A quick reminder; you only get called a hypocrite if you have standards you're trying to live up to. Folks who don't have standards don't get that rap; that's one reason why stories like Mark Sanford's resonate a but more.
When I heard the news yesterday about Sanford's clumsy affair, I was thinking that Sanford fans like John Claybourn would be somewhat crushed; Josh gives an even-handed look at his seemingly-crushed presidential hopes.
2012 is out of the question for Sanford, but something in the 2020s might still be in the cards if he gets back on the straight and narrow. He's only 49, and if he lets some time get between him and this incident, he might be viable on a national stage. Newt Gingrich gets mentioned as a viable candidate, and he notably having an an affair a decade ago with a staffer who would become wife #3 while still hitched to wife #2. Rudy had similar issues where he was an item with his current wife while still married to his previous wife and had a decent shot in 2008; he would have been a bigger factor in the 2008 primaries were he a bit more conservative on social issues.
However, the political calculus seems tacky while you have a guy who just screwed up big time and needs to mend a lot of fences, with God and his wife and sons first, then with the people of South Carolina. Jenny Sanford is leaving the door open "if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance." For multiple reasons, pray that Mark Sanford get that spirit.
It'd be really nice if these guys could learn to behave themselves. They are convincing communicators of the message that preaching self-restraint and morality is just manipulative hogwash.
Posted by: Richard H | June 30, 2009 at 06:31 PM