Long walk of Mark Sanford

The regiment of rivals of US President Donald trump in the upcoming 2020 elections arrived. The former governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, has entered the warpath with the White House owner.

Sanford is the third Republican who has decided to face off with Trump. The former was the former Governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld, the latter was the former congressman and former Trump supporter Joe Walsh, about whom my friend and colleague Dmitry Drobnitsky recently wrote.

“I think we need to talk about what it means to be a Republican,” Sanford told Fox News presenter Chris Wallace, confirming that he was going to take part in the 2020 Republican primaries. “I am here to inform you that I am about to enter the race.” This is the beginning of a long walk. ”

It would seem that the usual meaningless phrase. But in the mouth of Mark Sanford, she sounded more than juicy.

On June 18, 2009, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford disappeared.

Just stopped coming to work. He didn’t appear at home. All of his telephones, both personal and work, were switched off, he did not answer calls and letters received by e-mail. A few days later, the press became aware of this - the name of the disappeared governor sounded on the air of national channels.

Sanford's office tried to reassure the public. On June 22, his spokesperson said that Sanford had “gone down the Appalachian Trail” and that it would be “hard to get.”

A small digression should be made here.

What is the Appalachian Trail, almost everyone knows (except for those absolutely not interested in anything outside their town) Americans.

This is the longest hiking trail in the world, marked and equipped for tourists. Its length is 3.5 thousand km from Mount Catalin (Maine) to Mount Springer (Georgia). It passes through one of the most beautiful mountain ranges of the Western Hemisphere Appalachia and crosses 14 US states.

This path was created for almost thirty years by architect Benton Mackay, who devoted almost his entire life to this. The route was mostly completed in 1948, at the same time a certain Earl Schaffer walked from beginning to end - it took him six months. The record of passing the trail from start to finish was set in 2017, when professional survivor Joe McConaughey overcame it in 45 days. Of course, not everyone who enters the Appalachian Trail plans to go from Maine to Georgia, but, as a rule, they don’t go there for a day or two.

Sanford's wife made a statement to the press, in which she repeated several times that she was “not worried” and that her husband needed to spend some time separately from his family and children in order to “write something.” Following this statement, John Land’s political opponent to the governor and Democratic minority leader in the Senate reminded parliamentarians that Sanford had disappeared not just on the weekend, but on Father’s Day.

“It's one thing when the boys run away from home, but why should father leave his family on Father's Day? It's weird! ”Said Land. As it turned out, he was not in vain suspecting something was wrong.

A week after the disappearance of the governor, the pro-reporter from the local newspaper, Gene Smith, “accidentally” met him at Atlanta International Airport. Who gave Smith a tip remained unknown, but little is believed in chance: the governor flew at 05:43 from Buenos Aires.

The first interview Sanford gave Gene Smith was extremely concise. The governor said that he was really thinking about hiking the Appalachian trail, but at the last moment decided to do something “truly exotic” and went to Argentina, where he traveled a couple of thousand miles along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

To the journalist’s question, why did his staff say he was walking, Sanford first replied, “I have no idea.” But then he still “remembered” that he said in the office that he could “go on a hike”. The insistent Gina Smith forced the governor to admit that he interrupted his trip after the head of his administration called him and said that his disappearance "attracted a lot of media attention."

A report by Gina Smith that appeared on the State newspaper’s website that day, even outraged Sanford’s colleagues in the party. "Lying. Lying. Lying. That's all we hear from his staff. That's all we hear from his people. That's all we hear from him, ”congressional republican Jake Knottes raged.

And Sanford could not stand it. A few hours after Gina Smith “burned” him at the Atlanta airport, he convened a press conference at which he admitted that he had cheated on his wife. In a fit of frankness, the governor told reporters that about eight years ago he met an Argentinean (he did not name her at first), who was fond of dancing. For several years they communicated quite innocently, but somewhere a year before their disappearance, their relationship entered a romantic stage. Moreover, it turned out that the governor's wife, Jenny, had known about his romance for six months already, having found several love letters in his mail. And he finished Sanford with a confusing phrase, from which it could be concluded: although he understands that he has sinned, he does not regret it a bit.

In an article on Sanford’s entry into the presidential race, CNN calls this public self-disclosure session “one of the craziest press conferences in modern political history.”

Sanford was not limited to one press conference. Over the next two days, he gave several very emotional interviews, from which the public learned many details of his affair with Argentinean journalist Maria Bella Chapur. The loving governor, in particular, said that now he can "die quietly, knowing that he met his soul mate." In addition, he said that for 20 years of marriage "several times crossed the line that a married man should not cross."

It all ended pretty predictably - by divorce. But the uniqueness of the story of the governor, who “went down the Appalachian trail” (after the scandal that erupted throughout the United States, has long become a synonym for our “go to the left”) lies in the fact that on his political career neither the fact of adultery, nor the unprecedented turning inside out of everything dirty the linen of his personal life was not reflected!

Sanford's party members tried to force him to resign, claiming that his behavior dishonored the Republican Party.

The governor’s closest ally, Nathan Ballentyne, told him: “You can put an end to all this, but if you don’t, the congressmen will take matters into their own hands.” Sanford refused to resign.

The Republicans drafted two resolutions on impeachment of the governor ... and both were blocked by Democrats in state congress. During the hearings on the third resolution, the ethics committee voted against impeachment, but for the “moral condemnation” of the governor. Sanford escaped with a slight fright or, if you use Soviet realities, "a reprimand with entering into a private matter."

In 2011, Sanford's tenure as governor expired, and he did not nominate a new one. Instead, he again drove off to South America, where journalists photographed him with Maria Chapur on the beach of the Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este. And in 2012, the former governor, who was now referred to in the media as LovGov, announced his engagement to the Argentinean.

But the most amazing thing happened afterwards.

In 2013, South Carolina congressman Tim Scott resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives. And LovGov Sanford immediately entered the race for an empty seat.

And he won.

At a party held in honor of his victory at Republican Primaries, his Argentinean sweetheart first appeared in public. However, as early as next year, the engagement of Sanford and Chapur was broken. Apparently, LovGov was disappointed in his "half" - or, perhaps, she is in it.

During the 2015–2016 presidential campaign, Sanford first sharply criticized Trump, questioning his qualifications and ability to be president. He was not alone in this: many in the Great Old Party then were critical of Trump. Ultimately, however, Sanford said he would support Trump, albeit against his will.

Trump, among whose virtues Tolstoy's forgiveness is by no means listed, did not forget this. And when the time for midterm congressional elections came last year, he publicly supported Sanford rival Katie Arrington, who publicly called ex-governor Nevertramp and quoted his attacks against the president (Arrington herself is an ardent supporter of the current White House owner).

Arrington won the election, Sanford lost.

But, as it turned out this Sunday, he did not give up. Trump was skeptical of Sanford's entry into the presidential chair race.

“When the former governor of the great state of South Carolina, Mark Sanford once disappeared, saying that he went along the Appalachian trail, and was later discovered in Argentina with his girlfriend, a dancer, it looked like his political career was over,” the US president wrote in his Twitter - But then he ran for Congress and won - he only lost the re-election after I supported his opponent. But now - hold your breath! - He returned and is going to fight for the post of President of the United States! Three puppets, all three are shamefully failed candidates. Well, give it a try! ”

Calling the three Republicans Weld, Walsh and Sanford “the stooges”, Trump not only expressed his contempt for the renegades, but also hinted at their lack of independence. The fact is that the word the stooge is ambiguous in English: it can also mean a supporting actor playing along with the main character. That is, in the political sense - a spoiler.

Who is the main character here, no doubt. All three Republicans who challenged Trump are not working for themselves (they have about zero chances), but for the US Democratic Party. Their main task is not so much to delay Trump's votes as to create the appearance that the president is not supported and criticized even in his own party. Therefore, Sanford on Fox News talked mainly about the economy, which is allegedly experiencing a “storm”: “Today we are more vulnerable from a financial point of view than ever, starting with the emergence of our nation and the Civil War.”

It is symptomatic that CNN, generally speaking, ridiculed Sanford, abundantly cites his criticism of “tramponomics”, not forgetting to add that “the federal budget deficit in July grew by 27%."

Meanwhile, the success of “tramponomics” is objectively undeniable: unemployment is decreasing at a record pace, new industries are starting up, old ones are transferring their capacities from China and Southeast Asian countries back to the USA.

But it is vital for the liberal media to convince the public that “tramponomics” is not working. After the failure of the "Russian saga" by the public prosecutor Mueller, economics and finance became the main target of their attacks. And in their zoological hatred of Trump, the liberals do not disdain any allies. Even those that were once lost "on the Appalachian Trail."

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.