# Sanford defeats Colbert's sister **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 8, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758 "2013-05-08T01:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/1 "2013-05-08T01:30:40Z")
. . .proving that South Carolina is everything we thought it was, and more. Well, Congress needed another far right ideologue and nutcake to keep us all amused. [Link](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/us/south-carolina-election-a-referendum-on-sanford.html?hp&_r=0). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/2 "2013-05-08T01:41:47Z")
He could be pretty entertaining. He has received almost no support from the GOP establishment who has treated him like a bad case of crabs. He owes them nothing, so it will be interesting to see if he tries to blend in, or feel free to do his own thing. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/3 "2013-05-08T01:59:10Z")
That’s also a wildly Republican district. For it to be this close is a pretty monumental task, and, unfortunately, that’s all one can hang their hat on. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/4 "2013-05-08T02:51:54Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > That’s also a wildly Republican district. For it to be this close is a pretty monumental task, and, unfortunately, that’s all one can hang their hat on. True enough, and I really don’t give a damn who he was screwing or when any more than I cared about who Clinton was diddling. But this guy is a bona fide loony who debated a cardboard cutout of Nancy Pelosi and then claimed victory in the “debate”. But the people of that district still preferred him to a sane person, which sorta proves that you really should check familial relationships prior to reproducing. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/5 "2013-05-08T02:56:17Z")
Is he really “far-right”? Back before the whole scandal, I didn’t get that impression from what little I knew of him. Of course, definitions change- principled liberals are sometimes referred to as “far-right” and centrist statists are called “libertarians,” very liberal libertarians are called “conservatives,” and slightly-left centrists are called “socialists.” So yeah, whatever that means. Generally I am amused at Dems making a big deal about his personal life. I wonder if the comments will be the same when/if sociopaths like Spitzer and Weiner get back into politics. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/6 "2013-05-08T03:13:55Z")
I don’t know if you’d call him far right or not, generally Sanford is ideologically close to Tea Party types on economics but he has the distinction of having been that way for many years prior to the Tea Party existing. So he’s sort of a mix of Tea Party economic ideas but more late 90s/early 2000s style GOP rhetoric as opposed to more modern/extremist styles of discourse exemplified by a lot of the horrible GOP congressmen elected in 2010. Generally he supports the concept of a Flat Tax which is a good barometer I use to decide whether or not someone is a worthless idiot (it’s the same reason I dismissed Huckabee about 0.0001 seconds into the GOP Primary in 2008.) Generally since he’s pre-Tea Party era GOP it means he actually knows how politics works and may actually take part in constructive political deals. As a Republican I can at least say it’s not all bad to get another person in the House who remembers how the game of politics is played. (The more Ted Cruz’s we have in the Senate and House as opposed to guys like Boehner who actually understand politics on some level the worse off the party is.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/7 "2013-05-08T03:21:49Z")
I have a hard time seeing “disappearing for a week without telling anyone where you’re going or how to contact you, while in office” as “knowing how the game of politics is played”. I mean, if you’re going to run off to have an affair, at least have a cover story in place before you go. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/8 "2013-05-08T03:31:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a hard time seeing “disappearing for a week without telling anyone where you’re going or how to contact you, while in office” as “knowing how the game of politics is played”. I mean, if you’re going to run off to have an affair, at least have a cover story in place before you go. He did. He said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/9 "2013-05-08T03:57:17Z")
Another lesson I’d draw from this is that a candidate has to be for something to win. Sanford, for all his personal flaws, has always been a principled libertarian/conservative. He kept his promise to serve only three terms in the House, a promise he made as part of the class of 1994. Colbert-Busch on the other hand, tried to simply be “not quite as conservative as Sanford”, rather than a Democrat. I don’t think anyone believed for a minute that she was actually all that conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/10 "2013-05-08T13:39:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a hard time seeing “disappearing for a week without telling anyone where you’re going or how to contact you, while in office” as “knowing how the game of politics is played”. I mean, if you’re going to run off to have an affair, at least have a cover story in place before you go. Well he lied about it then likened himself to Lazarus and/or various other sinners who were given a second chance by god in a district where that sort of thing plays. Sounds a lot like doing something really stupid then responding exactly how a politician would respond to come back from it. Explain how that **isn’t** how politics is played. I never said Mark Sanford was Dan Marino, he obviously fumbled at the end of his governorship, but the fact that he knew how to fall on the ball so he got another throw the next down basically proves my point that he’s a professional politician and not an “idealist” like some of the people in the House and Senate now who will literally not sign anything that isn’t 100% ideologically pure. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/11 "2013-05-08T13:41:15Z")
> [@](#): > > He kept his promise to serve only three terms in the House, a promise he made as part of the class of 1994. Wait, there’s something odd about this quote… Hang on, it’ll come to me in a moment… ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/12 "2013-05-08T14:48:41Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Is he really “far-right”? Back before the whole scandal, I didn’t get that impression from what little I knew of him. Of course, definitions change- principled liberals are sometimes referred to as “far-right” and centrist statists are called “libertarians,” very liberal libertarians are called “conservatives,” and slightly-left centrists are called “socialists.” So yeah, whatever that means. > > Generally I am amused at Dems making a big deal about his personal life. I wonder if the comments will be the same when/if sociopaths like Spitzer and Weiner get back into politics. Amusing username/post combination. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/13 "2013-05-08T15:23:54Z")
Good news for Sanford! I’m sure he’ll be all smiles tomorrow when he has to go to court of his violation of the restraining order filed by his ex-wife. The Republican Party didn’t do much to support the guy after that news broke, but I expect that’ll come up a lot in the next round of discussions of the party’s difficulties with women. ---
**Author:** ![one\_red\_shoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/54ee81/32.png) [@one\_red\_shoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/one_red_shoe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/14 "2013-05-08T15:40:35Z")
Go Argentina! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/15 "2013-05-08T15:48:07Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Of course, definitions change- principled liberals are sometimes referred to as “far-right” . . . No, not ever, IME. Principled **libertarians** might be called that, but that’s an entirely different matter. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/16 "2013-05-08T16:08:19Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > Generally I am amused at Dems making a big deal about his personal life. I wonder if the comments will be the same when/if sociopaths like Spitzer and Weiner get back into politics. I can’t believe I’m having to respond to this again, but it keeps coming up. Listen very carefully…Neither Spitzer, nor Weiner, nor any other Democrat has wrapped themselves in a cloth of many colors and proclaimed that they are of the party of god, family values and supply side jesus. It’s not about personal foibles. It’s about hypocrisy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/17 "2013-05-08T16:11:05Z")
As Abraham Lincoln said: “South Carolina is too small to be a country and too large to be an insane asylum.” ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/18 "2013-05-08T16:15:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Good news for Sanford! I’m sure he’ll be all smiles tomorrow when he has to go to court of his violation of the restraining order filed by his ex-wife. The Republican Party didn’t do much to support the guy after that news broke, but I expect that’ll come up a lot in the next round of discussions of the party’s difficulties with women. Unlikely, it’s not likely he showed up to beat his ex-wife up. She wasn’t at the home, he knew she wasn’t at the home, and he showed up to see his 14 year old son who was at the home. There’s a lot of people who have had ugly divorces and get dragged into court over stuff like this. When you’re running for office it’s a bad personal decision because it will impact your election, but it’s not some violence against women thing either. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/19 "2013-05-08T16:23:13Z")
Get ready for the Honorable Mayor Weiner of New York. He’ll be the next dickwad elected after a scandal. I continually underestimate the sheer stupidity of my fellow voters. One day perhaps I’ll learn. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758/20 "2013-05-08T16:29:02Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > When you’re running for office it’s a bad personal decision because it will impact your election, but it’s not some violence against women thing either. I realize there’s no allegation of violence, but it’s part and parcel of the same issue. If Republicans don’t understand that restraining orders are serious - and given their response to this, I think at least some of them _do_ understand it - I assure you that plenty of female voters will. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Get ready for the Honorable Mayor Weiner of New York. He’ll be the next dickwad elected after a scandal. No, he won’t. He’s a joke candidate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanford-defeats-colberts-sister/657758.md?page=2)