The odd tale of the missing South Carolina governor has been on the tips of wagging tongues across Capitol Hill today, as politicians try to figure out why Republican Mark Sanford returned from Buenos Aires, Argentina, when his staff initially said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
"Argentina, Appalachian Trail, they both start with 'A,'" joked Rep. Bob Inglis, a South Carolina Republican who could hardly contain his amusement at the situation.
"It's best for the governor's staff to know where he is and how to contact him," he said on a more serious note.
Sanford had been gone for nearly a week, and aides had attributed his out-of-pocket status to a hiking trip in the Appalachians. But Sanford was actually in Argentina, he told The State newspaper , upon arriving back at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
"I wanted to do something exotic" after a long and trying legislative session, he told The State.
The lieutenant governor, lawmakers, the police and even Sanford's family appeared to be unaware of his whereabouts, sparking several days of where-in-the-world-is-Gov.-Sanford questions.
The rest of the South Carolina delegation wasn't interested in discussing the matter publicly before Sanford's planned press conference this afternoon.
"Yeah? Mark Sanford?" Rep. J. Gresham Barrett asked when stopped just off the House floor. He waved his hand to decline an interview as he escaped into the chamber.
Democratic South Carolina Reps. James E. Clyburn and John Spratt, and Republicans Henry A. Brown and Joe Wilson also declined written requests for interviews.
UPDATE: Those conversations happened before Sanford's news conference. Now, of course, everybody knows the backstory is about an extramarital affair.
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