The man who until last Thursday held the title for "most rambling press conference by a Republican governor", South Carolina governor Mark Sanford a.k.a. luvguv, tonight narrowly escaped a call for resignation by the executive committee of the South Carolina Republican Party. 10 members of the 22-member executive committee voted to ask him to resign and 9 members expressed support (the three others presumably abstained). With no majority either way after a three hour conference call, the committee decided to censure Sanford, but what that exactly means is unclear at the moment as details are sketchy.
Commenters on the report the report in the South Carolina newspaper "The State" are going slightly ballistic.
With 69% of South Carolinans and the majority of the GOP State Senators wanting him to resign, a formal call for resignation from the GOP Executive Committee would probably have meant the end of the trail for Sanford. Still, there will be demonstration in Columbia on Thursday demanding Sanford resigns, and it will be interesting to see how many people show up for that.
CNN now also reports :
Members of the South Carolina GOP's executive committee approved a resolution censuring Sanford for conduct that demonstrated "repeated failures to act in accordance" with the party's core principles and beliefs, according to GOP sources on the teleconference.
The resolution also reprimands the governor for "falling below the standards expected of Republican elected officials."
I guess the problem was that Sanford did it with a woman over the legal age and no diapers were involved. Or maybe because his paramour is from Latin America.
Although the resolution says Sanford "breached the public's trust and confidence in his ability to effectively perform the duties of his office," it does not explicitly ask him to step down.
The GOP doesn't have a problem with its elected officials not doing their job (see Palin S.), it's that the public found out about it that is the problem.
[UPDATE:]
h/t to
sckitty for linking to the complete text of the SC GOP statement:
"Whereas, the South Carolina Republican Party adopts this Resolution of Censure as a unified expression of the Party’s opinion in the recent matter relating to Governor Marshall Clement Sanford, Jr.; and
"Whereas, the South Carolina Republican Party adheres to a set of core principles and beliefs, primarily but not exclusively expressed in our Platform; and
"Whereas, the revelations regarding Governor Sanford’s private and public conduct demonstrate repeated failures to act in accordance with these core principles and beliefs; and
"Whereas, Governor Sanford’s conduct, in addition to falling below the standards expected of Republican elected officials, has breached the public’s trust and confidence in his ability to effectively perform the duties of his office; and
"Whereas, a formal admonishment by the South Carolina Republican Party is appropriate and necessary and, barring further revelations, will be the Party’s last word on the matter;
"Therefore, be it resolved, that the South Carolina Republican Party does, with great regret, censure Governor Mark Sanford for his recent conduct."
And the "party of personal responsibility" tells its repeatedly misbehaving governor: "You naughty boy, you haven't held up the farce. Let nothing else come to light and STFU otherwise we'll get you."