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The Spectacle Blog

Where's the Guv? He's Hiking the Appalachian Trail

By Doug Bandow on 6.23.09 @ 7:49AM

Philip Klein pointed out that Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina seemed to have disappeared. A bit odd, to put it mildly, for a man who's been in the national spotlight and is seen as a serious conservative contender for the presidency in 2012.

But he's been found, kind of. His staff says that he is busy hiking the Appalachian Trail. Reports the Wall Street Journal:

After sparking a four-day mystery about his whereabouts, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's spokesman said the governor had been hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

Until late Monday night, Mr. Sanford's whereabouts hadn't been revealed since Thursday, when he took off in a sport-utility vehicle normally driven by a bodyguard, turned off his mobile phone and stopped communicating with his office, family and close political allies. Mr. Sanford has been viewed as a likely contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

[Mark Sanford]

Mark Sanford

On Monday, South Carolina elected leaders had considered temporarily transferring the governor's power to another state official, according to people familiar with the situation. Officials decided against the move after being told by aides to the governor that they knew Mr. Sanford's location.

In a statement Monday night, the governor's spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said Mr. Sanford "is hiking along the Appalachian Trail. I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the trail he was on before we did so." But Mr. Sawyer said he hadn't received an update from the governor Monday.

Mr. Sawyer earlier Monday had said his office knew how to reach the governor, if needed, but declined to reveal where he was. Mr. Sawyer said at the time that the governor was taking time to "recharge" and "to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside."

The state's top attorneys spent Monday researching state laws, which are ambiguous, about whether an extended or unexplained absence can trigger the temporary replacement of the governor or transfer of authority to Lt. Gov. André Bauer. Both men are Republicans.

Mr. Sanford's absence follows a bruising battle with Obama administration officials and with Mr. Sanford's opponents in the state over $700 million in federal stimulus funds he refused to accept, despite rising unemployment and steep funding shortages in South Carolina. Mr. Sanford argued that taking the money would be bad fiscal policy, and said he would refuse to apply for the cash unless the state used an equal amount to pay down its debt.

Mr. Sawyer, the governor's spokesman, said in his statement late Monday: "I want to emphasize that this isn't something that either staff or [First lady Jenny Sanford] is concerned about. As we said earlier today, it isn't unusual for the governor to be out of pocket for several days after the legislative session. We knew he would be difficult to reach, and that he would be checking in infrequently. Given the media attention this has generated, we'll obviously update you once we have some more specifics to pass along."

Assuming there's nothing more here, it still is a strange story. But I hope that's all there is, since Gov. Sanford is one of the brighter lights in today's political firmament.

View all comments (14) | Leave a comment

Tim| 6.23.09 @ 9:31AM

Right there I'd have difficulty with this guy as a candidate. He went wandering off into the woods without telling anybody? Not Presidential material.

james23| 6.23.09 @ 9:49AM

Strange story. Hiking the Blue Ridge this time of year would be great, but jeez, at his level, you can't just take off and shut down the phones.

I can't believe that a guy who feels he needs to do that will also conclude that he wants to spend 4 years in the WH fishbowl. My guess is, he'll be wrapping up his political career in the not too distant future.

Dee| 6.23.09 @ 10:17AM

Maybe he took off to think about whether or not he wants to run for office. It's a big decision, he might need the alone time to think about it.

Eli| 6.23.09 @ 10:38AM

I don't think you can reach any definitive conclusions from his abscence without a great deal more info about the situation and his motives. I value his willingness to do something outside the box that he mostly likely knows will be challenging to explain, but may in the end be of value to either himself or his leadership.

Sadie| 6.23.09 @ 10:55AM

My sympathies are with Gov. Sanford. He has been through the mill and our nation is going in a direction that opposes his conservative morals, beliefs, and fiscal practices. I see nothing wrong with his choice to have time alone and become quiet so he can think and sort out how to address the chaos our nation's politics have become. And perhaps whether he thinks he should continue to try to stop or slow down the mad course our nation is on.

Lily| 6.23.09 @ 11:27AM

His office said that they knew how to reach him. Grow up, you silly people.

Old Texican| 6.23.09 @ 11:28AM

Guys...
You can all bet your six-guns that the Governor had/has a communications link open...for emergencies.
I kinda' like the idea that he got out of town to do a little serious thinking, and contemplating, and maybe even a little fly-fishing along the way.
Sadie,
I don't think the Governor would want your sympathies. I think rather he would enjoy and appreciate your other thoughts though. I really like the guy.

Sadie| 6.23.09 @ 12:43PM

Old Texan,

There is more than one meaning/definition for the word: sympathy. I think you were thinking of it's usage as pity or compassion whereas I was using the word sympathy in this context:

rapport, fellow feeling, affinity, empathy, harmony, accord, compatibility; fellowship, camaraderie. antonym hostility.

Sadie| 6.23.09 @ 12:50PM

Oh phooey... I pasted the wrong one..

agreement, favor, approval, approbation, support, encouragement, partiality; association, alignment, affiliation. antonym disapproval.

Although I suppose either of the two definitions could work in helping explain that I support his actions.

Anway, the context of my comment is how sympathy was to be defined and obviously what you understood it was good but misunderstood the word as pity... ?

Old Texican| 6.23.09 @ 1:10PM

Sadie
I was just drawing a tight focus on what you were saying. (smile) please see my comment on the other Sanford update.

Angel| 6.23.09 @ 1:20PM

Can you imagine the response if Governor Palin had disappeared for four days? The trolls would be out in force with their long knives. Talk about living in a fishbowl.

I couldn't do it.

JP| 6.23.09 @ 4:33PM

The story reminds me of President Bush (43)'s first Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Niel. He was a retired CEO from ALCOA and good friend of the family. He really nice guy. During the summer of 2001, when the President had to hammer his tax cuts through a difficult Congress, and during the telco/ dot com implosion, Sec O'Niel decided to take a trip to Africa with his favorite rock star Bono. After a few weeks, someone at the White House noticed that no one at Treausry were defending Bush's tax cuts. It took a few days, but someone at the WH ordered O'Neil back home. In huff he returned.

As far as I know, O'Neil never really got behind the tax cuts