South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's disappearing act makes no sense. All his hopes to run for President in 2012 as Mr. Conservative are shot to hell.
June 24, 2009

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South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's disappearing act makes no sense. All his hopes to run for President in 2012 as Mr. Conservative are shot to hell. First we're told he was out hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Now it turns out he was on a "pleasure" trip to Argentina:

Sanford flew to Atlanta early on Wednesday and told reporters for The State, South Carolina's biggest newspaper, he had decided at the last minute to go to Argentina and drive along its coastline.

"I wanted to do something exotic ... to get out of the bubble I am in," he told the paper, adding he had traveled alone.

How can he be trusted when his wife hasn't even heard from him in almost a week?

A CNN reporter tracked down Jenny Stanford at her Sullivan Island vacation home. Sounding less like the wife of a 2012 presidential contender and more like America's favorite reality TV star announcing her separation from her husband, she said: "I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children."

Jenny Stanford had helped stoke the story yesterday when she told the AP she didn't know where her husband was.

Notice how Sanford's wife doesn't say "our" children. She says "I am taking care of my children." That's powerful stuff. And he was gone for Father's Day.

Earlier reports said this:

On Tuesday, sources told News 4's Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.Sources told Robertson that a federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane. Robertson was told that the governor was not accompanied by security detail.Sanford has been out of reach for more than four days, including Father's Day.

What's wild is that everyone in his state has turned on him:

"While I believe every person deserves a vacation, our constitution gives only one man authority to act in case of an emergency - the governor of South Carolina. Should the governor decide to vacation away from South Carolina again, it is my sincere hope that he will take his security detail and keep his cell phone on so that he can be reached in case of a large-scale emergency," the statement said.

"If he is not willing to do so, he should turn his gubernatorial authority over to the lieutenant governor,” it continued. Neither Sanford’s office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, had been able to reach Sanford since he left the mansion Thursday in a black Suburban SUV assigned to his security detail, said state Sen. Jake Knotts , R-Lexington, and three others familiar with the situation, but who declined to be identified.

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