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Twitchy GOP Absorbs Yet Another Scandal

From Sanford to Ensign, Republican leaders are falling down

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 25, 2009 5:47 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Mark Sanford caused the GOP enough of a headache when he disappeared—but coming back to South Carolina only made it worse. The second Republican sex scandal in a week has left party leaders angry and exhausted, reports the New York Times, and has them wondering whether they can mount a challenge to Barack Obama in 2012. "The concern here is that this continues a broader narrative that is completely unhelpful to the Republican Party’s rebuilding,"said one party leader.

Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich have all seen their stars fall out of the sky in recent months, and both Sanford and John Ensign have kissed their presidential ambitions goodbye. Yet not all Republicans are jittery; anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, for one, thinks that the GOP base views such politicians differently than the mainstream media. Asked about Ensign's and Sanford's affairs, he said: "I think instead it shows that sexual attractiveness of limited-government conservatism."

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford pauses to look at his notes as he admits to having an affair during a news conference Wednesday, June 24, 2009.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford pauses to look at his notes as he admits to having an affair during a news conference Wednesday, June 24, 2009.   (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
In Las Vegas, John Ensign called the affair absolutely the worst thing that I have ever done in my life, and said he and his wife sought counseling and reconciled.
In Las Vegas, John Ensign called the affair "absolutely the worst thing that I have ever done in my life," and said he and his wife sought counseling and reconciled.   (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)
I spent the last five days crying in Argentina, Sanford said.
"I spent the last five days crying in Argentina," Sanford said.   (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
AdaptAndOvercome
Jul 3, 2009 12:56 PM CDT
What a crock! Republicans need a reality check.
kokuaguy
Jun 26, 2009 5:00 AM CDT
Lucky for you your soulmate Mrs. KKK is such a fixture.
LiberalJesus
Jun 25, 2009 12:48 PM CDT
The most urgent question is the meaning of economic conservatism. Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a conservative who keeps a bust of Reagan on his desk, surprised me by declaring that the Reagan era is over. "Marginal tax rates are the lowest they've been in generations, and all we can talk about is tax cuts," he said. "The people's desires have changed, but we're still stuck in our old issue set." Snowe recalls that when she proposed fiscally conservative "triggers" to limit Bush's tax cuts in case of deficits, she was attacked by fellow Republicans. "I don't know when willy-nilly tax cuts became the essence of who we are," she says. "To the average American who's struggling, we're in some other stratosphere. We're the party of Big Business and Big Oil and the rich." In the Bush era, the party routinely sided with corporate lobbyists — promoting tax breaks, subsidies and earmarks for well-wired industries — against ordinary taxpayers as well as basic principles of fiscal restraint. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint's Republican alternative to the stimulus included tax cuts skewed toward the wealthy; at this point, the GOP's reflexes are almost involuntary. And with continuing death spiral of the gop, Sanford and Ensign only highlight what a classless bunch of people conservative christian republicans truly are. Has America finally had enough of the holier than thou asshats and can we get rid of these right winged morons once and for all?

Mark Sanford, emotional wreck
Salon

The GOP's rising stars go bust
CBS News

 
Newt Gingrich • Republican • sex scandal • Republican Party • Bobby Jindal • John Ensign • Grover Norquist • political scandal • Sarah Palin • Mark Sanford • Election 2012

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