Republican trespasser, court order violator, Appalachian Trail hiker, ethics violator, child support violator and post-abandoner Mark Sanford is proving that Republicans are bereft of any values at all, as he takes a narrow lead in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District special election.
Chris Cillizza, writing in the Washington Post, explained that it appears Sanford will take the 1st District in Tuesday’s special election.
In conversations with Democratic and Republican strategists closely following the special election set for Tuesday in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, the consensus is that the former governor, not businesswoman (and sister of Stephen Colbert) Elizabeth Colbert Busch, is the candidate gaining momentum in the race’s final 48 hours.
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The Post and Courier even endorsed Sanford’s Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch. The seat Sanford seeks includes the Democratic leaning Charleston and Hilton Head, an area invaded by retiring “Yankees”. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think a Democrat had a fair shot. But no. Mitt Romney won the district by 18 points in 2012.
Red states like South Carolina are steeped in Fox News propaganda. To be a Democrat in South Carolina is almost akin to announcing you are the anti-Christ. The Republican is automatically associated with God, tradition, patriotism, fiscal responsibility, and confederate loyalty/resentment.
Sure, Sanford can’t run on his record, his personality, his real beliefs or his family values. He was charged with breaking 37 state ethics laws, so nattering on about values could seem disingenuous. What’s left?
Smearing Colbert Busch as being Obama/Pelosi will suffice. In other words, resentment and false information is enough to garner a vote in South Carolina. Sanford spent his weekend smugly setting himself up as the persecuted by NBC, boldly and without shame using his affair to his advantage. He ran around South Carolina asking women if they “hated” him like NBC said women did. In this simplistic scenario devoid of all policy discussion and without an ounce of respect for what he actually did to both his wife and the voters, he is the persecuted/Jesus figure and NBC is obviously the liberal media/devil. He is using his decision to lie to his family, his staff, and his constituents to his advantage. Let’s not forget that Sanford compared himself to King David as he explained that God forgave him because he is super special, and this hubris did not offend the Republican voters.
Yes, this is nuts, but it does not matter. Comments left on the Post and Courier allow insight into the mindset of a Fox watching SC Republican. They don’t know where Colbert Busch stands. Better to go with the guy you know. What about abortion? Oh, and the end all be all, she has taken money from Satan himself — the Democratic Party.
There is obviously nothing, literally nothing short of murder but even that I would not bet against, Sanford could do that would cause South Carolina to elect a Democrat. Republican voters are showing just how easily manipulated they truly are in this race. They don’t judge on character or policy positions. They buy the Story sold to them by the conservative media and adept con artists like Mark Sanford.
If Sanford takes this seat, it should prove to the nation that sanity and values died a long time ago among the Republican base. Why would they vote for Sanford? He has violated every single alleged “value” of the Republican Party. He spent taxpayer money on himself, jetting off for family vacations and book signings on the taxpayer dime, he had a high profile affair that involved him leaving the state without informing anyone and being unavailable to govern (what if there had been an emergency?), he recently violated a court order in order to trespass as his ex-wife’s home – the man is a walking violator of all things decent and legal.
And he’s about to win another election.
Let this moment inform angry liberals who think Dennis Kucinich could get elected in South Carolina if only someone like him would run. It’s easy to rail against “blue dog” Dems in red states for not being “real” Democrats (and they aren’t), but when even a savvy businesswoman like Colbert Busch can’t get elected in a district with the relatively progressive Charleston included, it’s time to face the fact that states like South Carolina are operating in the dark ages, pitting Republicans against the “Devil”. Sanford is running a tent revival, not a political campaign. He just keeps pointing the finger outward, invoking vague evil doing and Satanic agendas (i.e., vague references to union affiliation and Pelosi/Obama). The Devil wants South Carolina.
In reality, Colbert Busch wants to bring jobs to South Carolina and she wouldn’t vote to starve the children. But that’s not the dialogue taking place. The framing is Republican/Jesus endorsed fighting against the Devil. Don’t look at the actual records or actions. Just feel the fear.
Sanford looks alright compared to the Devil, eh?
Too bad he’s not actually running against the Devil. If anyone should be obviously outed as an unethical evildoer tricking the people with a slick grin masking a nefarious agenda, it’s Mark Sanford. Sanford once told a starving constituent to pray, as he cut funding for the poor. Sanford claims Jesus forgave him, yet he continues to dance a disingenuous two-step over reality and facts. Who does that?
It appears as if the voters will fall for it again, and the innocent will suffer. There’s nothing the Republican base loves more than to be taken by a con artist invoking endorsement by Jesus himself while pointing the finger with lies (casting stones) at their opponents. Republicans keep Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin rolling in the riches of their cons. Why would their representatives be any different?
It’s come to the point where if a Republican does not have an ethics scandal and/or affair on their resume, they shouldn’t bother running for office. Because those things are easily turned into “persecution” by the “liberal” press, thereby invoking the easily-stoked resentments that the Republican PR firm of Fox News keeps at a steady smolder, ready to ignite whenever a distraction is required.
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