The South Carolina Senate’s Budget Committee reports that Gov. Mark “Latin Lover” Sanford broke state law when he charged taxpayers for pricy flights. S.C. laws require the governor to fly on the cheapest flights possible. Next up for investigation, says budget committee chairman Sen. David Thomas (who, needless to say, is running for Congress or he wouldn’t be doing all this work), will be new allegations that Sanford used state-owned aircraft for such things as flying to a haircut appointment, a dentist’s visit, and his kids’ sporting events.
Thomas says the legislature could consider penalizing Gov. Frugal in several ways, from demanding repayment to impeachment. South Carolina politics are notoriously unpredictable, but it seems very doubtful that Sanford will be impeached, mainly for internal GOP political reasons.
First, as we’ve pointed out before, Sanford’s term will be up at the end of 2010, and he’s never been much of a governor anyway, preferring to carp from the sidelines rather than actively participate in political horsetrading. In other words, his influence is next to nil, so why bother? Secondly, the Lieutenant Governor, Andre Bauer, isn’t many S.C. Republicans’ first choice (to put it mildly) to be the next governor, as most GOP legislators suspect he’s gay (no, this isn’t a joke). Giving Bauer the office after a Sanford impeachment would give the Lt. Gov. a strong advantage going into next year’s GOP primary, where he will face very strong opposition from S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster (whose career is another outrageous story we’ll no doubt have reason to write about at some point in the future).
Who knows! Perhaps Sanford will get tired of his problems and resign. Or maybe he’ll pile up petty crimes to the point that lawmakers will be forced to get rid of him before his term is up. But at this point, our guess is that it would take at least another serious bombshell (another affair, anyone?) to move S.C. legislators off their collective butts.
This article appears in Aug 11-18, 2009.
You seem to be prescient as an early blogger suggesting that Andre Bauer is gay. Some of Bauer’s supporters are now suggesting that the Sanford supporters, directly or indirectly, initiated these allegations. Did you bring up Bauer’s sexuality independently?
Now that the issue of Bauer’s alleged homosexuality has escalated, even if South Carolinians were as enlightened and sophisticated as to ignore Bauer’s sexual orientation and focus on his qualifications, they would still have to take into account the possibility of him being open to blackmail if he maintains a closeted lifestyle. That is a large risk for someone opting for governor of a state.
Bauer needs to clear the air by either admitting he is gay or confronting allegations head on until they are resolved. South Carolinians deserve to have this matter settled.