Plus, read more Daily Beast contributors' reactions to Mark Sanford's flameout.
The “spark thing” problem.
Tina Brown called this one immediately. She knew powerful guys don’t just go take a walk in the woods.
Apparently, Mark Sanford’s walk in the woods was really a flight to Argentina to check on that “spark thing” with a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship for a year.
Ruh-roh.
You lied. You cheated. How about you step down as governor?
How pathetic to watch yet another politician begging for forgiveness and understanding from his wife and children.
We thought, or hoped anyway, for a moment that Sanford might be a unique character who just liked to get out of the spotlight to do some thinking. Obviously, he liked to get out of the spotlight to do more than think.
And Sanford’s press conference was a disaster. Did he really think the millions watching wanted to hear a dissertation about how “innocent emails” turned into a torrid love affair?
And he talked about needing his trip because of the stress caused by trying to turn down stimulus money during South Carolina’s legislative session. Well, it was obvious to everyone watching that the purpose of his trip was to turn up his stimulus.
And he resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Big whoop. You lied. You cheated. How about you step down as governor?
We said it about John Ensign a week ago. We’ll say it again today. Mark Sanford is not just toast. He’s charcoal.
That’s two Republican presidential contenders off our Top 10 list in the last week.
At this rate, President Obama may not have much to worry about in terms of opposition in 2012.
Republican candidates have got a big problem with “the spark thing.” They can’t seem to put out the ancient fire that has burned so many before.
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, causes, and individuals, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today’s rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.