The boss emeritus was all over this last night.

My heart aches for the Sanford boys. Painful pic: https://t.co/tY8au16YrN

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) April 3, 2013

Really, really sad. MT @MattMackowiak Hang a lantern on your problem ==> http://t.co/JKfn8UOP5J

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) April 3, 2013

Ditto. MT @ClericalGal A choice between an adulterer & a woman riding on her famous brother's coattails? Glad I don't live in that district.

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) April 3, 2013

He claims in the vid below that she surprised him, but c’mon. Would Sanford really not have given you-know-who some instructions either way on whether it was kosher for her to show up? I can see the arguments for and against. For: The voters are going to have to get used to the idea of them being together at some point. Why not now? Seeing them together and happy might help heal some of the wounds and remind skeptics that it wasn’t a meaningless affair but a true romance. If his sons can accept her, kinda sorta, why can’t they? Con: Er, why would you invite your homewrecking mistress to your home district before you’ve won the seat? Democrats will have endless fun with it, especially since Jenny Sanford remains extremely popular locally. Having Chapur there onstage instead of her only reminds the public of the wrong done to her. And who knows if Sanford’s sons really accept her or not? If Michelle thought they ended up looking like props, surely plenty of SC-1 voters did too. How awful.

The answer, I think, is that he did want her there. As noted yesterday, he’s trying to turn this election into a referendum on his own redemption. Having her there suggests that he’s been redeemed personally by love; now he needs the voters to redeem him professionally by resurrecting his career. And the fact that they’re still together four years later suggests subtly that he’s still capable of commitment even after his prior betrayal. You can trust him now, see? Good enough for an R+11 district, no?