The spectacle of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who was taken seriously by some (but not me) as a Presidential candidate, disappearing to Argentina for a rendezvous with his mistress, prompts one to wonder–not for the first time–are these guys all crazy? The real lesson of the Sanford fiasco is, given the frequency with which politicians display appalling judgment, weak character, and a pathological lack of self-control, why would we want to entrust them with more of our money and more power over our lives?
It’s not true, of course, that they’re all crazy, even if it sometimes seems that way. At The Corner, Rich Lowry speculates:
If Republicans want a presidential candidate who lives clean and whose family hasn’t been involved in tabloid scandals, it might soon be Mitt Romney by process of elimination.
I’m pretty certain Tim Pawlenty isn’t going to succumb to scandal either, and Sarah Palin’s supporters would add her to the list of those unlikely to have a nasty skeleton in the closet, notwithstanding one family member’s history in the tabloids.
Some outlets that are hostile to Republicans, like the New York Times, are taking the occasion to express faux concern about the party’s future. Not to worry. Despite the Times’s efforts–Andy McCarthy points out that the paper has five stories about the Sanford affair on its home page this morning–the Republican Party will be just fine. If the Democrats could survive Chappaquiddick, the Republicans won’t have any trouble getting past a little garden-variety (albeit rather weird) adultery.
Speaking of Chappaquiddick: Michael Ramirez, for one, hasn’t forgotten. He uses the incident to comment on the impact of Ted Kennedy’s health care “reform” bill on American health care:
PAUL adds: Traditionally, French politicians have dealt with the main urge that brings down guys like Sanford, Eliot Spitzer, and John Edwards by having mistresses, a phenomenon that doesn’t bother the French public. Unfortunately, some of these American pols would probably end up cheating on their mistresses.
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