Why Mark Sanford Has To Go

posted at 4:31 pm on July 1, 2009 by Doctor Zero
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Pressure is mounting on Mark Sanford to resign his governorship. Today we’ve heard Jim DeMint suggest he’s been talking to Sanford behind the scenes, urging him to “make the right decision about what needs to be done.” Presumably, DeMint doesn’t think releasing another volume of Sanford’s torrid love letters to his mistress is “what needs to be done.” Sanford needs to go, and soon. He’s waited more than long enough already.

Why should Sanford’s misadventures in Argentina spell the end of his political career? After all, he could easily dig up thousands of sound bites from media commentators of the late 90s, insisting Clinton’s extramarital affairs did not disqualify him from holding office. Sanford could burn those sound bites onto discs and play them like a scratch DJ at his next press conference. By all accounts, he’s been a popular and successful governor, and retains a remarkable level of public support in South Carolina, even as the bizarre details of his adultery have trickled out. Why is it so important for him to resign?

Well, for starters, he’s nuts. It’s hard to watch his increasingly surreal press conferences without concluding his mental guitar is missing a few strings. To put it charitably, his behavior has demonstrated appallingly poor judgment, and sound judgment is one of the primary qualifications for a leader. He placed his obsession with his mistress ahead of his marriage, and the welfare of his children. How can anyone in South Carolina know where the demands of his office, and the needs of his constituents, rank on his scale of priorities?

There are also matters of national political significance to consider. Sanford achieved prominence as a possible Republican presidential candidate for 2012, and he didn’t exactly hide from the spotlight. Many thoughtful people supported him, because they admired his positions on the issues. If he continues to cling to his office, and remains a bleeding wound in the side of the Republican party, he insults his supporters and betrays everything they stand for. The elections of 2010 and 2012 will be crucial battles, with towering stakes for America. A major part of the Republicans’ battle plan must involve highlighting the astonishing corruption of the Democrats. It is essential that voters understand the people demanding their wealth and liberty are ethically compromised. Making this point will be far more difficult if the Democrats can point at Sanford, and ask how a party that tolerates an adulterer noted for erratic behavior has the stature to challenge their conduct.

Sanford’s betrayal of his marriage, and his ongoing humiliation of his wife, are awful for another reason, beyond the poor decision-making skills they illustrate. Politicians in the United States are asserting increasing amounts of power over the population, on the grounds they are intellectually and morally better suited to manage the wealth of the nation than private industry. The vow of marriage is one of the few mechanisms available for impressing the virtue of humility on our ruling class. Marriage is a transcendent vow, not a business contract to be discarded when inconvenient, or cleverly bypassed when one side wants a profitable loophole. The words of a marriage vow promise fidelity to the end of life, and beyond… not just until we bump into someone we fancy more. There is nothing ambiguous about these words. Mark Sanford can probably recite them from memory. If he can’t, I’ll bet Jenny Sanford can.

If a politician cannot keep a transcendent vow made to his wife, and by extension his children, how can he presume to assert the moral authority to manage a modern state? How can the voters believe that he will honor his commitment to them, if he flaunts the promises he made at his wedding, with his hand resting on the very same holy book? Americans have become far too willing to surrender their prosperity and freedom to political leaders, but at least they can demand the pretense of honor and fidelity in return. Only a fool would hand over his money to a thief, a compulsive gambler, or a drug addict. If the Republican Party wants to inspire Americans to stop being fools for the statist Democrats who have been busy hammering their trust into iron girders to support the Total State, they cannot also ask us to be fools for one of their number, who has proven himself as unworthy of trust as any other traitor.

If Mark Sanford ever believed any of the things he said, back when he was taken seriously as a national candidate, he will step aside, instead of remaining as an obstacle to the triumph of those ideas. He says he’s going to try to “fall back in love with his wife.” If he’s still in love with America, he’ll pack his bags, get off our TV screens, and romance his wife in private.

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