Sanford Talks Forgiveness by Voters; Others Say it was about the GOP Keeping Power in the House

In bright red states, a candidate can be unethical, dishonest, and have a mistress in the 'Family Values' GOP but still get elected to Congress.  Case in point is Mark Sanford, the non-'Family Values' former Governor of South Carolina who won the special election last night.

Sanford ran against the devil, all right: :Sanford himself, making the rounds of the talk shows Wednesday morning, tried to spin it this way:

“I think we have a tradition in the South, and in South Carolina, of forgiveness,” he told “CBS This Morning.” “People do make mistakes. They do handle situations wrong. They do wish they had handled different things differently. But that whole notion of forgiving another person and saying, ‘OK, let's begin this process of building and moving forward,’ I think is part and parcel to this larger notion of human grace.”

Which is funny, really, that forgiveness thing, because as Daily Kos and other sites have pointed out, Sanford, while a member of the House, voted to impeach President Clinton and called on him to resign. 

Sanford has now settled with this wife on trespassing charges now the unethical former Governor is headed to Congress.  Sanford will fit in perfected with the obstructionist hard right GOP who make up the Party of NO.

Congressman-elect Mark Sanford will not have to appear in court for trespassing charges alleged by his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, mere days after the former South Carolina governor defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch for the state's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday. 

Attorneys for both parties reached a settlement on Wednesday, according to the Charleston ABC station. The settlement includes a $5,000 payment owed to Jenny Sanford as well as an admission of wrongdoing by Mark Sanford for trespassing at his ex-wife's home several times without permission. Sanford claimed he entered her residence to watch the Super Bowl with their younger son. A court appearance was originally scheduled for Thursday, May 9.

Jenny Sanford let him off cheap - $5,000 and he has to admit he was trespassing?  How did Sanford manage that one?  NRCC went on record saying they were not backing Sanford but the big donors still did - the NRCC comments were for public consumption and nothing more IMO.

With this being a Libertarian district, it would have been hard for an experienced Democrat to win but their candidate was a novice which is not good when running against a snake like Sanford.  Must admit that I did chuckle at the 'Family Values' Party electing the Appalachian trail hiker who was actually in South America with his mistress.  Real 'Family Values' Congressman for the Republican Party.  When are Republicans going to admit this is about power and votes to obstruct and nothing more?

The GOP values went out the door a long time ago along with ethics as they sold out to wealthy donors like the Koch's and then supported a candidate like Mitt Romney who believed that 47% of the Country was pretty worthless.  That is the new legacy of the GOP so Sanford will fit in just fine with his Libertarian views that are now hard right views in the GOP today.

What I really cannot believe that the US taxpayer is now going to be paying Sanford's salary.  Republicans in this SC Congressional District should be very proud of themselves in sending an unethical liar back to Congress because the thought of sending a Democrat was too much for them to swallow.  Whatever happened to voting for the person not the party when the parties candidate is so flawed?   I should know that well since the same thing happens in Oklahoma in State House races.


The Los Angeles Times author of the article on Sanford thinks his election is the end of the GOP culture wars but that would mean the GOP has a heart and soul.  That was sold a long time ago to get funding for the campaigns.  They will say and do anything if they think it will buy them to get reelected.  Use of the term 'Family Values' has been a joke for years anyway since many of us are well aware of rhetoric versus reality.

Mark Sanford and the end of the GOP culture wars 
By Paul WhitefieldMay 8, 2013, 12:05 p.m. 

In April 1861, South Carolina fired the first shots of the Civil War. Almost exactly 152 years later, it may have fired the final shots of the Republican Party’s culture war.
South Carolinians on Tuesday elected former Gov. Mark Sanford to the House of Representatives, handing him a convincing victory over Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Now, admittedly, she wasn’t the strongest of candidates -- her main claim to fame, face it, is that she’s the sister of late-night TV satirist Stephen Colbert. 

But Sanford, of course, comes with his own baggage: an adulterous affair while he was governor -- recall his “Appalachian Trail” vacation that was actually a cover story for a visit to his mistress, er, soulmate, in Argentina -- followed by an increasingly messy divorce.
And did this matter to the good folks in the heavily Republican district? It did not. Sanford’s margin of victory was even wider than most pundits had predicted. 

(snip)

So how to explain Sanford’s win? Simple: It’s about power. That’s what politics are really about anyway, and that’s what his victory demonstrates. Those GOP voters didn’t care that he was a sinner; they cared that he wasn’t a Democrat. 

Face it: When the belt buckle of the Bible Belt goes for a guy with Sanford’s moral character, you know it’s not about family values anymore. 

So c’mon, Republican Party, drop the pretense. You weren’t -- you aren’t -- fighting for goodness and morality. You’re fighting for power. 

And on Tuesday, one of your guys won. Be happy with that, and let's move on. 

Excerpt:  Read More at the LA Times

There is an old saying that "Power Corrupts" which fits today's Republican Party perfectly.  Big donors knew  exactly who could be bought especially after the Citizens United horrible ruling.  Republicans used to complain about George Soros but his donations are small time compared to people like the Koch Bros who are trying to buy elections and now want to buy newspapers like the LA Times and Chicago Tribune so they can get more of their hard right agenda out in public.  How much of their money went into the Sanford race? Have to wait for FEC reports to find out.

Must admit that I was shocked Democrats spent so much on this race with a novice candidate.  It is nothing against the candidate but when you are running against a snake, you need experience and a willingness to fight back hard.  If Busch had been like Senator Warren of MA, it might have been different, but have my doubts.  Warren fought back back and then went on the offensive in Massachusetts.  IMHO any Democrat candidate would have trouble winning this seat in probably the reddest of the red districts.  I am amazed she came as close as she did in South Carolina.

Question of the day:  What is Sanford going to do next to get back in trouble?