SHE WENT THERE

Colbert Busch Asks Sanford About Affair

He smiles, says he couldn’t hear her.

Three years to come up with an answer, and the best response you can think of is playing deaf? At their first debate Monday night, Elizabeth Colbert Busch asked Mark Sanford about his 2009 extramarital affair—and he said he couldn’t hear her. Colbert Busch said fiscal conservatism “doesn’t mean you take the money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose,” referring to Sanford’s infamous 2009 trip to Argentina to visit his mistress—which caused him to resign. To top it off, moderator John Avlon said “she went there, Gov. Sanford” when Sanford attempted to ignore the question. Sanford said “I couldn’t hear what she said” with a smile and asked her to repeat herself, and she didn’t. The pair are locked in a closely watched race in a special election for a South Carolina House seat that once belonged to now-Sen. Tim Scott, who was appointed when longtime senator Jim DeMint resigned.