Desperate Husbands

A scandal in the South Carolina Governor's Mansion. Southern intrigue, foreign countries, mysterious "Maria," and an estranged wife, caught, all caught, in the harsh glare of public humiliation. I've got to get this to ABC quick. The White House Infomercial gig can't last much longer and this could fill the time slot nicely.

But to more mundane matters. No one cares to defend Governor Sanford these days, and with good reason. The man is an adulterer and a flake. But my concern is the media coverage: how is it no one knew the whereabouts of Governor Sanford for almost 5 whole days, but within hours of his admission of an affair yesterday, the Columbia newspapers published private emails detailing an affair? And in fact, the same newspaper had visited the mysterious Maria in Buenos Aires hours before the 2 pm press conference in Columbia where, supposedly, the Governor admitted to an affair that shocked, shocked everyone in the Palmetto State.

Great investigative reporting? Or shabby tabloid journalism festering in the gutter with sleazy politicians playing it the Chicago way? I'm inclined towards the latter.

I'm no investigative reporter, but then it doesn't appear we have any real reporters anymore, so I'll just have to do the best I can. Let's begin with a simple time-line of the saliant facts: The Governor and his wife have marital problems, and begin trying to work things out more than 5 months ago. The attempts to fix their marriage fail, and 2 weeks ago, the Governor and his wife quietly separate. Governor Sanford then ends a particularly bitter legislative fight, and leaves the partisan environs of the State Capital.

In my estimation, Opponent Politicians, let's call them Democrats for short, know all about the circumstances of the Governor's marital problems, as does the local press. This is speculation on my part, but probable, because this kind of stuff is hard to keep secret inside any State Capital's equivalent of "the Beltway." Prior to last week, the Democrats had not chosen to go public with the information. But now, a bit put out by the Governor's growing profile in national politics and also perhaps under the influence of old Chicago politics sweeping Washington and the Country, the Democrats decide to seize a nice opportunity to savage the maverick Governor. They begin a drip, drip, drip campaign with a complicit press asking "Where's the Governor? Where's the Governor?" knowing full well where the Governor is, and why. This story is then picked up by the national media and ends on the State House steps with the Governor's admissions of infidelity.

Why didn't the Democrats and the press simply come out with the real story a week earlier? Why this daily dose of faux astonishment that the Governor "was lost?" Because to come out upfront with the Governor's marital problems would have been naked political and press hackery, and the national story then would have centered on them, not the Governor. Better to build up the public's interest in the Governor's whereabouts, and then let the Governor prevaricate and dissemble before revealing the truth. And, although the Governor did not prevaricate or dissemble, the scenario played out otherwise to his opponent's satisfaction.

What the Governor did was indefensible, but essentially a private matter between he and his wife (how many Clinton supporters might I quote here?). But if my speculations herein are even close to the mark, then what the South Carolina press and the Democrats did in trying to take down a Governor was reprehensible, and an eminently public matter deserving of public scrutiny.

Here is a simple question that might be answered with a few days of competent work by an investigative reporter: What did the Democrats and the local press know about the Governor and his whereabouts last week when they intentionally invoked the firestorm of national controversy?

Unfortunately, there is not much chance of getting an answer to that question. Our tabloids of record just don't have time for yesterdays news.