Sanford believes he wronged the GOP more than SC.

[chieftain]

What other conclusion can be drawn from his resignation as Chair of the RGA along side his refusal to step down as Governor of the State he abandoned to go sparking in Argentina? When will our crack press members doff their dinner jackets and play like they are real reporters and ask him some hard questions about staying in a job he had so little respect for he was AWOL for days.

[rurallib]

1. I get the feeling his brain is wired differently.

[dgibby]

4. Narcissistic personality disorder, perhaps?

A cold, controlling, austere authoritarian. Other than that, a really swell guy.

[eridani]

18. Probably true for most conservatives

The parts that process information about "how would I like it if someone did that to me" don't function too well.

[TwilightGardener]

2. He doesn't give a shit about SC. It's just his stepping stone for "bigger things".

He's more worried about his future stand in the party.

[burning rain]

17. Your subject line is right on the mark.

Sanford's Christian-right social views suit most of South Carolina right down to the ground, but his libertarian economics don't. As much as he might not like it, a majority of South Carolinians want better and more adequately funded public schools, as opposed to just segregationist "Christian" and other private academies. Besides their wanting more unemployment insurance.

Sanford is done. The only way he gets resurrected in the GOP is if he and Carrie Prejean make a sex tape.

[dgibby]

3. He was done with SC,

especially after his monumental defeat at the hands of the legislature last week. He'd set his sights on bigger and better things, so I doubt he felt or feels any obligation to the state.

[4lbs]

5. He's "done" in that larger arena too. I can't see anyone actually supporting him for US President

now.

Maybe President of Argentina....

[dgibby]

6. Being his constituent in SC is bad enough.

I'd have to move out of the country if he ever became President. He's like Ron Paul on steroids.

[calimary]

7. Then I'd say a big hearty THANK YOU!!!!

Anything that damages the GOP is good for all the rest of us. So THANK YOU, governor! You did us all a public service, at least in that regard.

[burning rain]

8. In fairness,...

a governorship, unlike the chairmanship of a governors association, is a public office and a more formal responsibility, as you're hired by, and have a responsibility to the citizenry. So you ought not resign from it so hastily as you can a party spokesman position.

[chieftain]

9. As much as I appreciate fairness, I have to disagree.

My point is that Sanford stealing off to Argentina created no real hazard to the GOP. Leaving the State that put him in a position of authority without transferring power or being able to be reached left the citizens in real jeopardy had there been an emergency. It is precisely because he shirked his significant and singular responsibilities and violated a public rather than a private trust, he ought to resign.

[burning rain]

12. I'm not saying he shouldn't resign.

His disappearance alone suggests he may be too erratic and unstable to hold the responsibility of a governorship, and his use of state money to fund the Argentina leg of a South America trip shades heavily in a corrupt direction. His intention to pay the money back is immaterial, and I'm inclined to think he should resign. But I do think the responsibility of handing over the reins of the governorship in a deliberate and orderly, rather than slapdash, way is important, while quitting a party spokesman position abruptly is not so bad from the viewpoint of the citizenry.

[chieftain]

15. But that's what gets to me. There was no orderly transfer

while he was off on what lawyers call frolic and detour. And there is no orderly transfer now as the selfish sob holds on to a job he took so lightly he couldn't be bothered with leaving his phone number with his aides.

[burning rain]

16. That's true, and it bothers me as well.

It doesn't speak well of him that he didn't delegate authority to his lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer, even though they don't care for each other much. They're both Republicans, but governors and lieutenant governors run on separate lines in SC, so there's an extra likelihood that the two won't like each other in that state, and indeed that seems to be the case at present. But leaving for about a week and not delegating authority? That is serious negligence.

I was hedging my bets earlier, but now I'm now convinced Sanford has to go. What put me over the edge was his wheedling extra state money to take an extra jaunt to Argentina for monkey business while presumably in South America for business business. Now he says he's paying the money back, and that's a weasel's tacit admission of guilt, unless one buys the absurd and pitiful claim that a guy can be both innocent and contrite.

All I'm saying is, I hope Sanford won't skip off the job today -- I'm aware he has a press conference. He needs to go soon, but also, in my view, ought to make the transition in a deliberate way, if only because Lt. Gov. Bauer appears to be a lamebrain, judging by the media appearances I've seen.

[chieftain]

10. My point in the OP has less to do with Sanford than with the MSM

The media can focus all they want on Sanford's soft-porn emails but they are oblivious to the clear evidence that he is more remorseful about the political damage he has done the GOP than the real danger to which he subjected his constituents who had entrusted him with the significant and singular power of the Governor's Office. The other day I watched lighter than air Matt Lauer interview a "reporter" from the soft news souffle that is People Magazine on her investigative report on Jon and Kate plus 8. Such is the sad state of journalism in these United States. Ben Franklin said we have a republic if we can keep it. With the fourth estate completely abandoning its societal duty, I fear that the underpinnings of self-government are in irretrievable decay.

[Cha]

11. sanford cares only about himself and

everyone else is just collateral damage.

[Hansel]

13. Another conclusion is that the governorship is a job with benefits

and the other is just a gig. It's a little trickier giving up a job. He's probably trying to secure promises of another job first and/or is negotiating over liability, benefits and severance when he steps down.

That being said, I doubt many politicians care more about the state, region, district, etc. that they are suppose to represent than their own interests.

[LatteLibertine]

14. Looks like

the Democrats don't even need to try to hurt the Republican party anymore.

Just sit back and watch.

[Ganja Ninja]

19. He quit before they threw him out.

Do you think a group of self promoting politicians is going to miss a chance like this? Every one of them would cut the others throat to further their political careers. He's no more concerned with the GOP than he is with SC. He just knew what was coming.

[spooky3]

20. he needs the $

Can't quit a job when you have nowhere to go.

And I don't think he can count on tapping into his wife's fortune any time soon.