GOP “pulls the plug” on Mark Sanford’s Senate campaign

Politico: National Republicans are pulling the plug on Mark Sanford’s suddenly besieged congressional campaign, POLITICO has learned — a potentially fatal blow to the former South Carolina governor’s dramatic comeback bid.

Blindsided by news that Sanford’s ex-wife has accused him of trespassing and concluding he has no plausible path to victory, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided not to spend more money on Sanford’s behalf ahead of the May 7 special election.

“Mark Sanford has proven he knows what it takes to win elections. At this time, the NRCC will not be engaged in this special election,” said Andrea Bozek, an NRCC spokeswoman.

I love the happy talk in that last paragraph; we’re supposed to believe that they’re pulling out because Sanford doesn’t need their help. Hilarious, but pretty much necessary. They don’t want to blow any more money on his campaign (meaning they believe it’s doomed), but there’s no point in shoveling in dirt either — it’s one thing to drop him, it’s another to kill his candicay. After all, he’s still in it and there’s still the slimmest of slim chances he could win. They don’t want to throw the baby out wth the bathwater.

But still, this thing is pretty much done. Once again, I offer my congratulations to to Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the next Senator from the state of South Carolina.

[photo by functoruser]

Politics 101: Don’t stalk your ex-wife during a senate campaign — or ever

Associated Press: Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford must appear in court two days after running for a vacant congressional seat to answer a complaint that he trespassed at his ex-wife’s home, according to court documents acquired by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The complaint says Jenny Sanford confronted Sanford leaving her Sullivans Island home on Feb. 3 by a rear door, using his cell phone for a flashlight. Her attorney filed the complaint the next day and Jenny Sanford confirmed Tuesday the documents are authentic.

The couple’s 2010 divorce settlement says neither may enter the other’s home without permission. Mark Sanford lives about a 20-minute drive away in downtown Charleston.

According to a compalint filed Jenny Sanford’s lawyer, the former governor “entered into a pattern of entering onto plaintiff’s property. Plaintiff has informed defendant on a number of occasions that this behavior is in violation of the court’s order and has demanded that it not occur again.”

So yeah, that’d be stalking.

Maybe I’m jumping the gun here, but congratulations to Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the next Senator from the state of South Carolina.

[photo by Charleston’s TheDigitel]

Today in dog-whistle racism

Raw Story:

The disgraced former Republican governor of South Carolina on Sunday used a racially-coded term in his prediction that the nation’s first African-American president would go on attack and “throw a lot of spears” at Tuesday’s town hall debate.

Former Gov. Mark Sanford — now a Fox News contributor — told Fox News host Shannon Bream that President Barack Obama would have to be much more aggressive during the next debate because Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was seen as dominating the first encounter.

“Obama’s going to come out in this case much more forcefully, and he’s going to throw a lot of spears,” Sanford opined. “And I think it’s very, very important that in this case that, you know, Romney stay focused on his vision for the country and stay focused on the things that, I think, matter most to people in this country, which is, where is the economy going, where are we with jobs, and what’s happening next on the debt and the deficit issue?”

“Completely coincidentally, and not at all related to this, the term ‘spearchucker’ is a racial slur against black people, but what would a 52-year-old white guy from South Carolina know about that?” Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher writes. “Also, he didn’t call President Obama a ‘spearchucker,’ he just said he would be throwing spears. That’s completely different.”

Look, I’m not saying that Sanford’s a clownish, corrupt, skirt-chasing southern cracker in the tradition of Boss Hogg. I’m just saying that he’s a buffoonish, dirty, skirt-pursuing whip-wielder like you might see on reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard — which isn’t the same thing at all, because I’m using different words. He couldn’t possibly find any of that offensive now, because synonyms of offensive terms are safe to use.

Stories to Watch: 10/21/11

Not much going on here lately. Finally got that faucet working right, so that's a plus. Anyway, here's the news...


President Obama says that all US troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year. Unable to control his jerking knee, Mittens Romney seems to argue that troops should remain in Iraq indefinitely, I guess because that argument worked out so well for John McCain.


A quick reminder for Mittens, the Iraq War was really expensive -- both in money and lives -- and, since the pretense for the war was the elimination of nonexistent WMD, it was ultimately pointless. Yeah Mitt, let's keep shoveling money and blood down that stupid hole in the desert.


Much to Republicans' discomfort, dems aren't letting up on keeping the focus on jobs.


Herman Cain digs himself out of a hole he'd dug for himself on abortion. Seems reasonable and pro-choice aren't good positions for GOP candidate to take, so off into Crazytown he goes -- it should be illegal for rape victims to have abortions. It's official; you can't be sane on even one issue and be a "good Republican."


Remember Mark Sanford, the South Carolina governor who had an affair with an Argentinian lady? Yeah, he works for Fox now.


Jon Stewart notices that the GOP response to Gaddafi's death is a little dickish.


Finally, more on the GOP's commitment to providing jobs and infrastructure funding for anywhere but America.

Related articles

• Will you remember where you were when you learned the Iraq war was over? (dailykos.com)
• Obama's Iraq announcement fuels debate at home (cnn.com)
• Disgraced Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford Heads to Fox News - TheWrap (news.google.com)
• Obama Orders USA Out Of Iraq, Promise Kept (oliverwillis.com)

Stories to Watch: 1/27/11

Got out and blew off the walk and driveway today. There wasn't much, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with a shovel, so internal combustion it was. When I got inside though, I noticed I was out of breath (the snowblower's not power-assist) and it got me to wondering, was using it really any easier? Oh well, it didn't take as long, so I'll take it as a win. Now here's the news...


It's official, the Illinois Supreme Court puts Rahm Emanuel back on the Chicago mayoral ballot. Early voting begins Monday, so right under the wire.


Biden's communications secretary, Jay Carney, will replace Gibbs as press secretary.


Mike Pence rules out a prez run. Don't worry though, King of the Wingnuts Jim DeMint may take a whack at it.


Sarah Palin says says President Obama "needs to remember that, uh, what happened back then with the communist U.S.S.R. and their victory in that race to space." What happened? Sputnik cost so much money "that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union." Looks like Sarah and Shelly Bachmann had the same history professor. They should ask for their money back. Also, don't miss a really painful metaphor involving donuts.


Mark Sanford and Evita are at it again. Henceforth, he's barred from using the phrase "sanctity of marriage" ever again.


It's stuff like this that leads me to conclude that Harry Reid is just awful.


Finally, the CBO chief reiterates what the right doesn't want to hear: the healthcare reform law will reduce the deficit.