Just to point out the obvious, this whole situation is still very, very odd. Sanford disappears for almost a week - as we all now know, to visit or break up with his Argentinean lover or to cry in a hotel room or whatever. Supposedly with the idea that, heck, the legislative session was over, so who would even notice. Which requires more suspension of disbelief than ABC News apparently injects into its news coverage.
Layer upon that the fact that, according to the New York Times, not only did The State newspaper receive the steamy e-mails between Governor Sanford and his lovely Maria about six months ago, but they have no idea of the source of those emails.
Mr. Chapman [political editor at the paper] said he still did not know who sent the e-mail to the paper in the first place. “It’s kind of a moot point,” he said, “but I’m still curious.”
Uh, yeah, you should be curious. David Corn is thinking blackmail. But that doesn't explain the bizarre trip, unless the Guv wanted to stick it to the blackmailer and get the information out in public on his own. But, of course, that still doesn't explain the trip; you could do that with much less embarrassment by having the goofy presser without the crazy trip. Unless Sanford's even smarter than we think, and realized that by looking crazy, he would get our sympathy.
But I tend to look for simpler answers. Maybe the guy has just wanted to reveal his love for Maria for six months now, but lacked the courage to do it on his own. Maybe he thinks she was or is more important to him than being Governor. Maybe he needed the push, but was willing to hand out the tools. It's not any crazier than vanishing for a week. It is, possibly, pretty rational.
The emails were salacious enough to end his marriage, but go out of their way - and self-servingly, if you read them in this context - to present Sanford as a decent man stuggling with an "impossible situation." Unfortunately, The State didn't bite on the emails. But beyond that, they apparently didn't even make a real, concerted attempt to verify the emails. Did they know enough to not want the answer?
But, with the legislative session over, Sanford still needed a push, but couldn't wait any longer. Time to step up the crazy. And to leave some clues, too. He took a state car. He made a call on his cell phone near the airport in Atlanta. Someone made a tip to The State that Sanford had flown to Argentina (why tip off The State, and not CNN or other news outlet?). And The State already had the emails.
It's all speculation - based on Hollywood suspense thriller logic, too (State of Play, anyone?) - but I'm thinking that deep down, Governor Sanford couldn't have been all that surprised when Gena Smith met him at the airport, and was perhaps wondering what took so long. Because the only logical conclusion about this whole episode is that Mark Sanford wanted to get caught.
Or maybe this is why you shouldn't write blog posts on too much medication.
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