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We may turn our nose up at Reality TV, but we can't get enough of Mark Sanford.

And, to be fair, the South Carolina governor continues to cooperate.

Last night the Palmetto Scoop Web site breathlessly reported that Sanford, a Republican who has been widely mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2012, may not have been hiking along the Appalachian Trail during his six-day disappearance, as his staff had claimed -- as "new evidence cast further doubt onto the governor's 'hiking' alibi":

CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby tracked down Sanford's state-issued black Chevy Suburban at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.


That information would seem to further contradict Sanford's spokesman's claim that the governor spent the weekend hiking along the Appalachian Trail -- which is roughly a two hour drive north of Atlanta. ...

Something just doesn't add up here. Anyone who has taken high school philosophy knows the "Occam's razor" principle and understands that, more often than not, the simplest explanation is often the correct explanation; and folks, the "hiking" explanation is about the farthest from that.

At last, the truth has come out!

According to reporter Gina Smith of The State, the Columbia, S.C., newspaper, Sanford never hiked the Appa Trail. He was, in fact, in Argentina:

[Sanford] 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 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. ...

The governor said he cut his trip short after his chief of staff, Scott English, told him his trip was gaining a lot of media attention and he needed to come back.

When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, "I don't know."

Sanford later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might go hiking on the Appalachian Trial. ...

Sanford said he has taken adventure trips for years to unwind. He has visited such places as the coast of Turkey, the Greek Isles and South America. He was with friends sometimes and sometimes by himself.

So what do you think? Is this, as one person wrote me yesterday, "much ado about nothing"? Or will it have legs for 2012? Did the trip to Argentina show Sanford to be "pampas"? Is "Buenos Aires" just a blip for the governor?

Buena suerte.

categories: Missing Persons

9:45 - June 24, 2009

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