A Low Tolerance for Tacky

Many in the South Carolina GOP don’t care if Mark Sanford loses his House race — in fact they’d prefer it that way.  They felt he should have resigned as governor, if not over the lying and adultery, then over the ethics violations that resulted in a $74,000 fine, the largest in the state’s history.

From their perspective, if Sanford loses, he’s dead politically, and that means more to them than giving up the seat for the rest of the term to the Dem, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.  They don’t need the seat now because the GOP controls the House, and they figure they can take it back in 2014 with someone they like better than Mark Sanford.  Maybe Jenny Sanford…  The power of incumbency once Colbert Busch wins?  Meh…  You can ask Scott Brown about that.  It’s a solid GOP district — Mitt won it by almost 20 points.

Will conservatives flock to the polls to vote for Colbert Busch?  I doubt it.  They’ll just stay home.  They won’t make her win, they’ll let her win.

I knew Sanford’s hubris had gotten the better of him yet again when I saw his mistress up on stage with him the night of his primary victory.  I knew Jenny wouldn’t let that slide.  What I didn’t know at the time, and what really pissed off Jenny, was that Sanford brought two of his sons up on that stage who hadn’t met his mistress before.  Jenny Sanford has a very low tolerance for tacky.

Jenny Sanford could have kept her trespassing claim against Mark quiet till after the election.  He chose to flaunt his mistress, Jenny chose to flaunt his violations of their divorce decree.

Sanford Celebrates with Mistress

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford won the GOP primary run-off for his old House seat tonight.

That was expected.  The surprise of the night was that his mistress/fiancee, Maria Belen Chapur shared the stage with him at his victory celebration.

Sanford will face Stephen Colbert’s sister, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, in the general.

 

Beyond Clueless

Ok, so back in 2009, then GOP South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, married and the father of four boys, got caught having an affair in Argentina when he was supposed to be “hiking the Appalachian Trail.”  His wife Jenny divorced him.  Sanford is now engaged to his Argentinian mistress, Maria Belen Chapur.

Sanford served the rest of his term, which ended in 2011.

When Jim DeMint left the Senate to run the Heritage Foundation last year, Tim Scott got appointed to fill his seat, leaving a House vacancy in the Charleston district.  Mark Sanford held that seat before becoming governor.  His ex-wife had managed all of his campaigns.

So Sanford decided to run for his old seat.  Fine.  But what’s incredible is that, although this was not a “friendly” divorce and they are barely on speaking terms, he asked Jenny to manage his campaign.*  As you’d expect, she told him that wasn’t going to happen.

The man definitely has a screw loose, which I guess makes him a good fit for the current House GOP Caucus.

*  “Back on the Trail,” Jason Zengerie, New York Magazine