Mark Sanford’s reeling attempt at a political comeback didn’t need this, but it has come to the attention many that his campaign signs bear a striking resemblance to the Argentine flag.
Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post first tweeted:
Observant #wapo reader notes striking similarity between Sanford signs bit.ly/175Fcd7 and Argentine flagbit.ly/XTeQKG
— Karen Tumulty(@ktumulty) April 18, 2013
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Here is Sanford’s sign. (Via fitsnews.com: Nice no trespassing sign):
Here is the Argentine flag:
It is almost like Sanford is intentionally trying to lose. Campaign colors that resemble the Argentine flag aren’t some sort of coincidence that just happens.
Here was Sanford’s campaign sign when he ran for governor:
Sanford didn’t use his current colors in his previous run for office, so someone made the intentional decision to remind voters of the Argentine flag with his 2013 campaign signs. At best, this is incompetence. At worst, this is an unbelievable display of arrogance. It is almost like Sanford is trying to rub his past scandal in the voters’ faces. There are so many different color combinations that the Sanford campaign could have used for their signs, so why did they pick the one color scheme that would remind voters of Sanford vanishing while governor to go visit his then mistress in Argentina?
I suspect that someone in the Sanford camp might have gotten a bit too cute with their strategy. They may have thought that the best way to deal with Sanford’s past scandal was to adopt it. If asked they could spin the decision on the signs as a tribute to the candidate’s love of his life. I doubt that the thought ever entered their minds that this might offend voters, or confirm to them why they don’t like Mark Sanford.
Stunts like this one are the reason why Democrat Elizabeth Colbert-Busch is leading Sanford by 9 points in the polls. Mark Sanford’s campaign is looking more and more like an episode of Veep, and Republicans may be heading for another special election disaster.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association