Cheating governor should resign, says GOP leader
Glenn McCall is one of the state’s two national representatives to the Republican National Committee. He’s also a county party chairman and said yesterday that party members want Sanford out.
The call comes as Sanford’s political future was already hanging in the balance after revealing he visited his mistress in Argentina after indicating he was off hiking in the US.
Sanford returned to his home state on Wednesday and tearfully admitted cheating on his wife with a “dear, dear friend” in Buenos Aires.
Once tipped as a future Republican presidential candidate, Sanford now faces a battle to save his career amid questions over how far he misled staff about his whereabouts.
His apparent disappearance had raised eyebrows over the weekend, especially when it emerged neither his wife nor close aides could say where he was. Before taking off he indicated to staff that he would be found walking the Appalachian Trail, a popular hiking route in the eastern US. But his story was blown after he was spotted returning from Buenos Aires via Atlanta’s Hartfield-Jackson International Airport.
He has since denied instructing his staff to cover up the affair, but in a hastily arranged press conference Sanford admitted he had suggested that he was likely to be found hiking.
“I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going. I said that was the original possibility. Again, this is my fault, in shrouding this larger trip,” Sanford said.
The conservative Republican apologised to his wife before explaining: “I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina.”
The 49-year-old went on to say that around a year ago he became romantically involved with the woman, whom he had met some seven years previously. He said that his wife had known about the affair for the past five months and that the affair was now over, and they were attempting to reconcile their marriage.
The couple have four children. Sanford had been seen as a rising star in the Republican party and a possible 2012 presidential candidate.
A staunch conservative, as a congressman he drew on his “moral legitimacy” when voting for then President Bill Clinton’s impeachment over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
On Wednesday, he stepped down as head of the Republican Governors’ Association. But he has refused to be drawn on whether he will leave office. Sanford has around 18 months left of his second term as South Carolina governor. But his tenure could be cut short as a result of the current scandal.
South Carolina senator Glenn McConnell, a fellow Republican, said: “I would think that if the evidence indicates that there is a willful effort to circumvent the constitution, I think there would be a chorus of calls for him to resign.” Sanford’s wife, Jenny, said she had asked the governor to leave and stop speaking to her two weeks ago while she came to terms with his infidelity.
The governor said he wants to reconcile, and his wife’s statement said her husband has earned a chance to resurrect their marriage.
Excerpts of email exchanges between the governor and his mistress were published online by The State. The governor’s office wouldn’t discuss the emails but told The State it wouldn’t dispute the authenticity of the messages.
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