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Read other letters about this article
I don't need to know Gov Mark Sanford committed adultery in heart, rather than with other bodily organs, with women he met on vacations before he found his "soul mate" in Miss Argentina.
There may be good reasons for he and the Missus to try to make a go of it, principally their four young children. But the chances of that happening dim every time he feels compelled to make another revelation.
Women as "gold diggers" is certainly a stereotype for which there are no shortage of examples. But men, too, can select a mate based on the professional and lifestyle door she opens. My grandmother used to tell me how she and the neighbor would pelt his older brother with anything they could get their hands as he left for invitation only dances, hoping to dirty his formal whites. Sure enough, he married a rich girl from the right background and they relied on booze lubrication to get through life.
Sanford had political ambitions and married a woman who could further them. She may have been attracted to the life his success as a public official could provide. Possibly he tired of all that.
Recently I watched the movie "Outrage" about closeted politicians and the politics of homophobia. The only outed politician who was reflective at all about his life was former NJ Gov McGrevey (sp). He said his closeted existence aided his political career in that both relied on deceiving people about his true intentions to win their trust. He got better and better at it but once he was outed, he realized there was another way to live.
Sanford may have had that epiphany in Buenos Aires. But he needs to resign and resume a private life in which he should focus on how to do the best he can by those he has made conflicting representations to, namely his kids, his wife and his girlfriend.
