21 thoughts on “Random Mormon Poll #4: Should SC Governor Marc Sanford resign?”
I voted yes. It turns out he has had contact with other women as well. He is an embarrassment.
I voted yes as well. Governor Sanford lacks the requisite integrity to complete his term in office. I hope he will do the honorable thing and resign.
All adulteries involve dishonesty. The difference here is leaving the country without making proper arrangements and lying to a population of millions about where he was.
I voted yes, but not quite for the reason stated. His going AWOL, etc. is what makes this particularly problematic for his ability to govern.
Why? He says he’s working on falling back in love with his wife; maybe he can fall back into fidelity to his people, too. [/sarcasm]
This was more than a few quiet evenings hidden from public view. He abandoned his post for a dishonorable liaison, and showed contempt to his state and its people by not even bothering to come up with a plausible cover. What happens the next time he can’t control himself?
What BrianJ said. If he had a woman on the side in a small South Carolina town, that would be one thing: still not really good, but at least reasonable. Disappearing for a week across the planet and then trying to cover it up with lame excuses–what if an emergency had occurred during his absence? A hurricane, a terrorist attack, a highway bridge collapse? That’s inexcusable.
While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanford called for the resignation of President Clinton due to his affair with Monica Lewinsky. If his “righteous anger” motivated such a demand toward another, Sanford should be willing to act accordingly with the revelation of his own multiple affairs and falsehoods.
If every politician who was dishonest or unfaithful were required to give up office, there would be no more politicians. (Wait…maybe that’s a *good* thing….)
Sanford having an affair doesn’t bother me nearly as much as his use of public funds to enable his trysts. So a “yes” vote, but not for the moral stuff, which is between him and his wife.
Sanford needs to make a choice: either be Governor and a faithful husband and father, or leave all of that behind and move to Argentina. As it is, he’s being faithless towards everyone and everything involved.
Talk about narcissism.
His news conferences sure make it look like the guy has completely lost it. I certainly wouldn’t want him running anything I was relying on.
I gotta say, these Republicans and their “family values”… I think the party as a whole is going to need a new crowd-pleaser, because that term has got to be toxic to them now.
Guy needs to hit the road. His wife is throwing him under the bus. He is done. Repub voters esp in Repub primary voters never like this kind of stuff.
Nick, you nailed it.
Martin, YES. Prominent Republicans have worked hard to court social and economic conservatives, but their behavior consistently demonstrates the actual degree to which they value conservative principles, namely, not much.
Bro. Jones -YES
Nick- YES
Rameumpton-to late for it now.
The fact he had an affair, and then compounded it by secretly going half way across the world was waay over the top in the stupids department! Then just when you thought you had heard everything, he called his mistress his “soul mate”, but was getting back with his wife! What a major stinkin’ Jerk!!! There is no way he will survive this. Why he has not resigned by now is just amazing, and demonstrates just how big his ego is, and how far out of touch he is with South Carolina voters.
May 6, 2003: Rushing to the State House, Bauer is ticketed for reckless driving after police say he drove 60 mph in a 35-mph zone and ran two red lights in downtown Columbia. Bauer pulls over after four blocks, but the officer determines he is being aggressive, draws a gun and orders him to raise his hands.
March 28, 2006: News breaks that Bauer has been stopped twice for speeding. Once, after being clocked at 101 mph on I-77, he gets on his emergency police radio to identify himself as “SC2.” He is not ticketed in either case.
May 23, 2006: Bauer crashes his private plane into trees on takeoff in Blacksburg, shattering his ankle and injuring his co-pilot. The NTSB lists the probable cause as the pilot’s failure to abort takeoff after the plane fails to reach adequate airspeed.
After a long string of dysfunctional governors in Arizona, I finally have a reason to be thankful that I live in Arizona and not South Carolina.
I think that concerns about Lt. Gov. Bauer were quickly erased by Sanfords idiotic AP interview. I hope that Jenny Sanford cleans him out in the divorce. What a jerk.
Not to defend this jerk, but I fined many of the remarks here extremely anachronistic in 2009. Hey, they would have been anachronistic a generation ago. He should resign for dereliction of duty, period.
Likewise, I strongly suspect Nick is mis-citing Stanford’s past position on Clinton. I don’t recall any serious calls for Clinton to resign over adultery, but rather for perjury in a deposition, given POTUS is our chief law enforcement officer.
“I don’t recall any serious calls for Clinton to resign over adultery, but rather for perjury in a deposition, given POTUS is our chief law enforcement officer.”
The sexual nature of the Clinton scandal is the only reason that the impeachment ever came about. To say that is was simply a matter of the rule of law, and not adultery, is an interesting re-telling of history.
I personally think that being a ding-bat is sufficient reason for him to leave. Whether he leaves or not does not really matter to me. Maybe South Carolina deserves him.
Chris,
Happy 4th!
I humbly disagree given that calling for resignation or conducting impeachment over adultery would have been an anachronism in the 1990s just as it would today. Moreover, it’s ludicrous to accuse me of re-telling history given it was already established by the time of Clinton’s impeachment that as far as we know Clinton didn’t technically commit adultery while president, certainly not with Lewinski. Please explain how an adultery which no one was claiming was the driver of impeachment?
On a side note, I happen to think Clinton’s impeachment was a mistake given the votes to convict weren’t there. It was the equivalent of a prosecutor not exercising proper discretion and bringing an indictment knowing there isn’t a reasonable chance of conviction. That said, I believe his lying under oath in the Paula Jones case was certainly impeachment worthy. But impeachment for adultery? That would have been equally ludicrous in the 1990s as it is today.
Back to Sanford, IMHO, he should resign for dereliction of duty, period. And I find the focus on adultery here extremely anachronistic.
Steve,
Happy 4th to you too!
He was obviously not impeached because of sex. But sex drove the scandal. Adultery was not the charge, but I do not see Whitewater leading to impeachment without the sexual nature of the scandal. You are not wrong on the legal grounds, I just think that the social/cultural context is pretty important in that case.
As a leftist, I have little need for Bill Clinton.
Sure, dereliction of duty is the primary official reason why Sanford should leave. However, his entire reaction to all of this has shown him to be an unstable emotional twit. Is that reason for him to leave office. No. Should it make the people of his state nervous? Yes.
I voted yes. It turns out he has had contact with other women as well. He is an embarrassment.
I voted yes as well. Governor Sanford lacks the requisite integrity to complete his term in office. I hope he will do the honorable thing and resign.
All adulteries involve dishonesty. The difference here is leaving the country without making proper arrangements and lying to a population of millions about where he was.
I voted yes, but not quite for the reason stated. His going AWOL, etc. is what makes this particularly problematic for his ability to govern.
Why? He says he’s working on falling back in love with his wife; maybe he can fall back into fidelity to his people, too. [/sarcasm]
This was more than a few quiet evenings hidden from public view. He abandoned his post for a dishonorable liaison, and showed contempt to his state and its people by not even bothering to come up with a plausible cover. What happens the next time he can’t control himself?
What BrianJ said. If he had a woman on the side in a small South Carolina town, that would be one thing: still not really good, but at least reasonable. Disappearing for a week across the planet and then trying to cover it up with lame excuses–what if an emergency had occurred during his absence? A hurricane, a terrorist attack, a highway bridge collapse? That’s inexcusable.
While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sanford called for the resignation of President Clinton due to his affair with Monica Lewinsky. If his “righteous anger” motivated such a demand toward another, Sanford should be willing to act accordingly with the revelation of his own multiple affairs and falsehoods.
@Nick Literski
Amen!!
If every politician who was dishonest or unfaithful were required to give up office, there would be no more politicians. (Wait…maybe that’s a *good* thing….)
Sanford having an affair doesn’t bother me nearly as much as his use of public funds to enable his trysts. So a “yes” vote, but not for the moral stuff, which is between him and his wife.
Sanford needs to make a choice: either be Governor and a faithful husband and father, or leave all of that behind and move to Argentina. As it is, he’s being faithless towards everyone and everything involved.
Talk about narcissism.
His news conferences sure make it look like the guy has completely lost it. I certainly wouldn’t want him running anything I was relying on.
I gotta say, these Republicans and their “family values”… I think the party as a whole is going to need a new crowd-pleaser, because that term has got to be toxic to them now.
Guy needs to hit the road. His wife is throwing him under the bus. He is done. Repub voters esp in Repub primary voters never like this kind of stuff.
Nick, you nailed it.
Martin, YES. Prominent Republicans have worked hard to court social and economic conservatives, but their behavior consistently demonstrates the actual degree to which they value conservative principles, namely, not much.
Bro. Jones -YES
Nick- YES
Rameumpton-to late for it now.
The fact he had an affair, and then compounded it by secretly going half way across the world was waay over the top in the stupids department! Then just when you thought you had heard everything, he called his mistress his “soul mate”, but was getting back with his wife! What a major stinkin’ Jerk!!! There is no way he will survive this. Why he has not resigned by now is just amazing, and demonstrates just how big his ego is, and how far out of touch he is with South Carolina voters.
Wow, it looks like the lieutenant governor won’t be much of an improvement in responsible behaviour:
@John Mansfield
After a long string of dysfunctional governors in Arizona, I finally have a reason to be thankful that I live in Arizona and not South Carolina.
I think that concerns about Lt. Gov. Bauer were quickly erased by Sanfords idiotic AP interview. I hope that Jenny Sanford cleans him out in the divorce. What a jerk.
Not to defend this jerk, but I fined many of the remarks here extremely anachronistic in 2009. Hey, they would have been anachronistic a generation ago. He should resign for dereliction of duty, period.
Likewise, I strongly suspect Nick is mis-citing Stanford’s past position on Clinton. I don’t recall any serious calls for Clinton to resign over adultery, but rather for perjury in a deposition, given POTUS is our chief law enforcement officer.
“I don’t recall any serious calls for Clinton to resign over adultery, but rather for perjury in a deposition, given POTUS is our chief law enforcement officer.”
The sexual nature of the Clinton scandal is the only reason that the impeachment ever came about. To say that is was simply a matter of the rule of law, and not adultery, is an interesting re-telling of history.
I personally think that being a ding-bat is sufficient reason for him to leave. Whether he leaves or not does not really matter to me. Maybe South Carolina deserves him.
Chris,
Happy 4th!
I humbly disagree given that calling for resignation or conducting impeachment over adultery would have been an anachronism in the 1990s just as it would today. Moreover, it’s ludicrous to accuse me of re-telling history given it was already established by the time of Clinton’s impeachment that as far as we know Clinton didn’t technically commit adultery while president, certainly not with Lewinski. Please explain how an adultery which no one was claiming was the driver of impeachment?
On a side note, I happen to think Clinton’s impeachment was a mistake given the votes to convict weren’t there. It was the equivalent of a prosecutor not exercising proper discretion and bringing an indictment knowing there isn’t a reasonable chance of conviction. That said, I believe his lying under oath in the Paula Jones case was certainly impeachment worthy. But impeachment for adultery? That would have been equally ludicrous in the 1990s as it is today.
Back to Sanford, IMHO, he should resign for dereliction of duty, period. And I find the focus on adultery here extremely anachronistic.
Steve,
Happy 4th to you too!
He was obviously not impeached because of sex. But sex drove the scandal. Adultery was not the charge, but I do not see Whitewater leading to impeachment without the sexual nature of the scandal. You are not wrong on the legal grounds, I just think that the social/cultural context is pretty important in that case.
As a leftist, I have little need for Bill Clinton.
Sure, dereliction of duty is the primary official reason why Sanford should leave. However, his entire reaction to all of this has shown him to be an unstable emotional twit. Is that reason for him to leave office. No. Should it make the people of his state nervous? Yes.
Are you a lawyer?