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Sanford's Wife: I Still Haven't Heard From Him
AWOL South Carolina governor Mark Sanford may have briefly checked in with his office this morning to assure them he's fine and he'll be back at work tomorrow. But he hasn't told his wife, according to her.
A CNN reporter tracked down Jenny Stanford at her Sullivan Island vacation home. Sounding less like the wife of a 2012 presidential contender and more like America's favorite reality TV star announcing her separation from her husband, she said: "I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children."
Jenny Stanford had helped stoke the story yesterday when she told the AP she didn't know where her husband was.
It's unclear why hiking the Appalachian Trail would be something Sanford would keep from his wife.
Josh
Zachary
Probably because he's been "hiking the Appalachian Trail" on a Pittsburgh Steamer with his friend, Dirty Sanchez.
All innocent enough.
June 23, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Damn!"
One gets the feeling that the blinders have been lifted from Lady Sanford about all those other "outdoor trips" the Gov has been on.
We need a TPM Pool on several days:
* the Sanford press conference with the vague apology for the pain he's caused his family
* the Sanford press conference with the more specific apology for the pain he's caused his family by banging someone other than his wife
* the filing of the divorce papers
* the Sanford press conference announcing that he won't run for President
Lots of chances to win... almost like picking the score at the end of quarters in the Super Bowl. ;)
June 23, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I could have sworn that an article I read here on the subject alluded to his wife being his soon to be ex-wife and his new soon to be wife.
Am I nuts? ( Be kind now)
June 23, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you thinking of this?
LINK
I was referring to Fordice, not Sanford.
June 23, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn, but I'm having problems today with links.
Try again. Duh.
June 23, 2009 4:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's unclear why hiking the Appalachian Trail would be something Sanford would keep from his wife.
I don't know either, but I also don't care and don't really see how it's any of my, or TPM's, business. Maybe they are having marital problems. Who cares? Give them some space.
June 23, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
He is the Governor of South Carolina and his staff can't reach him.
June 23, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
And even then, that would be South Carolina's problem if it weren't for the fact that Sanford has been floated as a presidential prospect for 2012. That's what makes it worthy of TPM's notice.
June 23, 2009 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
This cannot be left alone:
From the MNSBC article, look whom they've chosen to comment on the Naked Hiking Day angle:
Law enforcement authorities say they see so few nude hikers, even on Naked Hiking Day, that they don’t consider it a big problem. ‘It’s rare, probably because we have a lot of remote territory out there where one would not be detected,’ said Capt. Woody Lipps of Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson national forests, which contain parts of the Appalachian Trail.”
Naked Hiking, and you get Woody Lipps to comment. You can't make this shit up.
June 23, 2009 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG, I'm dying here. That is way too funny.
June 23, 2009 4:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Off the hook. :)
John
June 23, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good god this is too funny. You think Mrs. S was pist earlier. Wait'll she hears that captain Lipps is involved...
June 23, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
It must be cold out naked Hiking "we dont consider it a "big" problem"
of course with your woody lips on it it may get bigger
June 23, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cute!
In all seriousness, I can well imagine why nude hiking on the Appalachian Trail wouldn't be such a popular activity. From the Wikipedia article on the Appalachian Trail:
There are just certain parts of your body that you really want to protect from contact with that insidious plant. Not to mention that other hazards of the Trail listed in that article include ticks, mosquitos, biting flies, and chiggers. I think one nude hike through the southern parts of that trail might be enough to dissuade a person from trying it again!
June 23, 2009 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's the name of the Bond girl from the movie where James Bond battles the eco-terrorist.
June 24, 2009 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's unclear why hiking the Appalachian Trail would be something Sanford would keep from his wife.
It's not the hiking. Nor the Appalachian Trail. It's the Naked Hiking issue that he was trying to keep from his wife and children.
More seriously, if they have a "Sullivan Island vacation home", couldn't he have rested and recuperated in the loving embrace of his wife and children in his vacation home?
Personally, an island vacation home seems alot more appealing than hiking the Appalachian Trail without any clothes.
That backpack's gotta chafe, doesn't it?
June 23, 2009 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm... are there any Sanford staffers missing? No one really thinks what he "hiking the Appalachian Trail" solo, do they?
John
June 23, 2009 4:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm... are there any Sanford staffers missing?
That is definitely a valid question, tosh!
How about any staffer's wife missing? [Sanford looks to me like a proud alumni of the "John Ensign School of Christian Values"]
June 23, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Damn... I forgot about staffer's wives. Ensign opened up a whole new avenue of cheating and it's taking some getting use to. ;)
Wait... wait... wait...
Since we're an open minded Liberal Blog Community, we should probably widen that question above:
Are there any missing male staffers or husbands of staffers?
It's entirely possible that a rugged outdoorsman like Sanford went "hiking the Appalachian Trail" with a male friend and that the two just got lost in the woods or something.
Come on, fess up... we're Dirty Fucking Hippy Liberals, so we would be perfectly A-O-Kay with Sanford if he decided "to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session" by Hiking on the Appalachian Trail with a male friend.
;)
John
June 23, 2009 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hiking the Appalachian Trail solves the problem of not hearing about all the fuss.
I'm not sure why his wife isn't more concerned about where he is and how he is doing. Wouldn't a normal person, going hiking for that long check in with someone to let them know they are okay?
June 23, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
the national parks service resommends it
June 23, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's considered extremely irresponsible to go anywhere, especially a hike longer than a day trip and not tell someone where you're going and when you expect to return. Worse if you're on your own. If a rescue is needed it's rescue workers and volunteers risking their lives for you're carelessness, and police and other emergency personnel not helping someone else while they're looking for you.
June 23, 2009 10:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, so now we know the wife is pissed...but she's not concerned. Therefore, they know where he is but clearly can't keep a straight story. My bet is now on him up and leaving his wife or maybe his job and they are trying to talk him out of it/off the ledge. Presumably he's not a danger to himself or those around him would be more concerned. The whole AP thing is just a cover story.
The intrigue is killing me - despite the fact that this is likely no more important than Jon and Kate.
June 23, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
The strange thing is that when she was first asked yesterday, she said that she did not know where he was but that she was not concerned. She even had some story about how he needed to get away and write something.
Now, as you point out, she is still not concerned, but does she know where he is?
June 23, 2009 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Guess that section of the trail he's hiking is a lot curvier than anyone anticipated.
June 23, 2009 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Maybe they are having marital problems. Who cares? Give them some space."
??? Mark Sanford is one of the more obnoxious, Christianist holier-than-thou, Democrats-are-Satan's-Spawn, only-the-GOP is pro-family Republicans around, and you can't see the humorous irony in all this? I think you might be on the wrong website... I suggest Reader's Digest.com.
June 23, 2009 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, I don't really see the irony. And I don't agree with the idea that Republicans, by virtue of being Christians, should be held to a different standard of behavior than we would want for Democrats. And I certainly don't agree with any kind of us-versus-them tribalism in which anything we do is justified by the fact that they are all evil Republicans.
We have no real evidence that Sanford is cheating on his wife, and even if he is, I don't give a crap and I don't see why anyone else does. And while I understand this is probably a slow news day, I would think there has to be something more important than this out there to be a TPM lead story. You know, like something that actually affects people's lives.
June 23, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe we're all having way too much fun with this, and perhaps that's an overeaction, but when a governor, rumored widely to be a candidate for President, disappears for 5 days and is, for the most part, completely out of touch, that's news.
When there are multiple versions of why this actually happened, that's news as well.
And one might think that a conservative family values type of Republican would be able to live up to the standards such Republicans are always holding everyone else to.
Would an honest, faithful, and Christian person just drop out of sight without notifying his wife and his staff? Seems like there might be a bit of hypocrisy here.
June 23, 2009 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh please, this isn't the WSJ. Now if they were to come out and explain that they were having marital problems, then there would be a case for leaving them alone. But when a political office is blatently misleading the public, I'm pretty sure it's fair game for TPM Muckraker.
June 23, 2009 4:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe our scribblings here are nought but a twisting of the knife in family values hypocrites. Is it our fault that nearly all of them are Republicans? They are the ones who are so damn tribal.
June 23, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sanford on Robert Livingston's affair:
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said he would be "struggling" during Christmas over whether to support Livingston, even though the speaker-designate had not broken the law.
"We as a party want to hold ourselves to high standards, period," Sanford said.
and also
"The bottom line is Livingston lied. He lied to his wife."
June 23, 2009 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's the old "Do as I say and not as I do, it's good for me but not for you" syndrome.
June 23, 2009 7:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Religion has nothing to do with it, and we're not talking about double standards. We're talking about holding Republicans to the same standards of behavior they try to force on others — that's fair game.
June 24, 2009 2:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Appalachian Tail, not trail. He accepted the Blue Ridge Stimulus Package. AKA, two toothless Meth hookers in a Kentucky holler.
June 23, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mrs. Sanford should run for passive-aggressive political spouse of the year. She's a lock.
June 23, 2009 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
O: I can understand why you might think that Jenny Sanford's comments about her husband's AWOL status are passive-aggressive, but in this instance I think you really are mistaken.
What Jenny Sanford is is an incredibly self-disciplined woman who may just about have had enough of being well-behaved, no matter what.
Jenny Sanford is an anachronism on our modern culture -- a smart, educated woman (much smarter than her husband) who had specific career ambitions of her own but who, nonetheless made a traditionalist's choice to support her husbands goals, rather than her own, after she married.
According to those who know her well, this political life is not one she would have chosen for herself, nor for any children she had. Nonetheless, she has been "yar," for years, not only accepting her husband's ambitions, but then also throwing in every talent she has to make it happen for him.
Were you aware that when Mark was in Congress, Jenny stayed behind in Charleston so that: a) her children would have school and friend continuity; and, b) Mark could make much of his DC frugality? This sort of decision has been her year after year life -- not so glamorous, but self-sacrificing -- every decision made for one or all of her boys.
So, passive-aggressive? Not so much. But increasingly frustrated by what certainly appears to be the taking for granted of her endless compromises? Better late than never.
June 23, 2009 7:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmm. SOunds like WWStaebler has some real information here on what's going on in this marriage... and that the smoke does indeed indicate there is a fire...
June 23, 2009 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, WW. I think I wasn't clear. I do think she's being passive-aggressive, but I didn't mean it as a criticism. I think she's doing it in the most awesome, fantastic way. It's like when Obama takes the high road but slams an opponent at the same time. It's a gift.
June 23, 2009 9:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
No need to say sorry, O. I'm sorry I jumped to pejorative conclusions about what you meant -- not fair to you, and unreasonable of me after I so recently took the pledge to be less cranky.
My positive impression of Jenny Sanford is the result of a consensus I share with mutual acquaintances, friends and relations who know her much better than I do. (I worked with her on a project a long time ago and liked her immediately, but we were not then, nor are we now, personal friends.)
That consensus is that Jenny Sanford is a remarkable woman worthy of real respect, no matter what one's political persuasion. Not only because, as a private person, she is so obviously an involved, caring mother, sibling and friend, but also because, in her public capacity, she invariably adopts a thoughtful, problem-solving approach to whatever task is at hand -- an approach that is always constructive, always aimed at turning a sow's ear into a silk purse.
Whatever her reason for speaking so bluntly in this instance turns out to be, everyone I've talked to wishes her well. She's worked hard for her husband, her family and for the causes she cares about, and she's earned a bright future wherever and with whomever she ultimately chooses to lead it.... even if the odds are that she will stay right where she is (so long as his lordship no longer needs to be wired with a GPS tracking device.)
June 24, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just me or DOES his wife seem a bit Stepford Wife-ish?
June 23, 2009 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
"If we can't trust a man to feed his wife a convincing cover story before leaving for a booze-filled Father's Day weekend with a couple of hookers, how can we trust him to negotiate with the North Koreans?"
June 23, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who is John and Kate?
June 23, 2009 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
How refreshing that you don't know.
It's Jon and Kate, and they have a big family and their own TV show, and Jon apparently has been stepping out on Kate, and now they're getting divorced.
I'm embarassed I know this.
June 23, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You're excused. It would have been difficult not to know it in the last few weeks. Three weeks ago, I had no idea who "Jon and Kate" even were, but the story has been on just about every cable news channel, and it's even popped up on NPR, so I now know way, way, way more about them than I ever cared to. (Not that I care to know any of it even now!)
June 23, 2009 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This hiking story is reminiscent of the "gone fishing" ruse used by Heath Ledger's
character on Brokeback Mountain.
June 23, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah...the annual fishing trip..
June 23, 2009 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
brokeback trail!
June 23, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jenny Stanford? She's already run off with Sir Allen?
June 23, 2009 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
This sort of reminds me of that Soprano's episode where Vito gets spotted in a gay nightclub and has to flee to New Hampshire. He just leaves his wife and kids and takes off.
Live Free or Die.
June 23, 2009 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Woody Lips + Naked Hiking Day = You're killing me. You can't make this stuff up. Hilarious.
June 23, 2009 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
He seems like an extremely self-centered fellow who thinks of no one but himself. I don't know what he was doing all this time. I'm relatively certain it wasn't just him alone communing with nature....politicians in general have such massive egos, they need some sort of favorable feedback all the time.
The way his wife is talking, sounds like she doesn't give a damn anymore what he does.
June 23, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
To me, the most interesting thing about all of this has been the reaction of the SC pols, both dems and pubs. They've all gotten their digs in. Look out for a new state law to determine who is in charge when the gov is missing; seems their constitution lacks a definition for "emergency" and therefore no one has authority to do anything.
June 23, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
The wife is always the last to know
June 23, 2009 7:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's just say, if it's valentine's day and you don't have dinner with your boyfriend, YOU don't have a boyfriend (and he has a girlfriend).
If your husband is not around the day before, the day of, and the day after father's day -- He has another family.
June 23, 2009 9:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of all the guesses about Sanford's behavior, yours makes the most sense.
Dang it, I can't believe I didn't think of it myself!
June 24, 2009 3:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Lt. Gov. was not happy about it in an NPR interview today. His objection to the Let's Get Lost on the AT adventure was about not being available for executive decisions. If there was a prison riot, the governor is incommunicado and unavailable to make decisions. The chain of command isn't changed because Sanford is officially still the governor and the Lt Gov. can't legally be the proxy. He said that the governor trades some of his private citizenship for the public job of governor.
It was a very irresponsible choice he made and should remove him from any consideration for presidential candidacy. If the GOP still thinks he's presidential material, they're even more deluded than I had believed. Imagine the howling on the AM radio hate talk express if Barack Obama had done something like this in his life before running for president. They are busy trying to justify it for Sanford because he's one o' them.
June 24, 2009 2:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anyone here in a marriage/relationship/job where you can go to Buenos Aires for a week and not tell your spouse/partner/co-workers where you're going?
And does this explain Boehner's protective coloring? Is it so he can go to South America and not have to explain a tan?
June 24, 2009 9:31 AM | Reply | Permalink