Republicans have no frigging idea what to do now.
Mark Sanford's summer adventure to Argentina -- no, he was not hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his aides incorrectly told reporters -- is now a full-fledged personal and family embarrassment, a story of infidelity followed by a public confession of the kind that has become all too familiar from political leaders.
But Sanford's story is more than personal. For a Republican Party down on its luck, the governor's disappearance and subsequent rambling apology to his wife, his family, his close friends and all the people of South Carolina draw more unwelcome publicity to a party that needs but cannot seem to get any good news
Republicans in Congress have been trying to develop a more effective response to President Obama and the Democrats, and there is a sense among some GOP lawmakers and strategists that they have slowly begun to identify the president's vulnerabilities. But polls show that Republicans have made little progress since the election. The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey found Republicans lower in
favorability (not a real word) than at any point since the early 1990s. Obama enjoys huge advantages in public trust.
"If Republicans talk about family values, people will roll their eyes," said Matthew
Dowd, a onetime adviser to President George W. Bush who later broke with the president.
Dowd said
Obama's big budget deficits leave him and Democrats vulnerable on that issue, but he added, "It's hard to say [voters are] going to trust Republicans on it."
Source___________________________________________
Enough...
These people are entrusted with leading us and they can't keep it in their pants.
From Bill Clinton's cigar tainted
BJ in the oval office.
To Sarah
Palin's bastard grandchild.
To Larry Craig's
glory hole adventures.
To John Ensign's trim on the side.
To Mark Sanford's Argentinian senorita~.
What The F@ck ?!?
I wouldn't dare pull this sh@t at my work even if I wanted to.
These are our leaders?
Is it egomania? Is it megalomania? Is it nymphomania?
Seriously... just rub one out in the bathroom or something if your sex drive is so out of control.
That's why Al Gore invented the
Internet....PORN!
I can't take these people, democrats and republicans alike, seriously anymore.
I just can't.
The United States is in the worst conditions it's been in 50 years and collectively the US government representation is getting it's rocks off more than anyone I knew in the 80's.
These are the people in charge, the people most important to the most powerful nation ever seen on the face of the planet and they are getting their
jollys on OUR dime.
Or OUR Trillions if you prefer.
I am no prude but then again I am not getting my butt rimmed while millions of Americans go without health care or suffer job loss or humiliating foreclosure or war or terrorism or (insert one of a thousand reasons) and are counting on me to FIX IT!
These people are graced with the privilege of walking in the hallowed halls of this millenniums greatest democratic theorists and leaders and what do they do with it?
Leave stains...
Let's review.
_______________________________________
--
Democrat Bill Clinton (1998): His affair with intern Monica Lewinsky may very well go down as the biggest sex scandal in American history. It resulted his impeachment (although he wasn't convicted by the Senate), the Starr Report, and the introduction of cast of characters including Linda Tripp and
Lucianne Goldberg.
--
Republican Bob Livingston (1998): In the aftermath of the Lewinsky scandal, Livingston became speaker replacing Newt Gingrich. But it was short-lived after admitting an affair and stepping down.
--
Democrat Gary Condit (2001): The California congressman’s affair with an intern became exposed after the girl, Chandra Levy, disappeared. It dominated national news before Sept. 11
th. Levy was eventually found dead in a DC’s Rock Creek Park and someone else was charged her murder this year.
--
Republican Rudy Giuliani (2002): There was no greater New York tabloid story than former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s high-profile divorce from wife Donna Hanover. She accused him of “notorious adultery,” and Giuliani is now married to then-girlfriend Judith Nathan.
--
Democrat Jim McGreevey (2004): The married with children former New Jersey governor -- with his wife by his side -- resigned as governor after dropping the bombshell that he was having a gay affair. “My truth is I am a gay American,” left watchers slack jawed and serves still as one most stunning political press conferences of all time.
--
Republican James West (2005): The Spokane mayor, who long opposed gay rights bills, was recalled from office after a gay Internet sex scandal and more were revealed. He died a year later from complications with cancer.
--
Republican Don Sherwood (2006): The then-65-year-old Pennsylvania congressman lost his House seat after it was revealed that he’d had an extramarital affair with a 29-year-old woman who’d called 911 from a closet in Sherwood’s DC apartment, charging that he’d choked her. He claimed he was just giving her a back rub. The woman had filed a lawsuit against him for $5.5 million, charging he’d repeatedly abused her during their relationship. She settled for about $500,000.
--
Republican Mark Foley (2006): A text message gay page scandal ended Foley’s career and gave his Florida congressional seat to Democrats – albeit for one term.
--
Democrat Gavin Newsom (2007): The married San Francisco mayor admitted to sleeping with the wife of a top aide. But was it a career-
ender? No. He’s running for governor.
--
Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa (2007): Weeks after separating from his wife, the Los Angeles Mayor admitting to having a secret affair with a TV reporter. It, too,
wasn’t a career
ender (not a real word). He was poised to run for California governor before deciding against it this week.
--
Republican David Vitter (2007): The married Louisiana senator got caught up in the DC Madam prostitution scandal. But after his wife chastised the media at
Vitter’s
mea culpa press conference, he’s stuck it out. And despite the scandal, he’s favored to win re-election in 2010 – because of Democrats’ current lack of a committed candidate.
--
Republican Larry Craig (2007): “I’m not gay,” were the words that made headlines from the press conference where the Idaho senator professed his innocence of charges that he had solicited gay sex in a bathroom stall in the Minneapolis airport after he’d pleaded guilty to those charges.
--
Democrat Tim Mahoney (2008): The man who replaced Foley was eventually derailed by his OWN sex scandal, and the seat went back to the GOP.
--
Democrat Eliot Spitzer (2008): Always to be remembered as “Client No. 9,” the meteoric rise of the career of
Spitzer came crashing down after it was revealed he’d spent tens of thousands of dollars on hookers -- despite being married with kids.
--
Democrat John Edwards (2008): After the National Enquirer exposed Edwards’ affair, the one-time Democratic shooting star finally admitted to sleeping with a woman his campaign hired to shoot Web videos despite his wife’s very public bout with cancer and his 2008 presidential run.
--
Republican Vito Fossella (2008): The married former congressman from Staten Island, who had three children with his wife, admitted he’d had a secret affair with a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel -- who’d birthed his love child in Virginia -- after he was arrested for drunken driving. Democrats took over his seat in 2008.
--
Democrats Kwame Kilpatrick (2008): The Detroit mayor eventually ended up in jail after he was convicted of lying about a text message/sex scandal.
--
Republican John Ensign (2009): The Nevada senator admitted an affair with a staffer last week, stepped down from his GOP leadership post and all but eliminated his 2012 aspirations.
--
Republican Mark Sanford (2009): The South Carolina governor admitted to having an affair with a woman from Argentina after not being heard from for six days, his staff telling the media he’d been “hiking on the Appalachian Trail,” and state legislators -- and even his wife -- not knowing where he was.
Source___________________________________________
Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you the leaders of the free world and the United States of America.
Welcome To Detroit
-- Democrat Gavin Newsom (2007): The married San Francisco mayor admitted to sleeping with the wife of a top aide. But was it a career-ender? No. He’s running for governor.
