Jenny Sanford a Model for the Betrayed

She's graceful, has it together, but is 'not emotionless'

(NEWSER) - Jenny Sanford has become a hero to many, the wronged political wife who is neither bitter nor silent. But she is human, admitting to Vogue’s Rebecca Johnson that she Googled her husband’s mistress. Verdict? “She’s pretty.” Sanford, a conservative Christian but not of the in-your-face variety, is forgiving: “I feel sorry for the other woman. It can’t be fun for her, though I do sometimes question her judgment.” More»

(NEWSER) - While Mark Sanford spews "sloppy verbiage" in the "salacious terms of a Harlequin bodice-ripper," his wife is also making a statement—with her wardrobe, Robin Givhan writes in the Washington Post. Givhan finds "something splendidly defiant" in Jenny Sanford's white shorts and flowery tops. Other betrayed political wives may use clothing like "armor," but Sanford "comes across as a woman set free. Everything about her style is breezy." More»

(NEWSER) - It's a relative tidal wave of good news for Mark Sanford: Wife Jenny issued a statement today calling his affair "inexcusable" but reiterating that she's willing to forgive him, reports ABC News. As for his political career, she says it's up to South Carolina voters and lawmakers whether to "give Mark a second chance." Her statement came just after a state investigation cleared Sanford of any legal wrongdoing in his overseas trips. More»

Sanford used God-talk in confession; Spitzer, McGreevey didn't

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford's liberal use of religious rhetoric in confessing his affair prompts Gustav Niebuhr to observe that whether Sanford is pandering or actually penitent, he is very much in the tradition of Southern politicians caught in scandal. Bill Clinton, David Vitter, and John Edwards all applied an ample dose of "God-talk," which connects with Southern constituents, he notes in the Washington Post. Conversely, you didn't hear any, if memory serves, mention of the supreme being in the mouth of Eliot Spitzer or Jim McGreevey as they stepped down. More»

Nothing but 'disgusting politics,' she says

(AP) - Here we go again: A South Carolina lobbyist resigned from a rival political campaign yesterday and then became the second man to claim he had a tryst with Nikki Haley . Lobbyist Larry Marchant says he and Haley, who's running for governor, had a "one night indiscretion" in a Salt Lake City hotel room in June 2008, but admitted he had no proof to back up his allegation. "You can't have any evidence on a one night affair," he says. More»