"You can imagine the speculation running rampant about 'Why would you do this?,' 'Why would you be gone on Father's Day?' " said one longtime GOP strategist who has not always seen eye to eye with the governor. "Everyone's entitled to vacations. Generally, they know where you are, your cell phone's on, you take your security with you."One thing I've realized, from watching the campaign last year, is the difficulty of presidential politics. There are a lot of pretenders out there who don't understand that this really is the big leagues. This just strikes me as the sort of thing that pro can't do. This isn't the college game anymore.
Even a close Sanford ally, a major figure in Palmetto politics, privately questioned the governor's explanation. Several sources cited the multiple and contradictory explanations that came from both the governor's office and Sanford's own wife.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/06/no-one-is-buying-mark-sanford/20003/
