Following up on yesterday’s post regarding Governor Sanford’s whereabouts. I have been away from the computer and TV all day taking some vacation time. Yesterday I had seen some conjecture about Governor Sanford’s trip, but chose to ignore it.
I was shocked when I saw the following story in a breaking news email from the Washington Post.
Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday he’s been having an affair with a woman he visited on a secret trip to Argentina and said he’ll resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.
Sanford, a rumored 2012 presidential candidate, refused to say whether he’ll leave office.
"I’ve let down a lot of people, that’s the bottom line," Sanford said at a news conference. He said he’s known the woman about eight years, but their relationship turned into something more a year ago while he was on an economic development trip to Argentina.
Sanford, a 49-year-old father of four, choked up during remarks to reporters. He said his wife has known about the affair for the last five months.
So he was on a seven-day trip to Argentina instead of hiking. While confessing and resigning as the head of the Republican Governor’s Association is a good first step, I would also say that he needs to resign from office. He has one year left in his last term, and so is already a lame duck. This just makes him more so. Not to mention he lied to his constituency in order to cover this up so how can they trust his leadership? He also needs to focus on trying to salvage his marriage and family.
He and his family also need prayer.
Some additional thoughts: I feel horrible for his wife and kids. I can’t even fathom the amount of shame that they feel. It is one thing to go experience the hurt associated with infidelity, but to have to go through it in such a public way. Again I want to reiterate that those of us who follow Christ need to pray for him and his family. I hope he repents, turns to Jesus and seeks reconciliation with his wife.
I also strongly believe that Governor Sanford needs to resign for a number of reasons:
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He violated the citizens of South Carolina’s trust. When news of this came out they lied.
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He violated the trust of his staff. I’m sure that many were in the dark and really thought he was going hiking.
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He can at this moment no longer represent conservative values in a credible way. He just gave all of us a black eye.
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He really does need to be able to be out of the public spotlight if he is ever really going to see his marriage and family healed.
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Also, something I’m sure is going to come up… Was taxpayer money used? How many trips that he has taken been legit? What staff knew about this and covered it up?
Resigning is the only honorable thing he could possibly do.
Update: His wife, Jenny Sanford, is at least demonstrating some dignity in the midst of this mess.
And Senator John Kerry, being ever so classy, uses this as an opportunity to make a lame joke about Governor Sarah Palin.