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It’s Up to Us
May 18, 2009 | 55 comments
In the Colosseum
On Second Chances
The former South Carolina governor on why he is running.
I have come to learn that life has many turns and twists. Some come by chance, providence, or God’s plan; others instead seem more the consequences of our own action or inaction—for good or bad. I now stand at one of those turning points.
I had thought politics was forever over for me, yet I am now running for Congress, campaigning on a longstanding belief in the need for more liberty and limited government.
A U.S. senator, Jim DeMint, retired, something that never happens in our state. Our governor then appointed incumbent Congressman Tim Scott to the Senate, and my phone line lit up. I was initially more than reluctant to run for the open seat. But I was told by many that I was needed in Washington because of the way I had focused on debt, deficits, and government spending at a time when it was not in vogue, as it is today.
For more than a decade, I had the privilege of trying to advance the conservative cause in office, and I did my best to watch out for the taxpayer. In Congress, I was rated first among all my peers by both the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste in efforts to limit federal spending and taxation. I was similarly ranked the most financially conservative governor in the country by the Cato Institute. I was the first governor in America to formally reject stimulus funds, believing a problem created by too much debt would never be solved by yet more debt.
I had a host of other accomplishments tied to advancing free-market principles and adherence to constitutionally limited government, or in even making the government we have work better for the people who paid for it. But those efforts were washed ashore in the wake of my very public failure in 2009. I finished my term, but afterward retreated to our family farm and spent a year there rebuilding life from the inside out. Though in no way do I recommend the curriculum to getting there, I have come to believe that in many ways you learn far more in the valleys of life than on its mountaintops. I have grasped in a new way the meaning of God’s grace and its reflection in others. I listen in ways I never did before. I approach many things differently and with a far greater level of humility.
I recognize one of the consequences of my failure is that some will never see a way to a second chance for me, but I am amazed by the number who do.
And so I move forward, realizing in whole new ways the blessing of life and the opportunity each of us has, even as imperfect messengers, to advance ideas that have long burned inside. The need for all of us as conservatives to do so, whatever our station in life, cannot be understated. Never before in the history of our republic have we found ourselves at this sort of tipping point as a civilization.
Think about it for a moment: Throughout our history, every threat to our survival and prosperity as a free people has been external, whether it was the British, the Germans, or the Russians. Today, for the first time, the threat is internal in nature. The danger lies not in what another nation might do to us, but in what we might do to ourselves. In that vein, Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when asked the greatest threat to American sovereignty, answered the American debt.
If we don’t stop the spending train in Washington, I believe there will be incredibly dire consequences for the dollar, the value of everything we might have saved, and even for the American way of life. When the Congressional Budget Office says that in just 12 years, there will be enough money only to pay for interest and entitlements, what we are really talking about is far greater than money. We face a real and present danger to liberty, the sacred hallmark of the American experiment.
So I’m running. I don’t know whether a win or a loss is coming my way in this election, but I hope to humbly apply lessons learned on the way up—in Congress and in the governorship—and those learned on the way down. I also hope to contribute to one of the great debates of our civilization: how we get our financial house in order. It’s never been more important that we all make our voices heard.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (22) | Leave a comment
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Sean| 3.19.13 @ 7:05AM
Good Luck and run for the Senate seat of Lindsey Graham.
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AlanAnti-GOPBrooks | 3.31.13 @ 1:03AM
I forgive him but for my own reasons- not God's:
if being a deviant is good enough for Mark, it's good enough for the lesser of us (I figure if Sanford has the moxy to run for office again at his age and after what he's been through, he's a tough old bird and who argues with that?)
As far as I know, real morality died in 1969 with Eisenhower, and is buried with him.
Glen H| 3.19.13 @ 7:33AM
I believe there are basic moral and ethical standards a candidate must meet to warrant a grant of public trust, even those candidates who agree with me on all the basic issues of government.
Mark Sanford does not meet those standards.
c. j. acworth| 3.19.13 @ 8:29AM
I agree. He ran out on his resposibilities to his constiuents, the reponsibilities of his office, to spend some quality time with his "squeeze". His wife may forgive him for his betrayal, that's between them. The voters should show him the door.
Harry the Horrible| 3.19.13 @ 8:58AM
If his wife can't trust him, how can his constituents?
loulou| 3.19.13 @ 10:04AM
Most do not meet those standards.
Sanford is a good conservative and was a good governor.
Maxwell| 3.19.13 @ 8:43AM
I'm getting old & it is a good thing I am not in charge. My view is that if you can tell your mother or wife what you have done or are thinking of doing with out shame, then it is fine. If you can tell what you have done in mixed company with out shame, than that too is alright. On that basis I could not vote for Mr. Sanford as once trust is broken how will I know it will not happen again?
When the wife asks me, Maxwell, what are you thinking my usual reply is that I hope tomorrow a 50 foot truck pulls up in front of our house with goodies from Italy. Ducati motorcycles for me, Furla hand bags & shoes for you along with some Salvatore Ferragamo shoes. Of course a Harley Fat Boy would be nice too.
ncatty| 3.19.13 @ 9:45AM
Former Governor Sanford must believe he is indispensable and the only candidate with his views. I hope that he is not.
Sean| 3.19.13 @ 11:29PM
Who do you have that is better than him for office that is willing to run?
Doctor Right| 3.19.13 @ 10:27AM
Sanford is returning to politics because he's a narcissistic fool who needs to be in the spotlight and thinks his services are indispensable.
They're not.
Disappear, Mr. Sanford. Back to Argentina, if possible.
You are not wanted. You're damaged goods. Your political career is over.
Doctor Right| 3.19.13 @ 10:37AM
I'm going to chime back in, because this actually enrages me.
I'm soooo glad to see that you've "grasped in a new way the meaning of God’s grace and its reflection in others," and that you're "listen[ing] in ways [you] never did before."
And bully for you that you understand that Washington is out of control. So do I; can I run for the Senate in South Carolina???
If you had any decency, you'd accept the end of your political career with dignity, and lead a quiet, private life in the Palmetto State.
But you can't do that, can you? Of course not - your massive ego won't let you. So you've concocted a story - and a very stereotypical one, at that - about how God has taught you humility, and "the people" are asking you to run...for their sake, of course!
Rubbish.
You abandoned your responsibilities to the people of South Carolina to sneak off to Argentina with another woman!!! That is the height of arrogance.
And now you want back into "the game"?
Folks, this is why the GOP is a dead Party on life-support.
TW in SC| 3.19.13 @ 2:29PM
If you have to constantly tell people how God has made you learn humility, then you haven't.
Citizen Jerry| 3.19.13 @ 10:47AM
Didn't the "luv guv" say he was moving to Argentina to live with his soul mate? So go already!
I'm sure God can forgive him. But that doesn't negate the price that must be paid in this world. So here in Realityville, he should never be trusted.
Lady Gator| 3.19.13 @ 11:51AM
That Mark Sanford would consider a run for office is troubling. I saw him wandering the halls @ the Convention in Tpa & thinking, what is he doing here?
Sanford was THE SITTING GOVERNOR of S.C. and went AWOL for almost a week & told no one where he was, not even the LG & abandoned his Executive duties to the people of S.C.
He led his wife, the mother of their 4 boys, to believe he was perhaps "hiking the Appalachian trail."
Sanford went to another country, to continue an affair, & chose to do that FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND. Who does this to 4 children who must have wondered where their father was?
His article reminds me of the incoherent press conference he convened to tearfully tell the country about his "soul mate" in Argentina. I remember watching & thinking, will some staffer stop him from this awful, incriminating behavior? He seemed delusional.
He does not grasp the humiliation & pain he has caused to his wife & children & a black eye to the Party. Only an unchecked EGO would consider a run after a scandal like his.
What would his election to Congress say about our party?
I've witnessed a disturbing trend of the Republican party abandoning their belief in traditional marriage & prolife views. If the party thinks this type of behavior can be overlooked without future consequences, they sorely misjudge their base. Character matters, integrity matters, being moored to principle matters.
The only Sanford who should run for this seat is Jenny.
cicero| 3.19.13 @ 11:58AM
I can hardly believe that South Carolina has such a shallow pool of candidaes that they have to reach back for Sanford. But, of course, this is the same state thatkeeps sending Lindsay Graham to the Senate. Given the gullibility of the voting populace (my state keeps sending Levin to the Senante - he just announced he won't run again), one never knows what criteria they use for whom they elect. You have to shrug your shoulders, and resign yourrself to the conclusion that perhaps this experiment has run its course, and the fools deserve whatever they get.
Occam's Tool| 3.19.13 @ 2:03PM
I agree with Doctor Right. Governor: go away. Go, away.
When you decide to make certain life choices, you close certain doors. We are not Democratic VERMIN. We are Republicans.
Kilgore Trout| 3.19.13 @ 2:26PM
This bumbling idiot (Biden-class) is running again because WHERE ELSE who such a fool get the salary ($160,000+) and perks of a congress critter and not have to actually DO anything but yak.
I mean, what ELSE is he going to do? Who'd hire him?
TW in SC| 3.19.13 @ 2:35PM
Yeah, the book deal must have cratered.
"But...it has intrigue, mystery...a flight in a private jet".
"Um...no thanks, we got that with Pelosi."
"What about the secret love tryst?"
"Well, maybe if she was hot. But....no."
"Dang, you guys are tough. You bought Obama's book."
"Yeah, but it had all the right ingredients, plus he's black."
"So you're saying that if I was a black governor, you'd pay for this story?"
"Well, maybe. But only if it had some really good justifiable anger against the racist whites."
Joe D.| 3.19.13 @ 2:42PM
I agree with a number of these comments. You did not explain how you will not run out on your responsibilities again. What has changed that we should be leave in you. How do we know of your true repentance?
Dodd2| 3.19.13 @ 4:57PM
Is this guy kidding or what?
Sanford should have the good manners to say hidden and out of sight.
Oh yeah, and he's a great way to bring women into the GOP tent.
TRA| 3.21.13 @ 1:26PM
Congratulations for admitting your mistakes and owning up to them. Now, we have a party and a country to save, and your baggage would get in the way. Be a patriot and step aside.