Posted on 06/23/2009 4:40:42 AM PDT by IbJensen
In a new twist to an already-bizarre episode, South Carolina’s lieutenant governor said Monday night that neither he nor Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff know where the governor is and that Sanford’s office refused his demand to talk to his fellow Republican.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who was elected separately from Sanford, issued a statement to POLITICO after a day of frenzied national speculation about the governor’s whereabouts.
Bauer said he called Sanford’s office Monday and requested an “immediate phone conversation with the governor.”
“That request was denied because the governor’s chief of staff does not know where the governor is, and has not communicated with the governor since he left South Carolina last Thursday,” Bauer said. “I cannot take lightly that his staff has not had communication with him for more than four days, and that no one, including his own family, knows his whereabouts.”
But Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer issued a statement late Monday night saying that the governor was “hiking along the Appalachian Trail,” the first word on Sanford’s location since he was seen departing the state capital on Thursday.
“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,” Sawyer said in the statement.
Yet asked if he had spoken with Sanford, Sawyer wrote in an email message: “No, not today.”
And the spokesman wouldn’t say where on the approximately 2,175-mile long trail Sanford is.
“We're not discussing location, other than to say he's on the trail,” Sawyer wrote.
As for Bauer’s accusation, Sawyer shot back: “We actually just tried to call the Lt. Gov., and he didn't call back.”
The extraordinary back-and-forth between the state’s top two officials is suffused with politics. Sanford and Bauer have a distant relationship and Bauer is positioning himself to run for governor next year, when Sanford is term-limited out of office.
Sanford has not endorsed in that contest but has offered kind words for one of Bauer’s potential primary opponents, Columbia-area state Rep. Nikki Haley.
Last week, Bauer took to the House floor to successfully lobby to override Sanford’s veto of a budget item providing the lieutenant governor with a state security detail.
Earlier Monday, Sawyer said that before the governor left town last week “he let staff know his whereabouts and that he'd be difficult to reach.”
“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,” said Sawyer.
Sanford’s wife, Jenny, also told The Associated Press Monday that she was unconcerned and that the second-term governor is “writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids.”
Sanford allies blamed the initial attention on some of the governor’s adversaries, especially state Sen. Jake Knotts, a veteran Republican who has clashed repeatedly with Sanford.
It was Knotts who provided the only on-record confirmation of Sanford’s absence to The State newspaper, prompting nationwide buzz about the unlikely story of the disappearing governor.
Knotts demanded in an interview Monday with The State to “know immediately who is running the executive branch in the governor’s absence.”
“As the head of our state, in the unfortunate event of a state of emergency or homeland security situation, Governor Sanford should be available at all times to the chief of [the state police force],” Knotts said.
State authorities told the paper that Sanford’s last known location was somewhere near Atlanta where the governor’s phone signal was picked up by a local cell phone tower.
Sanford’s solo summer sabbatical is only the latest reminder of his eccentricity.
“He marches to his own crazy beat,” said one veteran Palmetto State GOP strategist when asked about this Salinger-like episode.
Sanford, a potential 2012 presidential aspirant, has previously raised eyebrows in South Carolina for bringing squealing and defecating pigs into the statehouse to make his case against pork-barrel spending and for sporting a ratty blazer to his own inauguration.
A former House member, he easily won his gubernatorial races and has been more popular with the electorate than the state’s political class.
But with unemployment climbing in South Carolina, Sanford has come under fire for initially refusing to take some federal stimulus funds.
Now he’s sure to become the butt of late-night television jokes for a time, not exactly the preferred launching pad for White House hopefuls.
© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC
What could be afoot? Foul play?
He was taking a hike in the Appalachians, according to him. Perhaps wanted to clear his head in respect to running for president.
If his family didn’t file a missing persons report he wasn’t missing. He was off doing his own thing for a couple of days and I’m not quite sure why this is news.
SC: Gov. Sanford not heard from since Thursday (Updated)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277017/posts
250+ posts...
Unfortunately, I think he just damaged his chances. Its legimatate to want to “clear your head”, but he should have coordinated his absence better. A Govenor shouldn’t just disappear like that—it looks bizarre and will come back to haunt him.
Slow news day. I guess Republicans aren’t permitted to get away and clear their heads without lining up an emergency contingency operaton to keep state government up and spending money.
What looks bizarre is the media’s infatuation with this non-story.
Gee,it just seems the guy wants a little time off to settle his thoughts and mentally prepare for the problems his state has to deal with.I wish people in DC would do the same.
What is this? Is somebody over there trying to Walpinize him out of the way?
Well this guy appears to be fairly conservative and so called “right leaning” Politico seems to have dedicated themselves to stamping out conservatives where ever they may be found.
Why would drudge have this reported and NOT ONE story about AmericorpsGate and Walpin?
Note the key missing phrase from the AP story as printed from a link from the AOL opening page: "He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids," she told The Associated Press while vacationing at the family's Sullivans Island beach house.
The words in the politico article saying that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who was elected separately from Sanford, issued a statement to POLITICO
were also missing from the AP story. The fact that the Lt. Gov. was elected separately is very important.
I guess Sanford is another Republican who must be destroyed.
...I hear he went dark to locate the Obama birth certificate....
This is news for two reasons. First, he didn’t take stimulus money except to pay down debt. That goes against the big O and that cannot be tolerated. Second, he is a possible presidential candidate in 2012, therefore, he must be destroyed.
The MSM long ago lost all objectivity. Their rotten shells of journalistic integrity have decomposed into far left wing ideological propaganda. They use their power to promote their politics, which includes the destruction of all political enemies. There are many examples but two are George Allen and Sarah Palin.
It is only bizarre because the MSM play it that way. Anyone who thinks it strange that a father's day present might be some alone doesn't have kids.
“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,” said Sawyer.
Obviously he didn't just disappear.
Gov. gone since last thursday.
Late monday night, 4 days later,
Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer issued a statement late Monday night saying that the governor was “hiking along the Appalachian Trail,” the first word on Sanford’s location since he was seen departing the state capital on Thursday
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,” Sawyer said in the statement.
Earlier Monday, Sawyer said that before the governor left town last week “he let staff know his whereabouts and that he'd be difficult to reach.”
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,” said Sawyer.
But the Gov.'s wife Sanford’s wife, Jenny, also told The Associated Press Monday that she was unconcerned and that the second-term governor is “writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids.
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So, piecing these tantalizing bits of information together I deduce that Sanford is writing something somewhere on the Appalachian Trail after calling someone near Atlanta on his cell phone while using a State Police vehicle for personal use.
The boy ain't right.
Not because he's tripping out, but because there' an obviously adversary relationship with the Lt. gov. and opposition party, it's that he didn't consider the opportunity his reclusiveness would present to his opponents. That's flat out political tone deafness that could have been forestalled by a simple announcement of a brief vacation with a return date.
Oh and by the way, the BS spouted by Sawyer is such a transparent CYA spinner's effort way too late in the game.
But it's going to be interesting to hear Sanford's story if and when he returns from....an alien abduction maybe. He's toast at the national level and poison to to his state party.
I don’t know what the protocols are in other states, but here in New Jersey, the state constitution calls for the Senate president to be acting governor when the governor is out of the state, followed by the Assembly speaker if the Senate president is also absent. Since NJ is such a small state, it sometimes gets silly. There was one time when NJ technically had 3 different governors in something like 36 hours, but at least there’s no doubt who’s in charge in case of a major incident.
Bingo!!
That was my 1st thought about this. After all, he had the audacity to turn down the gov. titty- an obvious sign of instability, right?
He is not toast just because the media spun/ OBVIOUSLY half quoted/reported this. It is all political. SEE JOE THE PLUMBER for OBVIOUS smear tactics. SEE this for subtle beginning ones. Sanford is a threat to the demomarxists as he MAY run for POTUS and this dude wants his job.
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