A part of me wants Mark Sanford to win the Republican Party primary contest for Congress in South Carolina.
It might be that his Democratic opponent later this year, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, is such an appealing candidate that Sanford would make the perfect foil.
And not for Busch, but instead for her brother, comedian Stephen Colbert.
No wonder national Republicans are worried about what a Sanford candidacy will do the party’s already-damaged brand.
Sanford once served in the House of Representatives. Then he became governor of the Palmetto State. In 2009, though, Gov. Sanford got caught doing something very, very wrong. He cheated on his wife, but he did so in a creative way. He put the word out that he was “hiking on the Appalachian Trail,” but instead was in Argentina frolicking with his mistress, to whom he is now engaged to be married.
What made the story so bizarre – even more than just the infidelity of a man who campaigned as a “family values” Republican – was how he disappeared from the public radar completely, even though as governor he’s never not the governor, supposedly.
Now he’s seeking political redemption. He finished first in the GOP primary in South Carolina with 37 percent of the vote. The other two candidates in that primary finished so close to each other that they’re aiming for a recount of the votes to see which one of them will challenge Sanford in the party runoff. The bickering and dickering over the votes bodes well for the GOP frontrunner.
But I’m pulling for him to run against the sister of one of the funniest men in America. Stephen Colbert is going to have a field day with this one.
And what would it do to Sanford’s family? The damage has been done already – humiliation and embarrassment – with Sanford’s fling with his Latin American lover.
Go, Mark, go!