'My Political Days Are Over'

OK, then, can we wrap this up today? Maybe by the weekend? In case you haven't gotten the message, it's time to go.

Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Wednesday his political career will end when his term ends in a year and a half.

Until then, Sanford said, he plans to focus on giving future South Carolina governors -- Republican or Democrat -- the tools they need to succeed in office.

``This is truly not about Mark Sanford anymore,'' Sanford said Wednesday morning during a speech to the Twin City Rotary Club in Batesburg-Leesville. ``A lot of folks were convinced that I was running for president. My political days are over.''

Sanford apologized to the friendly crowd for letting them down. The two-term Republican governor, barred by state law from running again, admitted to a yearlong affair with an Argentine woman whom he visited after vanishing on a secret trip in June.

Speaking of his Argentine honey, he actually plans to have her come live with him at the governor's mansion. Is it just me or do you smell a reality show in the works here?

The strains of Latin music could soon be wafting from South Carolina's executive mansion.

Embattled Gov. Mark Sanford is considering having his Argentine lover, who he has called his "soul mate," join him at the Governor's Mansion now that his wife and four sons have moved out, a Web site claims.

* The arrival of Maria Belen Chapur at the mansion in Columbia will "take time," according to a source close to Sanford, reported FITS.com, a Web site run by Will Folks, who served as a Sanford spokesman until 2005.

'I Didn't Fall In Love With Any of Them'

Leave it to disgraced love guv Eliot Spitzer to find the silver lining in Mark Sanford's troubles.

THERE'S a huge difference between what South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford did, and what ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer did. "I didn't fall in love with any of them," Spitzer was overheard telling LMDC executive director Avi Schick the other day at Solo in the Sony Building on Madi son, where they had the $24 prix-fixe lunch. And Spitzer didn't use any taxpayer money on his trysts, while Sanford is reimbursing the state about $12,000 for travel expenses to Buenos Aires.

Yeah, Client Number Nine just used his inheritance money on $4,000 an hour hookers.

What a guy.

Hot Air links. Thanks!

This Is Sanford's Girlfriend?

Well, I hope she was worth it.

H/T Allahpundit.

It's Come To This: Jim McGreevey Offering Advice to Mark Sanford

Nothing like the media seeking commentary from a man who trolled New Jersey Turnpike rest areas for anonymous gay sex. Say what you want about Mark Sanford, but the last guy to be chiming in should be Jim McGreevey.

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey today told Gov. Mark Sanford, the beleaguered governor of South Carolina, to "move forward with humility," comparing Sanford's struggles with what McGreevey called his "own moment of truth," during an interview on The Today show this morning.

"I'm filled with a sense of pain and anguish for him and for his family," McGreevey said in the interview. "I think it was a very human moment."

Sandford [sic] admitted Wednesday he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair, after a widely covered disappearance over Father's Day weekend.

McGreevey had a similarly shocking news conference in 2004, where he revealed he was having a secret affair with Golan Cipel, one of his aides, and declared in front of television cameras to be a "gay American."

On the upside, he managed to avoid cracking any Sarah Palin jokes.

Sanford: 'I've Been Unfaithful to My Wife'

Well, it looks like Mark Sanford can cancel and plans for a presidnetial run. Unless, of course he switches parties and runs as Democrat, whereby this would become a resume enhancer.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose mysterious disappearance last Thursday prompted national headlines, acknowledged this afternoon that he had an extramarital affair.

"I've been unfaithful to my wife, and I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina," he said.

Sanford said he would resign as chair of the Republican Governor's Association.

"I've let down a lot of people," he added. "That's the bottom line."

Sanford's office initially explained Sanford's disappearance from the state by saying the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

His communications director, Joel Sawyer, said on Tuesday morning that he had spoken to the governor, who was returning from his trip and had been taken aback by the interest in the story. Sawyer did not indicate then that Sanford had been in Argentina, leaving the Appalachian Trail story in place.

Mark Sanford Returns ... From Argentina

Well, it turns out South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford wasn't off on an Appalachian hike after all.

He was in Argentina.

Huh?

Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said. Sanford said he had not been hiking along the Appalachian Trail, as his staff said in a Tuesday statement to the media.

Sanford's whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday, and the mystery surrounding his absence fueled speculation about where he had been and who's in charge in his absence. His emergence Wednesday ended the mystery.

Sanford, in an exclusive interview with The State, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money.

Sanford said he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, an activity he said he has enjoyed since he was a high school student.

"But I said 'no' I wanted to do something exotic," Sanford said "... It's a great city."

Sanford, in a brief interview in the nation's busiest airport, said he has been to the city twice before, most recently about a year and half ago during a Commerce Department trip.

Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

Sanford, who was wearing a blue and white button down shirt and brown denim pants, said he left for Buenos Aires on Thursday night from Columbia International Airport and had originally planned to come back tomorrow.