Sanford Pleads His Case in the Newspaper
Mary C. Curtis
National Correspondent
Posted:
07/20/09
He's back -- this time on the op-ed page of my newspaper. It's a perk of living in the Carolinas, I suppose. Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, may have been out of state with his wife, Jenny, this past weekend, working on their marriage. But he left a column for the Sunday papers, apologizing for his misdeeds yet again.
"It's in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience both to trust God in his larger work of changing me and, from my end, to work to becoming a better and more effective leader."
Sanford is a confession junkie -- well, when it comes to his good intentions, anyway. Since he told the world about his extramarital affair with an Argentine friend, Sanford has been unwilling to relinquish his newsmaker status. And it is always about him -- not his wife or his girlfriend or his four sons or the people of South Carolina.
Meanwhile, The State newspaper in Columbia is making its way through e-mails released by the governor's office. They reveal that Sanford kept a close watch on his press clippings. The e-mails indicate that in one case, his staff wrote -- and a former chief of staff's name was signed to -- a response to a critical report. He also played tough with political foes.
Sanford's Sunday column promised a new style:
"I think all that has transpired will be particularly relevant in the way I deal with the legislative body and other state leaders going forward. Micah 6:8 asks us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, and as I begin these steps into the last 18 months of this administration, it will indeed be with a more contrite and humble spirit."
But some in his own party aren't convinced, according to an Associated Press story. House Labor Commerce and Industry Chairman Bill Sandifer, a Republican, said he told the governor: "You have gone out of your way to make enemies. You've done absolutely nothing to make friends, and now you want us all to be your friends? That's a pretty tough pill to swallow."
Sanford will have to handle the fallout without communications director Joel Sawyer, who announced Friday that he is resigning for that old standby: to pursue other opportunities. The governor will also have to reconcile his frugal reputation with reports of expensive international travel on state business.
In the AP story, Republican state Sen. Jake Knotts, a political opponent, said, "He doesn't keep promises to the state of South Carolina like he doesn't keep promises to his wife."
Sanford says in his op-ed that "it is at your funeral that you in many ways not only can see most clearly the things that really matter in life, but also get the best glimpse of who your real friends are -- and how much they matter."
One wonders if the governor was unintentionally prescient in using the word "funeral."