Mark Sanford after meeting with his Cabinet last Friday. (Getty)
Fifty-four percent of Americans think that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford should resign from office following his admission of an extramarital affair and his unexplained five day absence from his duties, according to a
CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted June 26-28. Forty-four percent say he should serve out the last 18 months of his term.
"There is virtually no difference between Republicans and Democrats on this matter," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Fifty-one percent of Democrats and 54 percent of Republicans want Sanford to step down."
Since the initial revelation, Sanford has said that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his Argentinean mistress but didn't have sex with them.
Six out of 10 in the poll believe it is important for voters to know if a politician has committed adultery even though they are split 50 percent to 49 percent about whether an extramarital affair means the person does or doesn't have the integrity to hold office.
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Comments
The poll numbers would indeed be a whole lot different if Sanford had a "D" after his name. It's the hypocricy that makes all the difference.
I am surprised by the following though:
[Six out of 10 in the poll believe it is important for voters to know if a politician has committed adultery even though they are split 50 percent to 49 percent about whether an extramarital affair means the person does or doesn't have the integrity to hold office.]
That's a hell of a far cry from when Hillbilly was Prez.
Posted by: NObama
| June 30, 2009 11:50 PM
The Sanford affair affair shows again that the GOP is out of synch with American values.
NY Governor Eliot Spitzer and NJ Gov. Jim McGreavy were both forced to resign because their political support disintegrated after affairs.
As for Clinton, Sanford was one of the key supporters of Clinton's Impeachment- so we have a big helping of personal hypocrisy there.
The key difference between the cases of Spitzer and McGreavy and Clinton is that they were driven from office by POLITICAL MEANS. Unklike the legal metods used by the GOP in impeachment.
Had the GOP not used Clinton's infidelity to try to criominalize adultery, it is very unlikely Clinton would have retained any political or moral power.
Nobama, the American people don't believe in legislating morality. Although immoral behavior will not tolerated- with the notable exception of the GOP establishment- we believe in limited government and are not willing to criminalize it.
The GOP not only can no longer push "family values" but with VItter, Ensign and now Sanford embroiled in immorality- the GOP can only be seen as teh embodiment of Moliere's "Society of Hypocrites."
Posted by: Robert Chapman
| July 1, 2009 10:02 AM
While he's down at the moment, Sanford may be able to make a political comeback for the simple reason that all elected officials are lying hypocrites who abuse their public trust while in office, so what's the big deal about him being one of them, also?
No one in America who wins an election deserves to, because anyone who sincerely believes in moral values would not do what is necessary to get elected. The process ensures we only wind up with scoundrels in office. That's why term limits are so necessary, all we as voters can do is throw out each new crop of bums in turn.
Posted by: billp
| July 1, 2009 2:48 PM
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