," he said, adding, "It's important to hold our leaders accountable, and Gov. Sanford has flunked that test."

Update 5: Family Research Council removes Sanford’s picture from Values Voters Summit website.


4 comments:

airJackie said...

It's ok he's a Republican as we heard how Law Makers cheered Senator Ensign as he returned after admitting an affair and paying for sex, and the sex partner's family as well. This is not a problem for Americans it's only a problem with Democrats like Gov. Spitzer who was asked to resign. Comments from Americans about Spitzer made you think he raped a woman. Hiring a prostitute was enough for him to be kicked out and don't come back. But we see no problem with Vitter, Craig, Ensign and now Stanford. With our American Republican Christian Family/Moral Values as taught by the GOP we might see Ensign as the next President or even Stanford might get the top job. Look Jenny wouldn't mine being First Lady and faking a marriage like Laura did for 8 years. Mark could have his Buenos Aires mistress stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.

SP Biloxi said...

Spitzer hired a prostitute with his own money for pleasure. The saga of Ensign and Sanford is a very different aspect especially Sanford. The question should be asked in the Sanfords infidelity is did he use the taxpayers money for shag allowance for his mistress and himself. And yea, both Ensign and Sanford are hyprocrites for criticizing Bubba and other on family values when they themselves didn't live up to those standards. They wore their family values on their sleeves whereas Spitzer did not. It doesn't mean that Spitzer is not wrong of what he did morally. But, like Spitzer, Ensign, Sanford, Vitter, and others, that is an issue that is between their spouses. The issue is did any of the lawmaker that committed adultry in office misappropiated state money?

SP Biloxi said...

Spitzer hired a prostitute with his own money for pleasure. The saga of Ensign and Sanford is a very different aspect especially Sanford. The question should be asked in the Sanfords infidelity is did he use the taxpayers money for shag allowance for his mistress and himself. And yea, both Ensign and Sanford are hyprocrites for criticizing Bubba and other on family values when they themselves didn't live up to those standards. They wore their family values on their sleeves whereas Spitzer did not. It doesn't mean that Spitzer is not wrong of what he did morally. But, like Spitzer, Ensign, Sanford, Vitter, and others, that is an issue that is between their spouses. The issue is did any of the lawmaker that committed adultry in office misappropiated state money?

Anonymous said...

I just saw the clip of Sanford on the news where he critizes Clinton for the Lewinsky affair......
Yep, and Candice Crowley said it bites the GOP more since they run on the family values platform.