Governor of SC is AWOL or AWOTTPWHI “absent w/o telling the press where he is”. Today’s big news was Governor Kaine is using public funding to finance his campaigning and fundraising, or thats the suspicion until the VA GOP receives the costs of the Lame Duck Governor are released as part of a FOI petition. So, IMO they decided to bring up Mark Sanford (R) (they made sure you knew he was a (R)) as a way to usher in equivocation.

BTW, the news failed to report Kaines party affiliation and then said the VA Democratic Party had requested the information. I could have misheard that but I wouldn’t put it past ABC news to intentionally get that wrong.

did his wife really not know where he was, and what does that mean exactly? Was she looking for him or just tell someone who called she didn’t know where he was at the time?

If this is just trumped up drive by media drivel, someone needs to be held accountable.

They’re just sure we have another Ensign on our hands. You can expect it to be twisted every which way since, as mom2oneson pointed out, he has been mentioned as a ’12 possibility.

“Should any emergencies arise between the times in which he checks in, our staff would obviously be in contact with other state officials as the situation warrants before making any decisions.”

So the governor thinks he can be unreachable “between the times in which he checks in” — and that his staff should be “in contact with other state officials” during an emergency?

That just doesn’t sound right.

I hope he clarifies.

I’m shocked, SHOCKED, at the idea of public political officials taking PERSONAL time off (aka vacation). They are supposed to be 100% engaged in finding new ways to piss away our money.

He should be recalled, impeached, convicted, and given the Palin treatment.

Woof.

The rumor is that Sanford is writing a book and actually, unlike many politicians, doing it himself. So he took a few days off schedule to catch up.

Then maybe the governor’s PR people need to be fired.

Their statements are creating a smoke screen — whether he needs one or not — so it looks like there really is something he’s trying to hide.

If there’s nothing to this, then he needs to get some staff people who know how to talk to the press and craft professional press releases.

Another sign of the feminism of men. You used to be able and just go as long as you made it back for the next workday. Now, you have to update your twitter account every 12 hours or you’re forgotten.

No thanks. Me and the gov. will stick with walkabouts.

laugh in their face, and ask if they be interested in buying into your new invention, the buggy-whip – it’s all the rage these days! Apparently people think someone is inaccessible if the press hasn’t been told.

This isn’t worth the digital ink that spilled. Just the Drive-Bys trying to take out a credible threat to Obama ’12.

So laugh.

“Sawyer told The Associated Press that he hadn’t spoken with Sanford since Thursday and wasn’t aware that any other member of the governor’s staff had, either.”

Oh, come on! That’s just asking for trouble. At worst, reporters think he’s hiding something; at best they think he’s avoiding responsibility by ditching his staff and leaving unelected underlings to do his job. Not great either way.

So, bottom line?
Spokesman Joel Sawyer made this an issue. He should have simply said all is well, and the governor’s on a working vacation (assuming the governor was doing at least a bit of writing at night when he left the trail).

And somebody should tell the governor to be smarter next year. It looks bad for him to be gone (and unreachable) over Father’s Day without his wife and kids.

That’s just common sense.

We conservatives sometimes sabotage ourselves.

His wife is quoted as saying that she did not know where he was and he had not contacted the family on Father’s Day.

…I do expect a Governor to be “reachable.” There are too many things that can require his attention. I’m fine if he wants to take a vacation, but the notion that no one can reach him until “the next time he checks in” is a bit odd.

Unless, of course, he actually handed power over to the Lt. Governor; if memory serves, one of our Governors did that some years ago for a similar “out in the woods” vacation…and that would seem the proper way to handle the situation.

*shrug* It isn’t the greatest way for a Governor to act, but it’s isn’t exactly earthshattering.

Maybe the press is completely distorting this, but politically speaking, Sanford is an idiot. I have no doubt the press made a bigger issue of it than they should have, but something Republican politicians need to understand is you never give the liberal media an opening like this. It’s not fair, but you’d better get used to it.

You don’t get to drop off the face of the Earth and become completely unreachable when you’re a sitting Governor. Sorry, but you give up rights like that when you seek higher office, it comes with the territory. What if there was an emergency? Shouldn’t at least the Lt. Governor be put in charge until you come back? I understand not wanting to be bothered, but your staff can certainly defer your calls until you get back, and only contact you in an emergency situation.

Also, the fact that that his wife was quoted as saying she didn’t know where he was at for several days, and he didn’t even check in for Father’s Day is also really strange.

This unfortunately derailed his Presidential ambitions, imo, and it’s a real shame because I really liked Sanford, he was a true conservative

If he’s this dimwitted politically, it’s probably best we found this out now rather than later.

So after all the dust has settled, it looks like the governor took an unpublicized vacation after the end of the legislative session and his family and staff told the press they didn’t know where he was. Have you ever answered the phone and the caller asked to talk to someone who didn’t want to talk to the caller? “He’s not available, I don’t know where he is, just get off the phone.” Why the big deal? The Lt Gv and other political adversaries started screaming to the media when they weren’t told Sanford’s itinerary. Somehow, the state kept running. Lessons learned; if you want to take an unpublicized vacation, either come up with a better cover story or just tell the press he’s on vacation and it’s none of their business.
I recommend a call to the LG’s office. If you are not put through to the LG, where is he? Why is he unavailable? Who is in charge? These calls can go on all day. He’s an important elected official and needs to answer to the public.

Lt Gov Andre Bauer
Office # (803) 734-2080