SC Governor reappears...after going to Argentina?
 

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was in South America during a dayslong unexplained absence, not hiking the Appalachian Trail as his staff told the public when state leaders raised questions about his whereabouts, the governor told a newspaper.

The State reported that Sanford arrived Wednesday morning at Atlanta's Hartsville-Jackson International Airport on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer declined to comment Wednesday morning to The Associated Press

The Republican told the South Carolina newspaper he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country. The governor says he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail but wanted to do something "exotic."

Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

Sanford was last seen at work Thursday. On Monday, a state legislator raised questions about where he was after hearing reports from security officials that the governor could not be contacted and his whereabouts were unknown. The governor's wife, Jenny Sanford, told The Associated Press she had not seen him since Thursday but was not concerned because he'd told her he wanted to get away and do some writing.

Late Monday, Sanford's staff said he had been hiking the Appalachian Trail. They said Tuesday that he had called in and planned to cut his trip short and return to work Wednesday because of all the attention his absence was getting.

The governor's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said Sanford wanted to get away to clear his head after the legislative session, during which he lost a key battle. Jenny Sanford said Tuesday, "Leave us to our privacy."

When The State asked Sanford at the airport why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, "I don't know."


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"Leave us to our privacy."?

A state that has one of the highest unemployment numbers and a governor who has critics who don't see him turning the economics around...disappears....lies about where he is going?

Yes he turned down stimulus money as is his right and there were enough South Carolinians who disagreed with that choice...but he disappeared on duty.

"Leave us to our privacy...."

I'm sorry, I don't think that's gonna happen.

Of course what has to be running on the minds of many...what the hell was going on in ARGENTINA that he lied about his whereabouts and who footed the bill?

If he EVER runs for president...an ad should run stating, "If the phone rings at 3am, do you know where your president will be to answer it?"

Apparently, even his wife didn't know where is was. She said he missed spending Father's Day with their four sons because he "wanted some space to get away from the kids."

And apparently, before he left on this trip, the South Carolina General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans, overrode 10 of his vetoes.

Here is the story in the Columbia newspaper.

Anyone from South Carolina who can fill us in more?

Right....when you are responsible for about 4mil. people...you can't just "get up and get away." and not tell ANYONE.

This is just such a bizarre story - no one knew where he was, and they can't even come up with a coherent story between him, his staff and his family. The fact that his wife is making those comments to the press I think just adds to the weirdness of the situation.

I don't know that it would be such a big deal if he had come forward with it originally - it was at the end of the legislative session, and government leaders make trips all the time.

Good work to his chief of staff though in getting him back in the country - can you imagine the awkwardness of that conversation?

Actually, you really can.

He didn't have any responsibilities (other than the obvious "standing responsibilities") with the end of the legislative session, and he is entitled to vacation time. The government still functioned in his absence, and while there would have been some awkwardness should an executive decision be needed, the dustup would have been much more related to a poorly-phrased Constitution in SC than anything - besides this, the reasonable chance of this happening is almost zero, and even an emergency or disaster would have allowed the Lt.G or etc. to make the necessary decisions.

Honestly, I don't have any problem with what he actually did (leaving/being furtive), although the public relations portion and the aftermath have been handled extremely poorly - apparently, he does similar trips every year after the legislative session, because he's a high-stress/high-accountability type (he moved his family into the pool house to save the state money, etc.). If this is what he needs to do to be effective, so be it.

It's weird, and I feel like there's more to the story, but on a bare-bones level I don't really care about the trip itself. Now, if he was fondling underage hookers in Buenos Aires, obviously that's a different story - until we have word on the hookers, though, I'll go with "meh" I guess.

LOL....

Let me put it that way...yes...gov't officials deserve to go on trips and vacations and such...but the CALLOUSNESS of it all is the problem.

Lying about where you are going and then not really leaving someone in his stead or at least informing his Louie that he he was leaving.

It doesn't help either that he has a history of having ditched his security detail before.

The way he did this whole thing was like, "Imma lie and tell Mom I was at John's house around the corner, when I was really at Joe's house on the other side of town....and pray I don't get caught in a lie!"

He is a grown ass 50 year old man...why lie about where he went?

No, I don't think you can.

Entitled to a vacation? Sure.

Without telling anyone where you are, much less that you have left the country? Totally irresponsible for a Chief Executive. (Not to mention politically idiotic.)

I'm curious -- how do you know he didn't have any responsibilities with the session over? I know in my state, the governor has plenty of responsibilities whether the legislature is in session or not. That doesn't mean that the governor can't take some personal time or vacation. But it does mean that (1) she makes sure that things are in order as far as possible before she leaves, and (2) she makes sure that people know where she is and how to contact her immediately.

I'll put forward a distinction that makes sense, at least in my mind - I think it's fine for him to go off on a vacation, as long as his aides (at least his top aides) know where he is and how to contact him. So, if something were to go wrong, they could reach him. In my mind, it doesn't matter if the public knows exactly where he's going.

My issue with this story is that apparently his aides had no idea where he had gone. One question though - did I miss it, or how did his chief of staff get in touch with him?

ETA: The family aspect is a bit bothersome on a personal level (who leaves for another country without telling their wife and kids?), but doesn't matter with respect to his job performance.

I think you just hit the nail on the head...

That is the problem...NOBODY (including his staff and fams) knew exactly where he was.

Exactly -- this I'd agree with. The problem is that even his aides didn't know where he was. Neither did the number 2 guy, the Lt. Governor, nor his security personnel.

As best I can tell, he told his staffers he might hike on the Appalachian Trail, which is where the told the press he was. He didn't tell them that he changed his mind and decided to go to Argentina. And it seems that after he made a phone call from Atlanta, he turned his phone off for four days or so, so when his aides tried to call him to tell him that things were blowing up, they couldn't reach him. He left on Thursday and called to check in on Tuesday.

But it does get to the politically idiotic aspect of it.

FYI: He's giving a press conference at 2:00 today.

ETA: This editorial from The State gives some context (including about the governor's duties, or lack thereof): Mr. Sanford’s great adventure

True - it's just a PR nightmare, and I would hate to be his press people right now. This is one of those bizarre stories that tends to follow a person, and won't be forgotten very easily (unless he has some REALLY good explanation).

I live in Columbia, and what you all know is what we know. I didn't even know he was "missing" until I saw it on MSNBC last weekend.

I think that this is something that will easily be remembered, especially if Gov. Sanford plans on running for the presidency as it has been suggested.

I'm not a fan of Governor Sanford, especially after the stimulas debacle, but I think that his leaving without telling anyone (especially his family) was irresponsible. I think that he did mean well, but it just didn't go over as well as he expected it to.

This may be a personal bias coming through (as noted by my weak attempt to hedge, with "other than 'standing responsibilities'..."), but I just don't see the day-to-day role of governor of most states (barring CA, which is a disaster right now and anything could happen minute-to-minute) as something that requires constant contact, barring disaster. What exactly are his Saturday responsibilities? I'll admit that I'm assuming they're overwhelmingly ceremonial. It may be my disdain for most state executive branches shining though here - I'm completely open to that possibility - but I can imagine comparatively few things that would require immediate contact with the governor. In short: I don't see the effective difference between him being on the AT (and out of contact) and being in Argentina.

Now, with that said, it's clearly irresponsible, and it seems like obvious political suicide - and, as I noted before, it's kind of suspicious behavior to say the least. It feels more creepy than anything, the more I think about it. I just don't really care to the extent of the insinuations that the executive branch of the state of South Carolina was somehow compromised by this bit of creepiness.

Then how did he lie about where he was going?

Maybe he was just taking a page from the Dave Chappelle playbook, but Argentina is his Africa?

I think it's weird, but I, and I realize I've got nothing to base this on, feel that some member of his household or staff knew how to get in touch with him, even if they are claiming otherwise. If you give out that the Gov. is in Argentina or hiking the Appalachian Trail there's likely to be coverage of that, and maybe what the guy really wanted to most was just to be completely out of the official loop for a few days.

Now the good people of South Caroline as welcome to judge him harshly for that, but it's hard to figure out why anyone else should really care.

I's a good people of South Caroline, and I don't really care. :p

This is pretty funny to me. At least it wasn't NY's governor (who most people would be happy to see disappear) or Florida's (an odd duck, really).

Why are governors so...weird?

He is in the public lime light and is responsible to the citizens of his fine state. He needs to make an accounting or it will haunt him in the future.

I see what you're saying. Like I've said, I think the issue is not the trip itself but the inability for contact during the trip. Many responsibilities or none, he is the Chief Executive, and there are decisions that only he can make. Who knows if any of those will come up while he's gone. (For example one example that has been given: What if a prison riot had broken out on Friday?)

I can get him wanting a real break. The responsible way to do that is to say to your immediate staff: "I'm going away/out of the country for X number of days. I need a real break. I will not have my cell phone on, but I will call in at noon every day to make sure that nothing has blown up. If a real emergency arises, my wife will know how to reach me (and she won't pass a message along unless it is a real emergency.)* If the press or anyone else asks, tell them that I am out of the state for a short vacation but am in regular contact with my staff."

You also let the lt. governor know that you are away but are in contact with your staff.

* I realize that this is a whole 'nother kettle of fish in this thing. But frankly, I simply can't imagine leaving town, much less the country, without a way for my wife to alert me if one of our kids was, say, in the hospital.

Aside from the novelty of the story, I think it's because he was seen as a potential rising star on the national GOP scene.

Now, how about that New York Senate? :D

I'm watching the press conference now, and it sure does look like he's going to admit to an affair.

Yep, he did it right while I was typing.

ETA: I'll give him this -- he didn't pull an Elliot Spitzer and make his wife stand next to him during the press conference.

I for one, am really shocked.

Isn't there a deal where the governor has to pass power down to his lieutenant governor or Senate President before he leaves the state? I guess it depends on the state, but

The New York Senate is a joke. The Dems have locked themselves in the senate chamber with the gavel! Why can't the Reps just buy another gavel? Or call a locksmith?

Well, it was kind of him to abandon his job for a while so that no one has to address whether the affair alone would mean he was unfit to serve as governor. Thanks for the immoral clarity, Governor.

Wow. :eek: It just keeps getting weirder.

To be honest, a friend and I at lunch were talking about it and we speculated that the only question was whether it was a woman or a guy.

It's apparently a woman that he met 8 years ago, but their affair started last year.

Sidenote: it's really weird to see all of this news coverage of this in Columbia.

As I read the story, I was sort of hoping it was going to be a guy, just because it kind of complicates simplistic judgments a little bit. Perverse of me, I know.

And I also want to note that now I wish that his wife has said, "I don't really know where he is, but I think he's in Argentina with his girlfriend. I heard they might hit the strip clubs with Bill."

ETA: not that I really believe the BC stories.

Maybe you didn't READ.

He told his office (which they touted) that he was walking the Appalacian Trail which somehow...BAM...he ends up far south of the border.

I don't care what you call it but it's wrong on any account to just up and leave the state and NOBODY knows where the hell you are going or how to reach you.

ETA: I just read the rest of the thread...well there ya have it...he traveled a few thousand miles to eff around on his wife...good lie, bad execution

Now...let's proceed to the next question...on whose dime?

** Hears the sound of a rising star crashing**

LOL. Both of these ideas are just awesome.

I got the impression that perhaps he went to break it off. Maybe that's just what I inferred from what he said.

But I seriously wonder if on some level he wanted to get caught.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – 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.

Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he'd gone to Argentina for a seven-day trip. For two days after reporters starting asking questions, his office had said he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

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Oh he broke it off alright!!! LOL

But if he had told SOMEONE...he probably would not have gotten caught.

Hence my speculation that, on some level, he wanted to get caught.


And I'm trying really hard not to make any stimulus jokes.

yeah...makes for a good excuse if he wants to get OUT of politics due to pressure strain.

Twisted tho...LOL

Go ahead...make one stimulus joke I dare ya.... :)

MC, I'm glad you were entertained.

I'm cynical enough to think that the Ensign stuff forced a crisis, one way or another.

Why don't we declare a Political-Out-Your-Extramarital-Relationship week and get it all done at once?

Maybe John Edwards could publish his DNA results as part of the circus.

Why would you assume he could MAKE his wife stand there? She obviously wasn't going to. If a woman had no clue where her husband is, (other than the fact that he's most likely with his mistress) why would she get up there now and pull a "stand by your man at the last minute?

Based on her actions so far, I really like her. I bet she been done cussed him out.

I think we really need something to distract us from North Korea....but this isn't enough!

No, I'm thinking of it on a more personal level. Taking him at his word when he talks about his faith, etc., he was engaging in behavior that was directly contrary to the values he claims to hold. If he's not lying about holding those values (maybe he is, but maybe he isn't), then somethings got to give or the self-conflict can blow up. What he did strikes me as possibly a way of forcing a resolution on himself, a sort of subconscious "save me from myself" behavior.

And the entertainment just keeps coming. :D

I wouldn't assume anything -- perhaps "make" was the wrong choice of words about the Spitzers. But I have seen enough similar press conferences where the wife stood there with stoic expressions and a killer vibe.

Gov. Sanford admits to extramarital affair

Relationship revealed after S.C. governor's mysterious trip to Argentina

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31522908...ics/?GT1=43001


Duh!!!!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

It was obvious that he was having an affair. It's the first thing I thought when I read about his "mysterious trip."

Add Pennsylvania's governor to that list. Now, if we could only get someone normal to run against him. :rolleyes:

LOL - that was the talk of our office, too - followed by a deep sigh when the "other person" turned out to be a woman.

There's a saying in politics (if you'll pardon my language): "I hope the screwing you're getting is worth the screwing you'll BE getting." Gov. Sanford has thrown away any chance he had at the White House with both hands - not that I know enough about him to care one way or another. I just hate to watch people shoot themselves in the foot so blatently, especially if they were otherwise quite worthy of mention.

It happens all the time.