Sanford blows it

Just as he was trying to decide between hiking in the Ozarks, shopping for Naples FL custom doors or a secret trip to Argentina, South Carolina GOP governor Mark Sanford revealed he let the wrong head do his thinking for him, as he revealed his absence was due to an affair, rather than a nature-loving trip or buying smart home improvement materials.

Sanford had been positioning himself for a 2012 presidential run by being among the first to turn down President Obama’s bailout money a few months ago, so secure head-of-the-pack on the fiscal conservative front. Now disgraced and admitting it, at least, Sanford has said he will step down as president of the GOP Governor’s Association and it has yet to be determined whether the scandal will also drive him from office.

“The bottom line is this,” Sanford said. “I have been unfaithful to my wife.”

While that reads a whole lot more honest than, “That depends what the definition of the word ‘is’ is,” and worlds better than “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” it’s still tawdry stuff that’s rather unacceptable in GOP circles, at least for the moment.

So Governor Palin can rest easier tonight as one of her stronger contenders for the 2012 top of the GOP ticket is now sidelined faster than you can say, “Macaca.”