Posted on 06/23/2009 12:46:03 PM PDT by Chet 99
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called his chief of staff Tuesday morning to check in after an unexpected five-day absence, and was surprised to learn that his disappearance was garnering significant attention, his spokesman said.
"It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten," spokesman Joel Sawyer said in a statement. "The governor communicated to us that he plans on returning to the office tomorrow."
Mystery surrounding Mr. Sanford's whereabouts prompted some elected officials on Monday to consider temporarily transferring power to another state official. The governor, fresh from a battle with Obama administration officials and opponents in his state over $700 million in federal stimulus funds that he tried to refuse, took off on Thursday 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. Several said they didn't know where he was. His wife said he had taken off for some peace and quiet to write.
After declining for hours to reveal his location, Mr. Sanford's governor's office disclosed late Monday night that he was hiking along the Appalachian Trail and was difficult to reach.
Mr. Sawyer said Monday his office knew how to reach the governor, if needed, though allies said their phone calls were going straight to voicemail. 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."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Maybe he checked himself into rehab or something like that.
Or kids? He missed celebrating father's day with them which is rather strange. Couldn't he have waited a week for his nature hike?
“If my wife didn’t know where I was for five hours (forget about five days), I would have some ‘splanin’ to do.”
Word, my friend.
...was surprised to learn that his disappearance was garnering significant attention...
, If he does not think runnning off for an entire weekend without telling ANYONE (including his family) where he was going, is unusual behavior, worthy of "garnering significant attention", then he must be insane.
Good point! I had not thought of that. Thanks.
Stankapotamous armpit hair hippie chicks!
Oh c’mon people. At worst this is just a PR snafu that his opponents (including the Lt. Governor) are using to derail any national ambitions.
IMHO, his senior staff and the Mrs. always knew where he was and how to reach him, but didn’t do a good job of communicating to the press.
Something like that.
This is 100% an attempt to take him out of the 2012 race. Nothing else.
He’s done it before.
Why is everyone believing the wife didnt know where he was. The wife is under no obligation to share anything with the media. And, as a private person, she is just as able to lie to media as anyone else is.
My guess is that if someone needed to get to him, they could have.
I have been in a position where I needed to be “accessible” day or night (I used to be involved with corporate mergers, and those keep odd hours.) Letting people know where you are, and under what conditions you want to be disturbed is not brain surgery.
Does the guy get vacation?
Give him a break.
I don’t blame him at all for wanting to get away from the Office of Governor. For all intents and purposes, the Office and the State has lost it’s sovereignty, thanks to ‘dictator’ occupying the Oval Office.
It wouldn’t surprise me if ‘governor’ Sanford held a news conference announcing he is vacating his office because it is longer a position that is viable because the state is now being run from washington.
“I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and even admire him for being his own man. And if his wife didn’t like it, that’s between him and his wife. “
I also admire him for being his own man. But I don’t admire him for leaving his family without any way of getting in touch with him.
But it speaks volume of his character, which at least I, take into consideration when considering someone to represent me.
I got the impression from the story that the family was not panicking or filing missing-persons reports. If it’s OK with them, it’s OK with me ... a guy can go away for a few days.
Going walkabout IS NOT a crime.
Perhaps he have carried one of these
Cool. I agree he has a right to go away. I would even say any man has a right to get away for a while, even from his family. But I wouldn’t be out of communication with them. That’s a bit odd to me...especially when you have children.
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