Hitting Sanford

As Gov. Mark Sanford's story has gotten juicier with published e-mails, the revelation that he "crossed lines" with other women, and his defense of the affair with a former reporter in Argentina as "a love story--a forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day," the South Carolina Democratic Party has put together a video collage (watch after the jump) of media clips on the ordeal--late night hosts riffing on Sanford, cable news anchors parsing his admission, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dodging a question on whether Sanford should resign. Sanford ignored the same question at his press conference.

The Monica Lewinsky showed that scoring points off a sex scandal doesn't always work--sometimes, people think it shouldn't be a public or political matter. The Eliot Spitzer scandal was a bit different: the former attorney general actually did something illegal. Sanford's case has an important distinction: he disappeared to South America without announcing his departure or leaving anyone in charge, and his staff was kept (at least mostly) in the dark. The SC Democrats allege an "abuse of power," not an ethical shortcoming.

At this point, the SC Democratic Party has not yet called on Sanford to resign, though calls from Republicans are growing, as Politico's Jonathan Martin reports, and The Greenville News said the same in an editorial this morning. See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/07/hitting-sanford/20444/

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http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/07/hitting-sanford/20444/