I did a double take when I saw this piece—I thought maybe I was reading the Onion instead of the Times.
Strange times these.
11
This is the same guy that was AWOL from his job, his office and his wife and family - in South America with his girlfriend?
6
A "broke" Tom Steyer.
4
Waste of time. The trumpian base has little interest (or knowledge of) deficits and debt. He might pull a few fiscal hawks away from 45, but that's about it. The fact that the deficit has skyrocketed under 45 simply shows that the repuke/tea party was never about fiscal responsibility; it was all about fighting everything the "black guy" tried to do.
4
MSM adds to the drama.
OMG. GOP operative Liz Mair can really spin that ball!
Only a republican white male would have the hubris to present himself as a "qualified" candidate for President with a past record like Mark Sanford! I mean the guy literally disappeared, absconded from his governors office in order to carry on an illicit affair, and didn't even have the guts to get honest with his constituents, not to mention his wife and sons. O dear, he was so driven by love and lust, which great men are prone to, like King David, who he compared himself to. I guess trump cleared the way for the GOP to consider any lyin' cheatin' gutless ego maniac for office!
I grateful that Democrats still have standards.
4
Gail Collins... Paging Gail Collins... We need a Mark Sanford column!
7
His aides said he was out hiking the Appalachian Trail when he went missing for 3 days. In reality he was in South America with his latin lover. Do we really want to go down this road with this guy? Trump will eat him alive.
8
Here we go again with the Republican playbook.
1. Campaign on anything , God, guns, white power, drain the swamp.
2.Once in power, lower taxes and reduce regulation.
3. Let the country go down the toilet.
4. Campaign next time around on "fiscal responsibility"
9
Mark Sanford is talking to himself on a desert island.
5
Wait a minute.
If a Democratic Governor, or holder of any office (or job) had literally disappeared for weeks, only to turn up in South America with his mistress, he’d be in the pillory (or much worse) and certainly his career would be over.
His scandals are the “least worst” of other Republicans?
But I guess this apologist for Sanford follows the old line: “It’s OK if you are a Republican.”
How about sending these scandalous nincompoops away and voting for a non-scandalous person? I think ALL of the Democratic contenders fall into that category.
9
Is cheating on your wife a new pre-requisite for running for President as a Republican Party candidate?
13
Oh, Ms. Mair--Cato and Club for Growth? Really?! Does this mean that the Koch Network may back him? Wouldn't that be something!
6
Don't listen to what he says.
Look at how he actually voted. He seemed to like voting for those tax cuts.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/mark-sanford/
2
Governors with the exception of RR make bad Presidents
1
Whoa, Republicans are really setting the bar low. A never-Trumpian who used his phantom hike to be with his soulmate* is good enough to beat Trump* and become the next POTUS
* being a un-holier than thou individual, if Gov/Rep Sanford wants to cheat on his wife and have a mistress, it is not my business. But if he uses his office to do stuff behind his then-wife, he has to answer to his wife and his constituents.
** scary to think a lesser scandal is good enough
2
Waiting for Governor Kasich. If he doesn't run, I will back Sanford. Both are long shot candidacies. Backing either against Trump and his cult followers is the political equivalent to buying a lottery ticket. If Trump is renominated, and assuming the Democrats don't nominate a left wing moonbat (that pretty much means Biden), then it's likely that on election day I will take a stiff drink, steady my shaking hand and for the first (and please God last) time in my life, vote Democrat.
1
You would think as Americans, even republicans are sick of the lies, corruption and anti-American rhetoric Trump spews on a daily basis. Have they all sold their souls to the devil or what?
2
So the best the GOP might be able to offer is a contest between the adulterous...
I can envision the debate now, a slime chucking contest to see who can "tarnish" the reputation of the other the most with plentiful references to stamina, organ size and levels of female satisfaction.
Such is the path to the Vulgarian presidency.
3
The more Republicans who challenge Trump the better. The more voices speaking against him (or at least for policies and decorum different from his) from within the party the better.
But the party machinery seems to be in Trump's corner, and if 4 states are already trying to cancel their primaries and caucuses, then surely more will follow. Of course I expect Weld, Walsh and Sanford to mount legal challenges, but I also hope to hear an outcry from the citizens of those states. How any voter can entertain casting a ballot for the man in whose name their party (among many other awful things) willfully attempts to murder the democratic process?
243
I'm pleased that Mark Sanford has entered the race. Do I want to see him as president? Nope.
But I have to agree with the assessment that He would deliver a damaging message on fiscal responsibility that Those-Formerly-Known-As Republicans, who are currently supporting the Trump party, need to have redelivered to them again and again before November 2020.
It is a bonus that Trump will try to bring up his scandal and have his own dalliances thrown in his face as a result, hopefully on a contentious debate stage. If, that is, Trump has the stomach for the kind of democracy that would allow primary challenges of a sitting president. I'm not convinced he does, after being weakened by bad ideas on trade and an unfit temperament.
At this point, anyone who might weaken an already weak Trump is welcome in the race in my book!
248
@JLC
"At this point, anyone who might weaken an already weak Trump is welcome in the race in my book!"
Yes, it is a good thing Sanford has entered the race. Though I don't agree with many of his polices, I agree that he would be able to deliver a message of fiscal responsibility.
What I want to say to everyone out there, from having watched him in this State, is that I believe he is a decent and mostly moral person - notwithstanding his affair.
As a matter of fact, I would say far more decent than a great number of our politicians on the GOP side.
18
There is no way his name will ever be printed on a ballot. The RNC has been directed by Trump and his crew to get rid of all of these bothersome RINO's ASAP. Wether cancelling primaries or caucuses, the RNC will do whatever it takes to protect Trump. They will stifle money going towards Sanford and direct the GOP to NOT work in any capacity for these challengers.
It won't be pretty or even maybe legal but the RNC will step on Sanford and Walsh and Weld like bugs.
2
LOL! Well, this would certainly be in keeping with the election of a powerful man who lies and seems to have had at least one episode of having entirely lost his moral compass while in service to the country. I think it’s astonishing he threw his hat into this ring.
3
Yes, and brick and mortar retail is the biggest threat to Amazon.
4
If that's Trump's biggest threat, he'll win again. No one cares about a reduced debt & a deficit. We only have to look at Kansas to know how that goes down. Swing voters don't care. The general public doesn't care. The poor, white, rural voters who formed the backbone of Trump's MAGA don't care.
1
Mark Sanford? Seriously?
That a potential candidate could carry that much baggage and still consider a run tells me one thing: America, in the eyes of the rest of the world, you have not just fallen - you have crashed and burned. Tragic.
3
The author of this piece was a "strategist" for some of the most despicable candidates ever to run for public office: Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina and the ludicrous Rick Perry. I haven't seen anything from Mark Sanford to compare with those guys. So why is Ms. Mair apparently supporting him?
2
I am afraid Ms. Mair is a RINO. Republicans now believe in Donald Trump. Republicans now believe that Democrats are the "enemy". Republicans now believe that Russia is our ally. Republicans now believe science is fiction. Republicans now believe in deficits, the bigger the better. If Ms. Mair truly believes in responsible fiscal policy (you can fill in the blank before responsible for any policy in fact) then it is time to join the Democratic party.
3
I will not be satisfied until the federal government is purged of every last official who has blindly supported Donald Trump. Putting a Republican in the Oval Office with Mitch and gang still in office is no way out of the mess we have ourselves in.
2
We need GOP debates! Trump must respond to questions along with other candidates!
2
The biggest threat is an open ended question for some. The larger concern is enfeeblement, dementia and creeping mental instability. DSM-5 briefs on the topic are selling like flapjacks.
America requires a President with all their marbles, not just a few. A complete diagnostic assessment of mental competencies should be a requisite for them.
1
Wow. This piece sure glosses over Sanford's ridiculous behavior during his spectacular affair. Clearly, he's no evolved than Trump himself. Is there no one in the Republican Party that handles himself as an adult, not a middle-school girl?
3
Liz Mair appeared on the Chris Hayes show. Another Never Trumper who is making more money on MSNBC than she would be making if she supported Republicans. I knew it.
1
Sorry. I'm so Progressive it hurts. But I can listen to William Weld. Weld is sane and educated. With this man, the second I hear his name, all I can think is he loves his mistress' tan lines when she's nude. While his wife and children are on their own.
4
He no threat at all. Hope he goes hiking and never returns, except to commit adultery.
1
He voted for the tax cut. Another hypocrite, we don't need.
3
Mark Sanford is an asterisk in history. He is no challenge to 45 with the RNC stacking the deck as we speak. Go back to Argentina Mark, you ll get more love there.
2
Another Republican who lies. Will he be on the Appalachia Trail or the campaign trail? Either way, we know for sure he will be cheating on his wife. Rock bottom seems to have no end for the family values party of blatant hypocrisy and dishonesty. They are totally corrupt, have no ethics, no values (other than greed and power), no ideas, no anything of any use to the American people. Anyone who votes Republican in 2020 is unpatriotic, un-American, anti-democracy - not to mention of questionable sanity,
1
Ditching your wife and four young sons, lying to your staff, and leaving the country without telling anyone—as a sitting governor. But for a relentless reporter at a local newspaper, we’d be none the wiser. That’s the "least scandalous"scandal in Liz Mair’s universe. Mr Sanford might pull a few votes from Trump. Let’s be done, though, with acting as if he’s anything more than another swollen ego with a pheromone problem.
4
He’s a really dim bulb and a big fan of Ayn Rand. He was an embarrassment when he fell off the radar on the “Appalachian Trail.” No way he’d get a vote from me.
However, any Republican who will speak out against the current occupant will be doing our country a service. Bigly.
3
Sanford's only threat to Trump will be finding the most attractive diversion on the campaign trail first.
2
"Liz Mair, a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, is the founder and president of Mair Strategies."
Ms. Mair's one-sentence bio at the conclusion of her opinion pretty much says it all. Her political history is one of tub-thumping for losing candidates seeking recognition, and this is no exception.
Sanford's traditional Republican issues have little popularity among the Trump supporters who are the Friday nite bar crowd, not the respectable country clubbers.
Oh No! Another Republican who can’t stay faithful to his wife, family, or constituents.
1
Sanford is a joke. He didn't just have "an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman" rather he went missing on the appalachian trail.
1
Another Republican who cheats on his wife. And then lies about it to the public, and even those who work for him. He's a shoo-in.
3
Honestly Republicans....have you forgotten how Sanford went missing "hiking on the Appalachian Trail" while actually in Argentina with his mistress? How does this not disqualify Sanford. Well, yeah he's running against Trump but geez, none of the Dems have these checkered pasts....
1
The headline is an oxymoron. Their is no such thing as a “Republican Threat to Trump”.
2
Wow! An article written by a Republican!
From the article:
"And they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)"
Which prompts the question:
If there is "OK" Adultery, is there "OK" Abortion?
Certainly, there must be, at least in some instances, a "Horse and Carriage" relationship between the two. Let's pour this question into a Republican "Think Tank" and see what comes out of the spigot (bigot?) at the bottom.
Next article: A Republican falls in love with another man...
1
To review Stanford's "least scandalous" hiccup: he went off the grid for five days while he used taxpayer money to fly to Brazil to be with his love. He "fell in love", leaving his wife and five children, eventually causing a divorce and the breakup of a family. In this day and age when the president of the United States can be elected despite his many marriages; boastful comments that he can grab any woman by the genitals; and, payoff to two women to hide his illicit behavior, it seems these human failures and complete lack of judgement are acceptable.
2
Mark Sanford (the married governor who secretly went to Argentina to visit his lover) vs. Donald Trump (the philandering, unapologetic grabber of women's private parts, etc.) Republicans should hang their heads in shame.
1
I do hope that you are publishing this column in outlets where the current followers of the man in the white house can see it.
1
Rather than a futile run against Trump, Sanford ought to run against Lindsay Graham, a one time Republican believer who abandoned all those things Republicans are supposed to believe in, in order to suck up to Trump.
Oh, heavens, Ms. Mair, really? Did you really say "And they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman.)"? Well, thanks for reassuring me that I wasn't far off in predicting that Trump's three marriages, serial adultery, misogyny, and sexual predation would transform Mark "Appalachian Trail" Sanford into an Eagle Scout! Is that what we've come to in the GOP? Looking for the "least-scandalous scandal"? Talk about low bars. And your absurd attempt to give Sanford's lies, unaccounted-for disappearance as governor, and abandonment of his family the warm glow of romance and impending matrimony is hilarious. Did you not know that "the woman" (as you so personably refer to her) Sanford called his "soul mate" just broke their engagement? Guess their souls got tired of mating. Try to keep up, Ms. Mair. I know it's tough, tracking the sexual hypocrisy of holier-than-thou republicans and their seamy affairs, domestic violence, unwed pregnant daughters, and forced abortions.
4
Are we talking about a guy who simultaneously got lost in the mountains of NC and was pumping a beauty in South America?
3
What record? He voted to increase the deficit and has a similar sorted past to Trump. Its possible that someone did not think thru the headline completely though. This is only true if you completely discount Weld and Walsh - but what does that really leave you with I might ask?
New York Times editors - as the national paper of record, we can and should strive to do better.
Huh? Walsh was a Trump supporter, and likes to brag that he was Trump before Trump!
Sanford? A threat?
okay....
1
"But Mr. Sanford enters the race in a vastly different position than Bill Weld,"
Huh?
Correction: "But Mr. Sanford enters the race in a position vastly different from that of Bill Weld,"
More than, less than, bigger than, smaller than, etc.
Different from. Never "different than."
"Liz Mair, a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry"
Jiminy Christmas...if you had put that at the top of the op-ed piece rather than the bottom you could have saved me a good 5 minutes better spent elsewhere.
1
Go Mark Sanford!!!
Your party needs you to make the case for a sane candidate.
Now I know what 'Republican strategist' means. This article tells me all I need to know about Ms Mair. Maybe she is hoping for a position as Sanford's very own Kellyanne.
Sanford off course will not be able to win primary against President, because Trump literally owns the Republican party. However he should be open to considering running as an independent and not commit to any pledge foreclosing that possibility.
1
The idea that Mr. Sanford would drive discussion toward more conservative messages is folly. Trump supporters will remain loyal as long as they think they are getting what they want. In that respect, Trump has delivered more money to the very wealthy, conservative justices on the Supreme Court, and department heads (even if interim) that get regulations and regulators off the backs of businesses.
The only conservatives that would theoretically object to Trump are the ones who claim that character is important. We heard a lot from them during the Clinton administration. But, just like the scene in Casablanca when Claude Rains receives his winnings, we all know that the importance of character can conveniently disappear when certain people are getting what they want.
And for the Democrats to win, it will be due to their passion for the issues and their record and not just because they are anti-Trump.
1
"Least scandalous scandal"? Ms. Mair is glossing over the fact that while Governor, Sanford went AWOL for 6 days on a trip to ARGENTINA to see his mistress, then lied about it saying he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was almost impeached, and was censured by the SC Legislature, also charged with 37 ethics violations by the SC Ethics Commission. Compared to Trump & the current administration she may be correct, but "less worse" does not mean he's a good candidate.
5
Given the choices left in the GOP these days, he looks to be one of the most upstanding. Certainly his indiscretions pale in comparison to Trump’s.
Curious, isn’t it, that we put up candidates who are scandal-plagued adulterers (and in the case of Trump, a serial adulterer of the genital-grabbing variety) and then we have a conversation about which candidate’s lies and infidelities are “worse”. What have we become?
1
But will Trump's base acquiesce to Sanford's ardent and continual desire to eliminate Social Security and Medicare? But, since Republicans of all stripes nowadays never tell the truth it might not matter for his chances.
3
I lived in SC when Sanford was Governor. God help us if this is true.
2
We lived in North Carolina when Sanford was governor. I personally wished he had stayed on the Appalachian Trail and walked off into the sunset. I see he's back. What a treat.
7
Trump, Sanford? How can anybody interested in promoting the general welfare ever consider voting for these two?
Republicans dont want government. They want corporate control of everything where everybody is a wage slave to provide an abundant supply of cheap replaceable labor to the mega corporations.
Whats wrong with a big strong government if "we the People" are truly the government?
As government gets weaker, we become more subservient to the corporations.
We the people need to take our country back and instead of us being servants of the corporations, the corporations will serve us.
9
Sadly, runaway deficits and exploding debt are only a small portion of the offenses committed by Trump. I am a lifelong republican who will not, under any circumstances, vote for Trump in 2020, but if Sanford wants to return some legitimacy to the republican brand, he needs to go much further with his campaign.
Starting with Trump despicable comments about grabbing women by the genitals, Sanford needs to reestablish decency in the WH. Sanford should demonstrate thru past performance how he's worked with experts rather than Trump's "gut feel" which has resulted in repeated failures.
But most importantly, Sanford should criticize Trump for his flagrant patronage of Russia and dispel the notion of love affairs with despots like Kim Jong un. My husband and I served in the military and our collective blood boils every time Trump cozies up to Putin.
7
How can Sanford or any other Republican be effective competition, if the States are told to shut down Republican Primaries? Some states may have decided this on their own, but the Mark of Trump is smelling up this attempt at voter suppression. Funny to see voter suppression within a single party, but Trump must win at all costs and the Republicans are cowards. So contests.
3
Donald Trump's biggest threat is not from a man who doesn't know the difference between Appalachia and Argentina; no, the biggest threat is Trump's own mouth. On the heals of the tragic devastation in the Bahamas, Trump pre-judged those who are fleeing and said they could be "very bad people". That makes him prejudiced. While I am truly grateful that the economy is doing well, unemployment across all ethnic groups is down, and other such successes, I am very tired of his tweets. Many are downright insulting. And without fail, he effortlessly makes everything about himself. I don't think he can get re-elected.
4
Sanford as a candidate is going to be a punch line for Trump, aka the man was missing on the Appalachian Trail. All of the positions he mentions are arguably winners, but he is the wrong messenger to deliver them. I think if someone else with less baggage delivers them, they could cause cause a self preservation crisis among office holders that aligned themselves with Trump and abandoned the principles that Sanford mentions. The most potent threat I could see to Trump, would be if the Republican's swallowed their pride and idiotic positions on some issues (like gun control) and lured Mike Bloomberg back to their camp. Put together Bloomberg and Tulsi Gabbard on the same ticket and you can say goodbye to Trump.
Nobody on the Republican side will fall for this. Sanford is a washed up politician who is being put forward by Democrats for the sole purpose of causing some minor amount of bad publicity for Trump.
3
The Republican constituency has always been about racism, making sure brown folks can't make it... Pre-Trump, the politicians used fiscal responsibility, and low taxes, and family values, and patriotism as their arguments... the racist undertones were veiled... and the registered Republicans fell in line... Trump's direct appeals to racism has proven otherwise... He has proven who they were all along. Now we know who they are, and always have been. Mr Sanford never understood who he was dealing with. Now, he'd have to be blind not to see it. And it appears he might be blind.
2
The Appalachian Trail lie was so blatant and so absurd, that it would cause me to question not only someone's integrity but their intelligence and respect for their constituents.
I don't expect politicians to have perfect personal lives, but as they say, it's not the crime, but the coverup that gets 'em.
The "oh, gosh, it was really Argentina, not Appalachia" baloney reminds me of another politician....
2
I am glad he is running, but I feel sorry for him in advance. What Trump and company say and print and lie about him will not be pretty. Also the crazy sect like base has some fringy characters with guns and letter bombs (at least one of them arrested and jailed for attempts to kill or maim supposed enemies of Trump). Sanford should have adequate protection by the secret service.
Last night on TV, Sanford he said he voted with Trump 90% of the time. Republicans lamenting Trump and wanting to go back to the "Grand Old Party" need a reality check. They bought birtherism/racism for 8 years and voted against healthcare 50 times, all the while lying (Not just Trump) they had a better, cheaper plan that would "cover everyone".
They made (not just Trump) the debt ceiling a thing ever and even closed government. Now, deficits are ok - they had majorities in the House and Senate and approved them.
It's not Trump, it's the lying rot of mainstream Republicans that is the problem. Lipstick will not help.
2
What causes a guffaw is that an incumbent who has about the worst record of mistreating and sliming women has the gall to critique Sanford for his one adulterous affair of the heart. That is the essence of Trumpism right there. Are all voters going to do the stupid act like Trump.
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone else that this has got to be a paid post? The "least scandalous scandal?" "Appeals to Republicans because he's not a never-Trumper?" Voted for Trump's deficit-busting tax scam of 2017 but will appeal to those who want to balance the budget?" None of that makes sense. You'd think Mair would have pointed out that Sanford lost a primary -as an incumbent- in the state he governed. Hardly the type to get far in a presidential primary.
5
"Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would."
You're kidding, right? You're a political pro, Liz Mair. At least have the intellectual honesty to admit in public what you surely must know in private: that the deficit disappeared under B. Clinton, and B. Obama was saddled with the Great Recession - and still managed to make deficits come down in the last years of his presidency.
4
Thanks- I was waiting for someone to bring up this blatant lie about the Dems increasing the deficit. Gosh is it that Republicans including this journalist can’t help but themselves?
It is a sad enough statement for this country that someone as despicable as Mark Sanford, disgrace as governor, was then elected to Congress in the very same state. Trump, and the media, will shred him.
He's one of those people whose name should illicit "Remember him? That guy who was in South America with another woman while telling his constituents he was on junkets and what not?"
He is not one of those people whom we should be considering for President.
3
I'd like to see Sanford (and Walsh and Weld) for that matter) on stage with Trump for debates. I'd like them to appear as reasonable, rational, and statesmanlike as possible, and for Trump to cut loose with all the mean-spiritied invective, personal insults and degrading name-calling he can cough up. If he does this to fellow Republicans what will he do to Democrats if re-elected?
This will show the country what kind of "man" he is.
VOTE BLUE IN 2020.
4
Didn't Sanford abandon his post as Governor to pursue his affair? He is an inept narcissist. Trump, a somewhat more skillful one, will eat him like a chicken wing.
6
Mr Sanford is correct: otherwise-reasonable policies are poisoned by association with the current president. That's why whenever the president takes a stance, public approval plummets for that stance. The longer the Republicans put up with it, it's like they're embracing a celebrity endorsement from the most noxious person in the world. We all instantly become suspicious of each and every idea: is it employed by white supremacists for some nefarious purpose? is it based on some lie, jealousy, bullying, ego-driven mistake, our burying of the truth? is it going to be implemented with some cruelty we never would have imagined possible before now?
Republicans, the pro-life movement, immigration reformers, and anyone else who thinks this guy is helping them should realize they're hurting their cause just by association. There is zero reason any cause needs this guy's awfulness to get things done - in fact, the longer his party takes to disavow him, the worse the alienation of potential supporters and the worse the backlash.
Moderate Republicans are the worst financial managers America has ever seen. Who spent trillions in Iraq?
Why would anyone trust a Republican to care about a deficit?
That is a long gone narrative.
2
The problem with this is that you assume Trump supporters have the intellectual capacity to understand issues or any interest in thinking about them. Those people simply want a dictator to rally around who gives voice to the hate and evil that guides them.
2
Next... Republicans won't forget when Sanford disappeared and embarrassed himself. No way he has a chance. Continue hoping.
4
A decent man with horrible ideas is a big step up for the Republican party these days.
1
"... about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)."
Yes, because he fits your ideal of a corporation-loving politician, you just conveniently forget the part about going AWOL from his job as governor, spreading a story that he was 'hiking the Appalachian trail' while he was in Argentina with her.
Thanks for reminding me why I need to stick to my commitment not to waste any time reading the 'thoughts' of a Republican strategist.
4
You know, given that Trump is such a colossal sinner, I don't think that Sanford's record of sin should phase Evangelicals. I mean, cheating on your wife and then marrying her. Trump did that HOW MANY TIMES?
The whole thing with the cancelled primaries stinks like corruption. Every time I think that I can't believe I still live in America, something more egregious happens. Canceled Primaries bc the President doesn't want to be primaried by candidates from his own party?
Isn't that some sort of depriving people of the right to vote for the candidate of their choice? They nominate trump completely ignoring that there are other candidates and no one *actually voted for him?* Since WHEN do they get to DO that?
This is America, not some banana republic!
Mark Sanford! Oh my. He’s no threat. I’d be shocked if there is actually a credible R that would oppose Trump, but it certainly isn’t this guy.
2
Are we so desperately in need of somebody,anybody with an R after their name that we can think Mark Sanford is a serious threat? Former Racist Joe Walsh has seen the errors of his racist ways and now wants to go up against the monster,Trump,he helped created.Now the new champion of the day to take on the monster is The Walkabout former Governor Sanford?Two losers Sanford and Walsh are the best we can muster to take on Trump from the Real Right? Bill Weld of Mass. is a legitimate challenger while Sanford and Walsh are just looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Trump being Trump must be relishing barbs he can throw at the Wandering Governor.
4
Mr. Walsh should run as an independent.
In my humble opinion, Mr. Mark Sanford has zero to no honesty, integrity and for that matter dignity. He is best an opportunist who
believes he is the 'second coming.' The Appalachian trail, his mistress from Argentina, and how he treated his smart and talented first wife - he is just pathetic. And he believes he is qualified to be president, no, he is not and never will be.
3
This is a lot of hooey, these ex GOP’s are really taking marching orders and money from the Republican party. That way they can get suburban Republican who dislikes Trump to still vote Republican stopping them from voting Democrat insuring Trump to a 2nd term. Trump like the party will continue to lie and hoodwink you until your pockets are empty. Be savvy Republicans, vote for yourself and for your family.
How is it that someone, Liz Mair, can write an entire op-ed dealing with Trump and his challengers and not once mention that Trump is a bully who studied for the presidency with all the diligence of a 4 year old trying to learn how to tie his shoes? How is it that Trump, the man, representing the party that barked about character as a key ingredient of leadership now doesn't give a flip about the character of the man they put in the White House and in control of the nuclear codes? How is it that his radicalism, unpredictability and lack of any coherent program other than "build the wall" and cutting taxes on the rich doesn't play into this discussion?
We know now beyond the shadow of any doubt that Republicans do not actually care about the national debt. It was just a way to make points against Democratic presidents, nothing more. We now know that moral character and living responsibly don't count, either. Those were just hammers to use against a Democrat in the White House. We now know that Obama wearing a tan suit was considered a mortal sin by Republicans but a president using his office to attack private citizens...no problem. We now know that going kissy face with dictators like Putin and What'shisname in North Korea is just fine, as long as a Republican does it. We now know that lying faster than most people can speak is good, too, if "our man" does it.
What don't we know? Whether the super patriots who wrapped themselves in the flag actually care about our country.
2
Let's call a spade a spade;
The republican Party does not exists anymore. Neither even the Tea Party
Now they have been fully and completely replaced by the"Trump Party"
Case closed
Mr. Sanford abandoned his office and lied about it, yet Ms. Mair calls this irresponsible AWOL "the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history".
This illustrates aptly the depths of depravity to which which Honest Abe's GOP has sunk.
3
Get thee back upon the Appalachian trail; this is not a man of sufficient stature to bring reform and honor back to the GOP.
That ship has sailed...
2
Sanford is a joke. How many offices has he resigned from? He is wasting his time and money.
4
I thought I would vote for anyone but Trump but please not Mark Sanford! What is the world coming to?
2
I am a life-long Democrat and always will be. But I should think that the Republicans would welcome a way out from Donald Trump and his ultimately Fascist plans. The law has to catch up to Trump, if he doesn't drop dead first, or worse install a dictatorial regime, and I should think that the Republicans would welcome a chance to redeem themselves beforehand and avoid that by backing a better alternative. How can the Republicans ever save face otherwise? Take away their propaganda outlets and Julius Streicher imitators, and their hypnotic hold on their sheep-like followers will be kaput. They will be completely unmasked as the Nationalist holdouts that they have been ever since the FDR administration. There is a new day acomin'. Republicans: either gain some moral character and push the Clown out, or put down your arms and come out with your hands up. Business is business, and bankruptcy will be looming just as sure as prison is for tax evasion, at least.
3
He has as much chance as me hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. Which is to say, none.
4
Donald Trump actually makes Mark Sanford look good. God help us all.
1
Please watch "The Family" on Netflix. Is the family institution behind this nomination, as Trump can't be controlled? This is a real eye opener behind the national prayer breakfast and the steadfast hold of wealthy white evangelical power players steering the politicians to make rich richer and sod all to the rest of us. Mark Sanford is owned by them.
I met Mark Sanford in NYC briefly one day and he seems like a nice guy, but he is not a threat to Trump. Andrew Yang is the biggest threat to Trump, especially combined with Tulsi as VP. The Democrats will not allow that, so it is time for a 3rd Party run to break this vicious cycle of bad candidates from two parties.
And Boo Hoo for all the Democrats who will say that is a path for Trump 2020. Bloomberg said that in 2016, did not run as a 3rd Party with Admiral Mike Mullen, and here we are...
1
This article is the type of article meant to tease liberals. The country can be saved, even if we all have to vote for this character. This guy is such a dark horse, Gary Cooper couldn't see him at high noon.
"His position is more nuanced." After four years, what have you learned about the type of nuance that is effective against President Trump? You never Trumpers have not learned anything. Ask Jeb(huh) if you don't believe me.
This article is the type of article meant to tease liberals. "There's still hope."
The Appalachian Trail adulterer? The father of four who fell in luv at 60 years old, ran off to have romance and lied about it? Really? The guy behaved like a lovesick 15 year old boy and broke his wife's heart because she's no longer a sexy young woman. I was incredulous about the article until I realized it was written by a Republican strategist.
Just because Trump fails every litmus test for decency does not mean we don't care about bad behavior. Bad behavior reveals bad character and untrustworthiness.
3
I would never vote for a GOP candidate for any position at any level of government after watching them walk in lock step with trump and massacre mitch. With that said I would love to see some of their recent party reversals debated.
1
I love that Trump is so fragile that he immediately had to attack Sanford. And I especially love that he mocked Sanford's infidelity. Trump, who married his current wife in 2005 but is alleged to have had sex with Stormy Daniels around 2007.
*sigh*
He's "serious" about deficits. And then in the next sentence he is so serious that he brought squealing piglets to the state house. At least she didn't say he was clever.
What he has going for him is DJT has removed morality and infidelity as deal breakers for the Presidency. What he doesn't have going for him is Putin.
This good news promises full funding of protection efforts for the Appalachian Trail.
2
He is also unlikely to be on most primary ballots, if the WH and GOP have anything to do with it...
The only thing worse than a "tax and spend" Democrat is a "NO tax and spend" Republican. I'll vote for the yet to be named "D" for president.
“Unlike Mr. Walsh and Mr. Weld, both ‘Never Trumpers’— in fact, the latter ran as part of a ticket that aimed to draw votes from both Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016....” This is inaccurate analysis. Bill Weld was not a never Trumper in 2016. He was a neither Hillary-nor-Trumper who disastrously saw little difference between Clinton & Trump. However, in 2019, Bill Weld was out front with a smart argument against Trump that drew on his decades of knowledge of American government and politics. Why he gets so little press (especially when compared to a joke candidate like Joe Walsh) is beyond, Give Weld a chance.
. . . and what about Senator Sanford's disappearance in 2009? No mention about this from the NYTs, which chronicled it so closely at the time? The man is simply as untrustworthy as the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania. There are better moderate candidates on the Democratic side of the political spectrum. But, there appears little enthusiasm for Mr Biden in NYC.
1
The Republican party has become a theatre of the absurd. Hysterically funny and grotesquely tragic and dangerous at once.
1
There is no Republican threat to Trump, least of all Mark Sanford.
2
Polls in 2016 showed that over 58% of the people who voted for Trump did so only to stop the Clintons and the Rodham Brothers. They didn't support Trump so much they opposed the return of the money-grubbing Mayberry Machiavellis. A large subset of those voters also believed that if Trump won, the republican party would tear itself apart. This will appeal to them. Bring it on...
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
He should run as an independent, or join with some others to form a new conservative party.
Well, the Appalachian Trail does pass through New Hampshire.
One thing you have to say about Trump is he makes awful people look better.
Here we have Sanford running, a disgraced politician who really should never be accepted back in office.
But compared to Trump?
Sanford looks like he walks on water.
Trump has pulled the country far, far down into the gutter.
For headlines. And news coverage.
Ratings are all that matter to Trump.
Being POTUS is not reality TV.
The Oval Office is not a prize for the biggest loser.
Vote Democratic in 2020.
Every office, every seat.
Now if he’ll only run as an independent
Joe Walsh a "Never Trumper"? Really? Well, I gotta admit, I had that completely wrong!
I thought he was a Trumpist before Trump and only just recently came around to seeing that the Don might not have been the best idea, after all.
If Mark Sanford is a conservative and believes in fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget, would he have voted against the Tax reform bill? And his scandal... He ran off to see his mistress and claimed instead to have been on a hiking vacation. Do we really want another liar in the White House?
2
Mark Sanford? Mr. Appalacian Trail?
I saw him interviewed during "The Squad" controversy. He couldn't even say Trump's comments were racist.
Dang, it's hard to see the greatness of the Appalachian Trail sullied — again — by the boob who once represented the district where I live. The good news? We elected a Democrat to Congress for the first time in 30 years after Mark "Lousy Liar" Sanford stepped down. The GOP candidate was an ally of Individual 1.
Sanford showed flickers of a conscience as a GOP House member following the Current Occupant's "election" in 2016, on some key environmental issues, especially. He'd be better than "President" Sharpie, but not by a whole lot.
Still, thanks to the liar for putting himself out there. We Appalachian Trail thru-hikers do *not* appreciate anyone fibbing about the trail, but hey, at least he's not the hair-dying, tanning-salon using, germophobic, hysterical train wreck that currently plays at being U.S. president.
Was he really in Argentina? He could have been in Myrtle Beach.
Also, we could use an environmentally-oriented president who has hiked the Appalachian Trail.
1
I don’t hear liberals in SC chortling. We are genuinely concerned that the GOP cancelled its primary the same day our former governor announced his candidacy. It’s frankly chilling considering our current almost dictator is threatening to fire weathermen at NOAA and planning secret meetings with terrorists and blocking Bahamian refugees from coming to the US without a visa. Republicans are seriously ok with all this insanity, enough to deny their actual in-person friend and former leader a spot on the ballot, and I think that’s the scariest thing of all.
1
I don't need to finish/can't even finish this article because it's ridiculous.
This Republican Party will embrace the current occupant of the White House through scandals, and lies, and misdirects, and reversals, and slander, and more lies, and daily confusion, and denials, and more reversals.
And the current occupant won't even show up at ANY Republican Party debates, maybe ANY debates. His strategy is set: be who they think you are and they will never leave your side nor think about it.
Of course, there is no downside to running for president on either side.
Mark Sanford is so beloved in South Carolina that the party cancelled the 2020 primary! People don’t care about Sanford’s personal life except for the fact that he made a total fool of himself. When will politicians learn that while “the people” are forgiving, they expect you to go quietly & remake your life in private.
2
As a Democrat I may consider voting for Sanford.
Interesting, but it overlooks the possibility that most Republicans are mindless cultists who were just waiting for the signal to "get in line".
1
Is this opinion piece straight out of "The Onion"? Because it's a joke. Democratic administrations in recent history are the ones that left budget surpluses. And the only reason Obama didn't is because he had to stimulate the economy due to the financial meltdown caused by Republican de-regulatuon. Who do you think you're kidding?
1
In response to RJ Post: Yeah, Trump "largely delivers"--no, bigly, proudly delivers shamelessness, bankruptcy, fraud, bigotry, misogyny, serial adultery, sexual predation, idiotic temper tantrums, middle-school epithets, besotted flattery to murderous dictators, a sharp uptick in hate crimes and race-based violence--oh, and lies--plenty of lies--every time he opens his mouth. What does he--and our nation--get in return? Laughter from our enemies while friends slink away in embarrassment and scorn. Meanwhile, Trump wannabes like Dutarte, Orban, Bolsanaro, and Erdogan get away with murdering dissidents because they know that our "president" won't stop them, but will applaud and encourage their "strong man" tactics.
1
So Mr. Appalachia Trail wanderer who lost a Republican primary for a House seat in South Carolina now thinks he can win the presidency. Reminiscent of perennial loser and not senator Rick Santorum.
3
I just watched the man on Chris Matthews and he was essentially asked to blast Trump and he said we’d have to “wait and see”. Not impressed.
Any challenge will drive the egomaniac wild. Good of Sanford to volunteer for this thankless cause!
You should update that headline: Mark Sanford is No threat to Trump.
1
Hope he runs on family values. That would be special.
5
Yes, many fiscal conservatives like Sanford a lot. Folk lore tells the story of Sanford never buying or renting a place to live in DC because he slept in his office. His personal situation may just be boring in he world that has gone mad with the angst between men and women. But...there is another Dauphin waiting in the wings that appears to be squeaky clean and would make an excellent candidate. He went to Harvard law school, rose to rank of Captain in the US Army and is a senator from Arkansas. Tom Cotton would be a refreshing touch of wind in the miserable and hostile political climate we are now submerged .
Cue Trump's Attorney General Barr (the door) to have the FBI begin investigating all the stops on Sanford's version of braving the Appalachian Trail. Lucky for Sanford not being black or female, hispanic or otherwise superficially offensive he makes a tougher target for Trump to tweet shame without risking continued support among the somewhat less poorly educated still stubbornly remaining part of his base.
18
I'm willing to speculate that Trump's mental collapse will be complete and he will not be the candidate.
17
@Thomas Payne
You are too hopeful but I wish you are right.
5
He's a reasonably intelligent guy, who won't be intimidated by DJT . . . he has core issues which he will try to exploit . . . not sure that DJT really has any . . .
2
Sanford is a tested politician from a trump stronghold. I have to wonder just what the effect of South Carolina and other states cancelling primaries will be. Could states that do not support trump, and therefore hold presidential primaries, result in a very lopsided primary since the pro-trump states have cancelled their primaries?! Ha!
4
Sanford may be a smart guy but whenever he is needed he is lost along the Appalachian Trail.
60
Well, and I guess Trump being on wife three and having affairs himself, Sanford can avoid that baggage by just pointing the finger back. I don't like Sanford, but I prefer him to Trump if the Republicans win.
But I'm voting for Warren
37
Hmmmm.
Tax-and-spend Democrats, or Borrow-and-spend Republicans.
Which one is more fiscally responsible, Mr. Sanford?
2
Sanford and Walsh are right wing extremists and Weld ran previously as a libertarian. There is no chance any primary votes for them will go to the Democrat in the general.
What is needed is a moderate Republican to announce. Primary votes for a moderate might translate to votes for the Democrat later.
Trump is vulnerable in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Should Trump lose even 4-6% to a moderate in primaries in those and other purple states, it could presage sound Trump defeats in those states.
The 2020 is a referendum on Trump. Those who oppose him will vote for whichever Democrat gets the nomination. It will not matter who it is.
There’s likely a very small percentage of undecided voters, and many of them are surely moderate Republicans. Giving them the opportunity to vote against Trump in the primary may give them the impetus to vote against him again in the general.
1
Mr. Sanford is clearly the Republican adult in the room. If he really would do anything to prevent a 2nd Trump administration, he should run as a conservative third party candidate. Maybe then he would siphon enough Trump votes to hand the election to the Democrats.
2
Where Sanford could have damaging impact is running as an Independent, siphoning off just enough votes off of Trump to make him lose to the Democratic candidate. First, however, he must serve as the president's punching bag in those states that have GOP primaries.
2
Wow, has Ms. Mair gone on a long walk down an un-mapped trail. While she may pine for the days when the GOP could rest comfortably on the perception that they are the party of fiscal restraint, that idea has been uprooted. It is pure folly for her to think that Senators and Representatives who have been unable to summon the courage of the oath they took to our Constitution will somehow break ranks with Trump to side with Sanford.
I suggest to Ms. Mair and other GOP folks that the time for "nuanced" responses to Trump to redirect your party is long past.
1
A challenger to Trump would be welcome. Surely not all Republicans have a "death wish" for America, in the form of lower and inferior health care, environmental destruction and the shredding of the Constitution and the law. At least I hope so.
Being liberal, I will not vote for him, but certainly hope he gets a chance to run. I would like to know what form his "cost-cutting" takes. I do support free trade.
States cancelling their Republican primaries and not allowing voters to express themselves at the ballot box is one of the worst forms of disenfranchisement, and a sign of the RNC's insecurity about Trump's 2020 success.
l hope they don't turn to tampering with ballot machines. A vote for paper back-up ballots, stalled in the Senate, would go a long way toward assuring vote count accuracy, given that voting machines can be so easily hacked.
2
As if there ever were significant constituencies impassioned about deficits or free trade. If Republicans really cared about deficits, they wouldn’t have canonized Ronald Reagan.
trimp has the GOP base because he ignores what is irrelevant to his base and focuses on symbolic excoriations of dangerous immigrants and the swamps of corruption and elites. But notice that it's the symbolism and the excoriation that counts. trimp, pays no penalty for stocking his resorts and his bedroom with immigrants any more than he pays any penalty for wallowing in emoluments himself while the upper echelons of his adminstration
5
@Joseph F. Panzica
Well put.
Mr. Sanford, whatever his past sins, is doing the country a favor by performing a public role in trying to disrupt the Trump presidency. I suspect he knows he will not win the nomination let alone the presidency. Even allowing for his own large share of hubris, Mr. Sanford is currently acting in the best interests of the nation. If the Republicans try to exclude him from their own primaries, that may even further the cause.
3
Sanford does have a legitimate issue, but it's an issue Trump has implied that he, as a second-term president, would address.
As for Sanford being more serious than Walsh or Weld, that's like saying that he's the most impressive among the three blind mice. That ditty is based on the real historical situation in which three Protestants challenged the crown of Mary the first. Let's see how they run today, these three.
All three of the challengers to Mary I were burned at the stake.
1
@Dave Oedel
I'm glad to see that you're still using your rapier wit to make points about our national discourse that need to be made. I hope that you and your family are doing well.
Doug Ballard
Mercer Law - '01
Mr. Sanford may well be the biggest Republican threat to President Trump's reelection, but it's a threat along the lines of a campfire to a blizzard. It's unlikely Mark Sanford will make it to the primaries and certain he will win none.
7
Mr. Sanford's role in running against President Trump is to guarantee a Democratic president for the next four years.
4
I had just been sitting here wondering if Trump is destroying the two party system by intimidating many good Republicans into abandoning their principles , ether out of fear of his might in the primaries or the hope that he can somehow stem the tide of history and by ignoring emerging realities magically whisk them back to a more comfortable time. I had started to fear that the two-party system as we know it will not survive him, when VOILA- here’s your article!
I was musing - if the Republican Party stands for nothing but being in favor of whatever Trump says, what will be left of it after he shuffles off the stage of history, whether it is in 2021 or 2025?
3
Liz Mair wrote, "If the era of Trump has shown us anything, it’s that Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would."
Duh! No "maybe" about it.
6
It's hard to take Sanford's concern about deficits the least bit seriously. Republicans only care about deficits when Democrats are in control and/or they want to stop something that the public wants from happening. And that's true for just about all of them.
5
Mark Sanford has no scandals to his name? What about the time he went missing for a few days in 2009 and told his staff he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail when in reality he went to visit his girlfriend in Argentina. The married Mr. Sanford caused quite a stir with his lies and this did not help his political career. Can we trust a man who lied to his wife, his constituents and his country? He certainly does not have my vote.
I am going with Donald J. Trump in 2020. He has done a pretty good job governing our country. And he will continue making America great.
6
I agree! Lying to your wife and your country is awful! That’s only one of the many reasons why Trump should NOT be president.
2
My Irony-Meter just crashed. You’re hesitant to vote for a man who lied once, so you’ll fully support a man who spent his life cheating and lying to his contractors, creditors, the Draft Board, his “Trump University” students, and his many wives?
4
Are you serious when you wrote, "Can we trust a man who lied to his wife, his constituents and his country". And then went on to say you will vote for Trump. Trump's lies are so much larger, more frequent. and dangerous I was just blown over when you wrote this. I mean you have to be kidding or this was sarcasm. please tell me it was sarcasm, because otherwise I see it as blindness.
2
"... particularly issues related to fiscal restraint and responsibility. …"
He voted for the "upward wealth redistribution" bill (aka tax cut) of December 2017.
This is the most fiscally irresponsible act that it is possible to have.
3
@cl That's the way I heard it. That part of the column was the ultimate gloss-over.
1
I don't know why Ms. Mair dismissed Bill Weld so readily. Weld has a track record when it comes to balancing the budget, and there are no scandals in his life. Weld represents the future of the Republican party; he's a conservative of fiscal issues, and a libertarian on social issues. And, he seems like a nice guy.
4
@Jack Edwards
Yes, Mr. Weld is a decent guy and he gave Nixon the thumbs down.
? Look, there are lots of people who do not like Trump. Those of us in NY are hardly clueless. Among a certain clique, we know him. Literally. And/or know people who know him quite well. We are aware of his multitudinous shortcomings. Stiffing contractors, for example. The parties on the yachts. And many of us have strong thoughts about some of his weird ideas on America's role in the world. (Perhaps less harmful than Obama's-- I think so-- but definitely not well formed from knowledgeable or generous wellsprings.) But the idea that Mark Sanford is a serious threat to Trump is ridiculous. Tonite, we see the Hillbilly Elegy couple Sarah and Todd Palin are apparently getting a divorce. Come on, man, as Biden might say. We have a deeply damaged culture coming out of the 1960's. Mark Sanford adds nothing. If you are a genuine conservative, and especially a social conservative, it's pick your poison. Today, for most people who have decided to go with Trump, that's him.
2
A formal impeachment process should be very powerful even if the Senate fails to take it seriously.
Investigations, once they really get going and have court backing, allow almost endless appropriate subpoenas, open hearings, and document discovery. Trump’s malfeasance is an iceberg with the majority still to be discovered and shown to the public.
It’s doubtful the Senate will give much attention to impeachment charges, essentially whistling by the graveyard and hoping the public loses interest.
But once Trump is impeached, the press and opposition candidates will be able to bring it up every single day in rallies, speeches, and campaign adds. Impeachment and the charges will be irrevocably tied to Trump by relentless repetition. I doubt he survives to the election.
I can see how a man might fall in love with a woman not his wife and tell some lies to protect himself. It is not my place to judge that behavior. But when that man is the governor and he sneaks out of the state without telling the public so that he can see the other woman - and eventually leads the public to believe he was hiking the Appalachian Trail - he has crossed over into a breach of public trust. That pales in comparison with Trump, of course, but if we hope to restore some sort of ethical normalcy to the presidency, Sanford's breach should be kept in mind when weighing his presidential candidacy. He's already shown his (very human) willingness to put his personal and political interest ahead of the public.
5
He is far more damaged by behavior surrounding the affair and resulting broken marriage than is represented in this article.
Anyway, he is Pence in sheep’s clothing. Better to worry about cobbling a Democratic ticket that can beat Trump than hoping a hard line conservative can defeat Trump in Republican primaries - and be careful what you wish for.
4
@Richard - "He is far more damaged by behavior surrounding the affair and resulting broken marriage "
How is it then that Trump is celebrated for multiple broken marriages, affairs, etc.?
People will find an excuse not to like those they don't and will excuse others that they like.
1
It's long past time for the GOP to do something about Mr. Trump, but better late than never.
2
We all know reality of any remotely successful challenge to Trump in party; yet, the hope that Sanford will emerge as a threat to Trump's renomination is pleasing to our heart. So let us entertain the possibility as long as we can.
3
Is it weird that I find myself rooting for a Republican even though I am a Democrat?
6
Mark Sanford is a principled conservative who no longer fits in a party which has abandoned its principles. Sadly, he won't get much traction.
1
@BP
Tough to see how you can characterize Mark Sanford as a "principled" person. As for debt and deficits, he voted for the tax cut that ballooned the deficit and the debt, which he now claims to care about as a core political value. And then there's the personal issues which involved dishonesty, not only to his long-suffering wife but to the public - you know, the whole Appalachian trail episode. I mean, come on, that is the stuff of a "principled" conservative?
1
Consider this....same party opponents of Boris Johnson's policies have resigned. In the U.S., they simply fall in line. Score one for the U.K.
10
The only objective is that President Trump is not there in 2021 as President. If for that one needs to set a thief to catch a thief then why is that debated.
Mark Sanford is not an ideal presidential candidate. We all know that. But if he can defeat Trump in the primaries or, weaken him or his war chest then do we care?
This is good news and all should applaud.
4
Even if he is a threat, Sanford is another philandering man so trading one bad man for another is not a good trade. Weld is the only worthwhile GOP candidate out there yet I doubt even he would win the nomination-if only. But I will accept any way for Trump to be tossed out and if that means by way of a GOP primary, I'll take it.
3
He could do it. He could actually beat Trump in the primary. It’s game time! (Or just getting exposure for 2024 when he will have to run against the Democrat incumbent.)
(I am adding one line..to my original comment but didn't know how to edit it.)
Although fidelity in a marriage is not a prerequisite to be president, revelations of affairs certainly can cause a distraction for a president (as with Clinton) and may make him vulnerable to things that him might not be if he wasn't cheating (as Kennedy could have been) and as someone has said here, it shows moral character. If one cheats on his marriage, what else might he think of cheating on?
Jenny Sanford revealed in her book, he refused to put fidelity in his marriage vows and admitted before his Argentinian mistress he had other affairs (well, he didn't break any vows), perhaps he married his wife for her money?
No, I am sure that if the Republicans want to find a candidate other than Trump, with their moral self righteousness they can find one without his moral turpitude and ironically he likes to portray himself as a pious Christian trying to uphold the sanctity of marriage by being against civil unions or gay marriage which if anything shows the sanctity of marriage by showing people want to make a commitment to others.
4
Good for Sanford. trump needs to feel some primary heat, assuming the other 46 states don’t all decide to cancel their Republican primary, too.
3
Please stop using the words conservative, the military, and concerned about wasteful spending with the GOP.
They poses non of those values or policies.
5
I hope that Mark Sanford will get to have a debate with trump.
4
Mark Sanford like Howard Schultz lack the passion to run a presidential campaign but seem to want to reduce the federal debt. Not a bad one point agenda but Schult has dropped out and Sandord's pursuit of soul mate has not been forgotten
2
Although fidelity in a marriage is not a prerequisite to be president, revelations of affairs certainly can cause a distraction for a president (as with Clinton) and may make him vulnerable to things that him might not be if he wasn't cheating (as Kennedy could have been) and as someone has said here, it shows moral character. If one cheats on his marriage, what else might he think of cheating on?
Jenny Sanford revealed in her book, he refused to put fidelity in his marriage vows and admitted before his Argentinian mistress he had other affairs (well, he didn't break any vows), perhaps he married his wife for her money?
No, I am sure that if the Republicans want to find a candidate other than Trump, with their moral self righteousness they can find one without his moral turpitude.
1
Oh, please. The Republican base has NO appetite for a primary challenge. Trump is their guy. As much as the traditional Republican establishment is loathe to admit it, the GOP is Trump's party now, and that is not going to change anytime soon. The Republican strategy of the past few decades was able to stitch together racial and religious resentment with regressive tax policy, but that fabric has now been torn. McCain and Romney--or even George W. Bush, for that matter--are not coming back. Whoever replaces Trump once this horror of an administration is over will look very much like him, and the GOP leadership will struggle to control a base that clearly has different priorities than they do.
3
If voters care about deficits, they should vote for Democrats.
Deficits went up under Reagan and W Bush.
Deficits went down under Clinton and Obama.
The put the debt clock in Manhattan because of Reagan.
Reagan got 16 Million jobs. Clinton got 23 Million jobs, almost 50% more than Reagan. And Clinton balanced the budget.
W Bush took that balanced budget, doubled the debt and gave Obama a whopping $1.4 Trillion deficit. And we got 3 Million jobs. That was with two "tax cuts for the job creators." We also got the worst recession since the Great depression.
Obama got us through the Great Recession, cut the deficit by almost 2/3 to $550 Billion. And we got 11.5 Million jobs. Almost 400% more than W Bush.
And that was with the "jobs killing" Obama-care. And 20 Million people got health care.
The Ryan / McConnell / Trump tax bill will increase the deficit from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion.
Every Republican senator voted for it. Not one Democratic senator voted for it.
And in the House, Mark Sanford voted FOR IT.
25
PS -
2018 jobs: 2.6 Million, revised to 2.4 Million
2015 jobs: 2.7 Million
2014 jobs: 3.0 Million
Will Trump be willing to debate Sanford and the other Republicans who challenge him or will he feel that it is beneath him to have to debate to get the nomination? I can't wait to find out.
5
Mark Sanford and other Republican never-Trumpers who want to derail his re-election bid are probably doomed to failure within the Republican Party. Getting a couple percent in a primary contest is essentially meaningless. Trump still wins and goes forward to the general election.
It's far better for them to work on a third party run and getting on the general election ballot in key swing states. That way they can draw votes away from Trump much as Jill Stein and, to a lesser extent, Gary Johnson did against Clinton. Those folks helped cripple Hillary with their 6 million combined presidential votes.
2
No a third party candidate will be a spoiler that enables Trump to win. He will draw anti-Trump Rep and Indy votes that could have otherwise gone to a moderate Democrat.
2
Though I will go for whichever Democrat is the nominee, I am glad to learn from Liz Mair, and to learn of her work and hear what she has to say here. I have watched Sanford interviewed these past two days and hope he stands his ground. Liz Mair, a Republican strategist has alerted us to the extend some states are going to to squash challenges to Trump. Mark Sanford is, arguably a great lover, if his steamy emails are any indication. While I don't know what happened to Mark's Argentinian love, I do know that his ex wife Jenny is very happily remarried. Today Trump, with an apparent inexhaustible energy, threw out his, by now, usual put downs regarding his opponents (they are jokes), perhaps not realizing how much of a joke he himself is considered by the majority of the population.
4
@Boomer Whoops. I just checked in to the Mark Sanford on line updates and it is a mess! See his long explanation of why he is no longer engaged to Bellen. He does not need to be running for President.
It seems that the Republican Party is shedding all the pretense of democracy within the party. The Republican Party in South Carolina, Sanford's home state, voted to scrap its GOP presidential primary, while in Kansas and Nevada, the GOP voted to replace presidential nominating caucuses in 2020 with an internal party process. Similar action is expected in Arizona this month.
GOP under Trump seems to more than desperate to establish a autocratic regime under Trump dynasty, as reported by many GOP insiders in few media. I do understand those few former and some current corrupt/opportunist and extremely rich Corporate bosses are benefiting by supporting Trump. But I fail to understand what vast majority of GOP Congressmen and Senators get? Are religious fundamentalism and racial bigotry (white supremacy) so attractive to those people who are supposed to uphold American constitution and secular democracy?
3
The Repubs probably need someone who is more serious about the campaign trail than the Appalachian one. But at this point, they could run the ghost of Ronald Reagan and provide a more viable candidate than the current occupant.
3
The only hope the impecunious have of ever attaining the good life is government spending on their behalf, or even better, direct payments to them. This is in fact the underlying promise of the Democratic Party, that it will tax successful individuals and businesses and spend for the benefit of the less well-off. A candidate who promises to stop, or at least slow, spending to re-establish fiscal responsibility effectively shuts the door against the needy and protects the interests of those who have already made it. Democrats would make quick work of Mr. Sanford.
@Ronald B. Duke
Deficits went up under Reagan and W Bush.
Deficits went down under Clinton and Obama.
And Clinton got almost 50% more jobs than Reagan.
And Obama got almost 400% more jobs than W Bush.
Seriously, go look it up.
And Republicans just did it again. With the 2017 tax bill, the deficit is going up from $600 Billion to $1 Trillion.
2018 jobs: 2.6 Million, revised now to 2.4 Million
2015 jobs: 2.7 Million.
2014 jobs: 3.0 Million.
And that was with the "jobs killing" Obama-care.
Look up the numbers.
Remember, the fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30. So the last budget of the outgoing president is the first fiscal year of the incoming president.
If you care about deficits and jobs, vote for the Democrat.
4
Sorry : Sandford has character flaws like Trump; Clinton...
No more of this; we need a person of very good character to
be President be it a man or a womn.
Background of Sanford shows personal character flaws...
so no acceptable.
6
@Carol B. Russell
It's never the affair; it's the lying.
When he draws a map of the Appalachian Trail, it extends through Central America, all the way to Argentina.
I am old enough to remember when it was thought that any candidacy by Nelson Rockefeller was precluded because he divorced his first wife. How times have changed, and I realize I am mired in Fogeydom.
10
As Arlo Guthrie said, three's a movement.
Mark Sanford brings several wonderful qualities to the brawl.
First, his last name precedes 'Trump' alphabetically, unlike the other two. Some states still require primary ballots to list candidates alphabetically; it would create further distraction in the legal issues connected to eliminating primaries. (It would probably also ENRAGE Mr. Trump to be anywhere but first.)
Second, a primary candidate with a personal grudge(s) and nothing to lose could be a real threat to the soft underbelly of the GOP (it's not Mr. Trump's soft underbelly; aside from being too gross to consider, the original Churchill quote was about Italy and its relationship to Europe).
Third, if he's gutsy enough to talk about the problematic racial heritage of his state and the South, and suggest ways forward, Mr. Sanford could make a lasting contribution to healing the trauma of the U.S.'s recent and historical racial shame. It also might help atone for the GOP's decades of denial, as well as boosting the party's future prospects with non-whites.
While Mr. Trump is less likely to be successfully primaried than eventually taking a perp walk in an orange jumpsuit, in many ways it would be the most surgical way to excise him from the U.S. political system. It would certainly be the cleanest way for the GOP to get rid of him.
10
It simply says something about the GOP that a former Governor and Congressman, good man though he may be, who lied to his State, the media and family to secretly rendezvous with his lover a continent away, would be not just a viable candidate, but a potential savior to the Party's downfall.
Some in the GOP are simply that desperate to be done with the Era of Trump and I don't blame them.
15
The DNC folks in Nevada, South Carolina and Kansas should add a separate "Republican Presidential Primary" section to their Democratic primary ballots next year with the names of trump and his challengers to give people an opportunity to express their preferences, and their feelings.
1
@Paul Wertz
A number of states have primaries that are not party-specific. In Wisconsin, for instance, there's no registration by party, so anyone can vote "strategically" for an opposition candidate.
1
I think Liz Mair needs to turn in her strategist card.
1. The only ones who are going to support a primary against Trump ARE the never-Trumpers. The rest of the party loves him.
2. Sanford voted for the Great Tax Scam of 2017. Not the best spokesman for deficit reduction.
3. The guy couldn't even win a primary IN A STATE HE GOVERNED.
Remember the guys who ran against Obama in 2012? I don't either.
12
@Josh Wilson, If memory serves me it wasn’t Trump.
The re defined Republican Party is best projected by William F.
Weld former 2 term governor of Massachusetts.
I look forward to the debates between those who would
be determined to reform and correctly define what Republicanism actually is: fiscal responsibility mostly.
1
Trump wont debate any of these guys. Doesn’t have to.
LOL!! That's hilarious, Carol. That hasn't been true since at least Nixon.
He needs to consider running as an Independent conservative past the Republican primary—indeed, for the entire election— if he’s going to have an effect on the 2020 election.
3
The extensive nitpicking about which presidents were most inclined towards high budget deficits seems to me unlikely to matter to most voters, even the many who appear unaware that "all bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives" (US Constitution, Article 1).
I also fail to see why any patriotic, objective, informed voter should consider "Never Trumper" to be a drawback.
More important, probably, is that these Republican presidential challengers at some point address the manifest and shameful failure of the GOP establishment to lift a finger to try to stop Trump in 2016, either by redressing the circus-like atmosphere of the primaries (well-suited for, and exploited by, a reality TV clown candidate), or by a joining forces of other GOP presidential candidates, or via a contested convention, or by supporting William Weld and Gary Johnson in the 2016 general election as more genuine Republicans (albeit then running as the Libertarian ticket), or by impeaching Trump once in office for offenses obviously vastly more serious those which Republicans in Congress used as grounds to impeach Bill Clinton.
Most important -however many challengers might end up actually in however many actual Republican presidential primaries are held in 2020, is that they work effectively together to help this Great American Embarrassment come to a conclusion after one, not two, terms in the White House.
3
Please do run. I’m not sure I agree free trade with China is free and agree with Trump on that issue. But a more thorough debate would be healthy. More importantly the tax cut and resulting increase in the deficit is a mistake on many levels.
148
@Charlie Who will he be thoroughly debating with? Not Donald Trump- it will be difficult for him to match wits with the unarmed.
For sure trade with China and the deficit are a problem, both not easy to solve and will take some thought decisive actions.
4
@Charlie
You're missing the real issue. "It's immigration, stupid." Please don't take it personally. It's not directed towards you. It's just a play on words. In my opinion, you take care of the cost of illegal immigration and the economy will fall into place. Do the math, it makes sense.
The entire Tea Party is filled with hypocrites - not once, not one time have they ever, ever stated the obvious: the military budget is completely out of control. The Pentagon can not even pass an audit. Billions in contracts for jets that don't fly, missiles that don't explode, and programs that don't run. Meanwhile, your regular troops can't get decent healthcare or equipment, including vests and decent safety gear. Next in line - privatization scams - like Prisons R Us. Every time the government outsources, the taxpayer gets robbed.
The Tea Party does not care about the deficit - they only care about spending when it looks like the federal government is going to spend money on something that actually works and actually helps people - you know, like health care, or infrastructure, or environmental protection of our drinking water and food supply - minor things like that.
33
@Barbara
The Tea Party cared that Obama was black.
2
The fact that Sanford is backed by the Club for Growth tells you all you need to know: He is a toady for the Koch brothers and their ilk -- billionaires who object to any government spending that does not line their own pockets.
21
@Frank F
Expressing approval of Mr. Sanford's campaign is not at all equivalent to approving of his ideology or proposals, let alone an intention to vote for him.
1
Sanford may have "hiked the Appalachian Trail" but Trump
kid behind the trees and grabbed whatever he wanted, because they let you - when you're a star.
8
I see Ms. Mair has worked any number of people I would not be caught dead voting for. Yet, I read this article.
She supports Sanford, that parsimonious cheapskate? This was a man who took every advantage of his wealthy wife to run for office. He used her money and her labor because he was too cheap to hire a professional staff. He gave her a used bicycle for Christmas. He was always trying to cut the costs on everything or else squeeze the money out of someone. Is this how he is going to run this country?
Ms. Mair excuses his affair as "falling in love", when in reality this was the man who would rather spend Father's Day being a lover than a father. He also lied about it, leaving his state without a leader for more than 24 hours. He mislead everyone into believing he was hiking in the mountains, without his children of course, because, after all it was Father's Day, and Dad obviously wanted to be alone. But that was a lie, because he was not even in the country. He was in Argentina (?) with his lover.
He is running for office again because he needs the campaign funds and he does not any other way to make a living.
19
I'm a Democrat, but I would rather have had Mark Sanford in the White House for eight years than George W. Bush.
6
Uh, has anybody watched The Family on Netflix? Mr. Sanford figures prominently in the documentary and comes off as the creepiest as well as the most easily manipulated when in trouble. The rationale for his "contrition" after the affair was that great men, such as King David, sometimes do bad things, and that god forgives them. Perhaps god does forgive them; however, we are far from the days of a religious monarchy, and I am quite certain he is not leading us into the promised land.
204
@bobpea I agree with your accessment of Sanford but tRump needs opposition and Sanford does have both executive and legislative experience which tRump did not have. Hopefully many people have learned their lesson concerning voting for people who have no political experience of any kind and who falsely claim that they are great business people.
11
@bobpea
"Creepiest" and "most easily manipulated"?
I'm laughing all the way to the White House.
11
@bobpea
Right. I guess you'd prefer Trump, whose apologists trot out the same biblical talking points to defend his countless affairs?
At least Sanford hasn't convinced himself that he can change reality with a sharpie.
13
A lot of posters are talking about the Trump 'true believers.' I think they are wrong - we are much more transactional and Trump has largely delivered. Vote for Sanford? Weld, etc? We’ve seen these kind of 'Republicans' before - they promise and never deliver. Trump largely delivers. This is not a complicated decision!
18
@RJPost
I would ask: What, specifically, has Trump delivered on? He has inflated the deficit. The wall he said Mexico would pay for has never happened, and now he's raiding important Pentagon dollars to partially pay for the wall. His trade wars are devastating farmers and others in businesses large and small. Costs to consumers are rising because of this and will continue to rise. He has wrecked relations with our *former* allies all over the world. So, again, what has Trump delivered?
263
@SpringGrrl--You've just listed what he's delivered. As for positive things, not at all.
63
@SpringGrrl
1) economy is stronger with an avg 3% gdp
2) stimulus Obama era regulations rolled back (see #1 above for impact)
3) our allies are still our allies, they are just paying their fair share (at least in nato’s case)
4) wall slower to be built due to Dems intransigence and desire for open borders, but still under way. BTW; look at the total Defense budget and $3.6B is a rounding error
5) that you Dems hate him is to be expected but the difference is he’s largely winning against you despite your phone Russia collusion scenarios - BTW, what happened with that impeachment thing you all (and Adam schiff) said was a “lock”.?? Hmmm
15
Saw this character on one of the talk shows recently and when they asked him why he was so worried deficits after voting for the trump tax cut he, with a straight face, blamed the democrats. Really.
10
Ms. Mair, I'm from South Carolina and y'all don't know what you're talkin' about, bless your heart. Mark Sanford has all the intellectual heft of a dust bunny. His stunt bringing two piglets in the State House was meant to be a joke about pork barrel spending, but the joke made him a laughing stock in the state and made his colleagues furious. And the ridiculous cover-up of his affair made him the laughing stock of the nation, and earned him a near unanimous censure by the entire South Carolina House of Representatives in 2010. Getting the SC House to agree on anything is a near miracle.
The fact that Sanford has such high ratings from the Cato Institute and Club for Growth is reason enough not to support him. If individuals like Ms. Mair had her way, dubious candidates like Mark Sanford would exacerbate wealth inequality in America. It's not just about reigning in spending; it's about giving wealthy individuals and corporations even more money.
Mark Sanford is not the principled, thoughtful alternative to President Trump. He's just a different brand of Republican chaos fueled by libertarian nonsense.
469
@jrinsc
Interesting insight from a red state, things we never knew about South Carolina politics and their politicians.
27
@jrinsc The idea of a principled, thoughtful republican alternative to Trump really is the stuff of fantasy at this point. Republican"traditional" conservatives have suffered a decades long fifth column infiltration and party platform usurpation by radical Libertarians. Libertarians are inherently not thoughtful as the Libertarian creed is not supported by logic. The absurdity of decrying deficit spending on the one hand while the near speaking in tongues evangelism for tax cuts drives their every effort on the other eliminates "principled" as a possibility in a candidate.
I'm aware of the Libertarian/republican 'starve the beast' strategy. But there is an unassailable reality of much of uncorrupted government spending...it helps people who need help. Social/safety net spending helps people who would otherwise Not be helped. It also helps people who could get by and makes their lives markedly better. Remove that spending at peril of an actual physical revolution.
There is plenty of opportunity for a genuine conservative to reduce spending and address actual corruption. The revolving door, campaign finance, Military spending, oil and mining handouts, Big PhRMA handouts, insurance industry handouts, banking handouts, Big Ag, Now Education handouts, gerrymandering, medicare and medicaid fraud, etc. etc. Addressing those would be principled and aimed at conserving the US as a viable, vibrant entity. Centrist democrats avoid it. I guess it's up to Progressives.
26
@jrinsc
The important question is, can he defeat Trump? As far as being a principled, thoughtful alternative to Trump is concerned even Mortimer Snerd could qualify for that position.
9
States want to cancel primary voting due to "costs"? This is dangerous territory. We don't do that in the United States. It's another anti-democratic impulse.
But let's get something very clear. If Donald Trump really has 80-90% support from Republican voters he would WANT primaries and caucuses to take place to show that strength leading up to the general election.
Something just doesn't smell right. I think the Trump campaign is a bit worried about folks voting next year.
Let's make their fears a reality!
405
@Will.
We all seem to forget that the 87% at my last reading, not 90%, of Republicans who support Trump are 27% (as per the Washington Post) of the electorate!! Yes, Republicans are currently only 27% of the electorate.
Reading those numbers today made my day. 87% of not much is not much, isn't it?
57
@Will.
You're absolutely right. If it's favorable for Trump, he would definitely want those primaries.
23
@Will.
trumpp cancelling primaries to boost himself is clearly malevolent but cancelling primaries is not unheard of. From NYT reporting of August 6. 2019
in 1996, when President Bill Clinton was running for a second term, Democrats canceled primaries in eight states, and in 2012, when President Barack Obama was running, they canceled 10.
3
"...they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)."
Native South Carolinian here with, I suppose, a slightly longer and more detailed memory than Ms. Mair. Sanford disappeared - lied and said he was hiking the Appalachian trail (how's that for a euphemism) when he was in fact in Argentina with his paramour. He turned off both his state and personal phones and did not respond to phone or text messages for six days. There was serious concern that he was missing, and even questions about who was acting as governor of South Carolina. A far cry from grabbing women by the whatever, I'll grant you, but considerably more significant than what is laid out here.
562
@NYCLady
Compared to trump and many other Republicans, Sanford is a saint.
5
@NYCLady Indeed, this is what I remember most about his affair. The governor of a state simply disappears and makes himself unavailable to his staff and citizens, then makes up a ridiculous story about where he was. Pretty unpresidential if you ask me.
24
@NYCLady Totally agree. And let's not forget Sanford had a wife and three children at home, even if he did "have an extramarital affair because he fell in love" ???? What the heck is that supposed to mean? and what has happened to the party of family values? Hypocrisy is what happened.
20
Unlike Weld and Walsh, Mark Sanford owns the dubious distinction of voting for the GOP tax scam of 2017 that gave us this runaway deficit.
He is not the guy to fix the problem he helped create. He’s the guy that chose to do nothing when he could have done something.
662
@Deirdre Bravo 100% on target and a bulls eye!!
29
@Deirdre
True, but my takeaway from the article is that some Republicans might think he's the guy, compared with Trump.
18
No but he makes a legitimate foil for Trump. What is trump going to do talk about Stanford's affair. Trump has been there and done that numerous times. If Trump was so sure of his standing with the GOP he would welcome the competition. Trump is scared.
41
I can't imagine a scenario where this guy beats any of possible nominees on the democrats side.
But if he appeals to the DJT reluctant GOP primary voters out there ... more power to him.
The whole point is to get rid of Corporal Bone Spurs.
I welcome any other GOP nominee next November.
13
@c Unfortunately, contrary to the most basic common sense, the significant majority of the GOP still support Trump. They are beyond redemption.
7
I don't get it. Sanford voted for the huge tax cut for the rich which is now resulting in the federal deficit ballooning wildly. And, you think he's going to be viewed as a fiscal conservative?
We're verging into alternate, alternate reality territory here.
39
Donald Trump needs this and so I wish Mr. Sanford Godspeed in driving Trump over the edge.
22
A stronger contender? “If he is, it will probably be because of his passion for the issues and his record...” Nah..it will be the crossover votes from the moderates and democrats that will propel him.
6
What makes this guy better than Elizabeth Warren? Because he's a guy? Because he's a Republican? Because he serves the forces that have been at helm of this country since November 23, 1963? It's that time folks. Time for shock and awe. Time for Marianne Williamson, Time to break the mold, and start fresh with bold ideas that may seem totally wacky but actually serve 99% of Americans, ahead of the 1%.
8
@Coy
Many who like the idea of Mr. Sanford entering the primary wouldn't vote for him in the 2020 general election under any circumstance...but the more energy and attention Mr. Trump expends on his primary challengers, the less damage he does elsewhere.
4
@Coy
Let’s take a test: you only have had 1 extramarital affair (that we know of) vs the Trump many so you beat him on this issue and claim the moral majority? OK?
@Coy-- because hes not a progressive socialist
If Mark Sanford is the biggest Republican threat to trump, if I were trump with all of the other stuff he has to worry about this would be the bottom of the list.
6
"And they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)"
So that's what the party of family values comes down to? The least scandalous? Last I checked regardless of whether you are "in love" with your cheating partner, it is still cheating. It is still violating an oath you made to a life partner. It is still violating that vow you made before God isn't it?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not big on church and god, but I thought the party of family values was? Or are we all finally being honest here and admitting that it really doesn't matter?
26
Only a hard core right winger like Ms Mair could give Republicans this much credit, trying to equate Democratic and Republican performance on the debt and deficit. “Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would.”
Here’s reality: Reagan started piling up the debt in his first term and raised taxes in a desperate attempt to address the prob,em he created. Bush (the smart one) actually tried to address the debt issue and was reviled by Republicans for doing so. The last surplus we had was under Bill Clinton (credit, in part, to GWB). The Bush (the less smart) blew up the debt again, giving the surplus “back to the people” but really cutting rich folks taxes. Then he started two wars and expanded Medicare, all on Chinese credit. He then left Obama with a cratering economy and an already staggering debt, which constrained the normal fiscal response to financial collapse- government spending. And, of course, Obama got the blame from Republicans for the debt going up. Then Obama consistency brought the deficit down, only to have Trump blow up the debt AGAIN, also for a tax cut for the rich and more Chinese money for the military.
So, Republicans are “maybe worse?”
Ms Mair, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.
When I hear Republican I think “reckless fiscal policy,”
Because reality.
51
@Serrated Thoughts Nicely stated. I agree with every comment except for the point that only hard core right wingers would give them credit. I'd say that number is about 39% or Trump's approval rating.
5
"they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would."
And where's the evidence that Democrats would do this? Oh right, it doesn't exist, just like evidence for most GOP policy statements.
10
Sadly, I suspect Sanford will receive a dangerous reception from ReTrumplicans, including threats, stalking, and possibly even violence against him. Trump has unleashed this, and, DESPERATE to win again, he has no limits. We know Trump believes in one thing, winning by any means necessary. He will try to CRUSH Sanford. He's already gotten the primary cancelled in Sanford's home state, a tactic Trump bitterly accused the DNC of against Bernie in 2016.
We have a criminal who thinks in terms of "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse!" I worry for Sanford's safety.
9
Mark Sanford seems to be the only sane Republican of notoriety who hasn't completely lost his mind. The rest of the party seems to have more in common with the National Socialist Democratic Workers Party that they do with the party of Abraham Lincoln. Speaking of Lincoln, he must be spinning in his tomb in Springfield, Illinois.
4
The modern Republican Party has little in common with Lincoln, as evidenced by how popular it is in the former Confederacy.
Neither Trump nor Sanford can manage to be faithful to their spouses. So much for the party of family values! It’s ridiculous that this author could write a whole article about Sanford without mentioning his hike on the Appalachian Trail.
Sanford, like Kasich (see other article in NYT about closing of health clinics), is not a "good guy." Just in this awful dystopian world created by Trump, opponents who offer some ounce of sanity and occasional honesty seem alluring (see other article on NOAA and their maps).
12
With Biden outpolling Trump even deep in the heart of Texas,
of all places for Trump to be outpolled,
it looks more and more like Trump is a very hard sell to the general electorate in 2020 nationwide.
Now Trump is excluding Bahamians in the utter desperation of their hurricane devastation.
Apparently Trump is toast and Sanford will not make a difference.
5
Extramarital affairs aren't somehow inevitable because you "fell in love" or less egregious because you "got engaged to the woman".
An affair happens because someone decides to have one. They choose to create a double life for themselves and manipulate, for months or years, the people closest to them without their consent. Not a de minimis scandal to those of us who have been subject to this type of intimate abuse.
23
@Anon
Affairs are cool, if you are GOP. All you want. No worries.
1
Do not bother. If you are serious and truthful about challenging Trump, you would challenge him for presidential elections, not the primaries of a hijacked GOP.
Spare us.
1
The only threat to Trump's renomination is Trump himself. The only way any challenger for the Republican nomination has a chance is if something happens or comes out that is so horrible that he falls into the 20s in overall approval ratings (think the end of GWB and Nixon's presidencies). Or, maybe they're just hoping Trump drops dead before the convention.
In that case, one of these challengers could have a chance by being a warm body in the race. But unless the killer scandal comes that actually causes supporters to turn on Trump these guys are all tilting at an orange windmill. At this point, how much faith should anyone have that it will happen given all that his base has happily ignored so far? I thinking the dropping dead thing might be more likely.
4
Any serious damage Sanford can do to Trump is excellent news.
12
If the GOP is able to block anyone from primary-ing trump, what does it really say about the state of “democratic values” in the GOP? If they cannot practice real democracy within the party, how can they do it elsewhere? What do they really intend for the country? Especially when they remain in the thrall of entities like, e.g., the NRA, corrupt SuperPacs, and the Pharma industry, to name some! It’s time that the GOP is unveiled and revealed for what they are!
5
Good or bad take your pick, Trump isn’t going anywhere, it’s up to Trump if he wants to be president another 5 more years, my guess he is already bored of it.
Which is why he’ll get re-elected, he doesn’t care.
4
Sorry to disagree! I think he cares. If nothing else, he would like to see many criminal indictments disappear because they fall outside the statute of limitations, and he can safely retire as a disreputed but still a two term president. Better that than a feckless one term president jailed for his crimes!
@Independent voter
Oh, he cares. He wants to stay out of jail. When he is no longer a sitting president, they will go after him pronto. He is even talking about extending his term.
Because of the weird hyper-partisan psychology the US seems to feed off of, the stubborn fact is, no (R) voter can vote (D) unless under extreme malaise, fatigue, and lack of interest.
But Trump has given the (R) voters so much blood and guts, so much red meat, so much pleasure at owning the libs, such a changeover, sadly, is just not likely, much to the consternation of many who pine for a less hyper-partisan age, perhaps.
But ah, another (R) to vote for?
There are those who love Trump because he is Trump. There are those who love Trump because he is a) Trump and b) a Republican.
I highly doubt trump can be tossed out of being the nominee. But this is, in fact, how you get Trumpism to shrink back to its normal rather weak and small size.
Give the (R) voters a genuine option. I think all of us will be surprised at how it will function as a kind of fumigation of a rotten little racket that, otherwise, Trump can continue to monopolize and make shadier and shadier by each day.
3
Another downside to a potential Republican primary is that whenever it actually gets off the ground (doesn't seem to be any heavy campaigning yet and certainly no debates), it allows Trump to throw himself bodily into the race. He won't just call out Sanford, Weld, Walsh, and any other conservative, he'll take more strenuous jabs at Democrats, and blare out his anti-immigrant, isolationist, dictator-loving stances. Plus he'll lie non-stop about all the promises that he failed to keep.
So if these guys really get a primary started, Trump gets to attack Democrats, directly and indirectly, while they're still in the process of attacking each other. Then Trump wins, and our nation falls further into chaos, divisiveness, and international disrepute.
None Trump’s challengers will get much support. The tea party wasn’t mad about taxes or deficits. They were mad that the President of the United States was a black man and they used standard Republican talking points about the deficit, freedom, and personal responsibility as dog whistles. If President Obama had come up with a cure for cancer these people would have found some excuse to reject it. They love Trump because he says the awful things that they think and they won’t abandon him any time soon.
14
Bill Weld, being a highly intelligent and educated man capable of rational thought and nuanced views, may not appeal to the average knee-jerk Trump supporter, but his ability to draw thoughtful centrist voters would probably make him a better candidate, because the hard right will “fall in line” anyway, and anyone who felt an affinity with the pre-Trump Republican Party of McCain, Bush, Romney, Reagan, etc. would surely prefer him as well. I’d also like to think that there are still a few on the right who want a candidate with no major scandals in their record.
1
DJT was the worst of 16 GOP candidates in 2016. He is the worst of 4 now. But he is still better than any top 2nd tier Democrat. Mark Sanford, Steve Bullock, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
3
@O'Brien
Correction. Trump was and is the worst candidate ever.
So Trump and the Republicans are dealing with Trump's Republican challengers by canceling the primaries in the states the challengers are from.
This doesn't look cowardly at all, does it?
18
"even have his sanity questioned in some quarters. "
That's rich! And just what "quarters" would those be?
The Moscow Mitch household? The Pence household? Those of the den of thieves cabinet?
Certainly no one certified "not insane" (nor corrupt!) would question his sanity.
5
Kind of glossing over the fact that he left his state with zero leadership, and in the event of an emergency, people would have died.
6
Saying he is the biggest threat to Trump is not to say that he is a big threat.
3
Mark Stanford would be a perfect candidate for the GOP. He may even be "Less" of a Racist than Donald Trump. I would ask every Republican to vote for him. Please split the GOP base.
5
Maybe Sanford could hike the Appalachian trail with a native guide this time, so he won't end up in Argentina. Ms. Warren?
5
Yeah right. Talk about baggage: It's not only Trump that would jump on Sanford's little "vacation" while governor. The Democrats would also have a field day with that one. So sure, let him run!
3
To win over any Trump voters, he really will have to walk the Appalachian trail this time.
3
A supposed Republican strategist who can not operate on the basis of facts but doles out tropes to either smear the Democrats or say both sides do it. That’s operating in bad faith. The Republican Party has no interest in governing and does not know how to govern (nationally or statewide). Indeed all they do is operate in bad faith on just about everything, hoping that enough of the voters are manipulated into keeping them in power so that they can further rape and pillage the country and it’s assets.
4
@PK
Just look at her list of deplorable clients. Not a goodie among them.
Mark Sanford is the perfect challenger to Trump. He’s just as deplorable, has shown he is able to cheat on his spouse with a foreign citizen, and best of all, can speak that southern evangelical faux christianity lingo.
What’s not to like?
13
More unintentional humor...please tell me who would vote for someone who made up the Appalachian Trail excuse! Most of our presidents have been adulterers, so no big deal there, but c'mon, a guy who can't even make up a credible lie has no future in politics.
8
I don’t know how Joe Walsh is being categorized as a never Trumper, considering that he voted for him.
2
With, by imperial decree, no primary in house s home state. Can’t wait to hear Trump go after Sanford’s “Appalachian adventure”.
I hope Mark Sanford is an enormous thorn in Trump's side. Anything that weakens Trump is all to the good.
That said, isn't Sanford kind of a joke? Didn't his whole adulterous episode that involved lying to his family, his staff and the world while he was in Argentina basically brand him as someone who can't be trusted or respected?
Yes, I know, Donald Trump has had multiple bad marriages and been accused of sexual assault and even rape.
But it's likely no one but Trump is immune from that kind of atrocious behavior.
Doesn't the sleaze in Sanford's extremely self-indulgent personal life hurt Sanford?
I think the only person who could challenge Trump independently & have it shake things up is Nikki Haley. She's widely viewed as her own person, not a Trumper, she's smart,
disciplined and not involved in any scandal.
If Nikki Haley challenges Trump, that might change everything.
I absolutely believe Nikki Haley is going to be president eventually. Will she jump in now or wait 4 or even 8 yrs?
2
@fast/furious
Ugh! She won't get my vote. What is there to like about her? A little saber-rattling and tough macho talk at the UN? I would like to ask her to step outside and see if she can actually handle it.
there is no Republican party any more. It's the Trumpist party, period.
4
Will trump resign if promised a pardon from the the vp?
I'd love it if Sanford challenged Trump for the Republican nomination. Heck, I'd love it if Sanford's son challenged Trump for the Republican nomination.
1
You know what would be a bold, powerful move by these Republican challengers that could actually move the needle away from a catastrophic and fascist second term? Support the Democratic nominee.
7
The reason some states are canceling their Republican primaries is because they know Trump will make a fool of himself if he has to debate anybody.
2
This is all about ego, and serves very little purpose. Republicans will be crushed next year, so why bother?
Love this. Love having as big a gaggle of indies join the race to be the Republicans' Jill Stein in 2020.
6
Oh, please--Sanford as a viable candidate? He's a joke--whether he is in Venezuela or camping out somewhere with his mistress--he's a joke. Trump will be the nominee for the GOP, but hopefully not a second term president. For the good of the country and the world.
10
It is a measure of what a horrible president Trump has been that someone like Mark Sanford or Joe Walsh is considered by some a better candidate.
5
Lord. These Republicans keep on lying to themselves. NEWSFLASH: 80-90% of Republicans support Trump. And, yes, they don't mind babies in cages, climate change or the gnawing wealth gap. Instead, Trump has them the same way the NRA, NASCAR and Fox News do: He is in the GOP DNA forever. Nothing will change that.
5
I support anyone who opposes Trump.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend".
2
That Governor Sanford is the biggest Republican threat to Trump, speaks volumes about the ethical morass in which the GOP willingly dwells. That an adulterous governor is considered the strongest candidate agains a serial adulterer President would in normal times be a joke. Unfortunately these are not normal times, and I am not laughing.
All that said, I wish the governor well. Each vote he might gain lessens the chance that the nation will be subjected to the much greater evil called Trump.
3
...'the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history.' Now there's a phrase bound to enthuse those conflicted, hypocritical Republicans would love to have cover for dumping their Adulterer-In-Chief within the privacy of the voting booth or the absentee ballot! Yet something tells me POTUS wouldn't think twice about
claiming bragging rights over his opponent by how much money he's spent on women as well as how beautiful they all were and are.
Regardless, by far the most qualified of this quartet (including The Mooch) is William Weld, who has the chops to speak common sense to nonsense. A Weld-Sanford ticket would be interesting.
1
The article’s central thesis may be correct and Sanford may very well take walk away with some delegates. But, the debates will be priceless as Walsh, nostril fuming, challenges Trump on....anything.
1
“whose worry — honest to God — was excessive spending by both parties.” HA. come on, be serious
3
Cheated on his wife. Lied like a rug when he disappeared while 'hiking.' He may have those character attributes necessary to appeal to Trump voters.
11
Really the question is, is he enough of a lying adulterer for them?
Not a threat to anybody! Just another Republican Party hack with a comical history of personal misbehavior.
His home state, South Carolina, is one of the states being pressured to forego a Republican primary so that Trump can be nominated without opposition and voter choice.
Give up the wishful thinking, Republicans! You're locked and sealed in a Trump clown train that is barreling toward a heckuva wreck in November, 2020!
3
He’s zero threat. From governor’s mansion to hiking the Appalachian Trail to chasing his mistress across Argentina... No. He’s no threat at all.
2
Are you saying that, with his horrible record of lying and misleading, people would actually vote for him? He can be the smartest person on the planet, but he can't be trusted. So what good is he? Zero!
1
Trump and his supporters will swat him like a fly...
4
People who can read are a threat to Trump.
5
Please vote for Sanford, you hard core Republicans who still think there is any air left in that particular lung. The King is Dead, Long Live the King of not.
3
Ms. Mair:"And they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)." Aw! How romantic! He fell in love! But, I hope he said--before he disappeared from his government office for 6 entire days--to his then actual wife, that he was in love with another woman. Aw! Yes, sooo romantic this guy!
1
Bill Clinton was impeached for far less. That is the Republican hypocrisy in action.
1
Hey, c’mon people, give Liz Mair a break. She’d be saying the same things about a ham sandwich if said sandwich had just announced a presidential run and put her on its payroll.
I mean, she’s a Republican strategist. She’s just doing her job, revising facts for whoever invites her to dance. Kellyanne Conway lite. With role models like that, what do you expect?
3
Deficits? What is the Democrats price tag for:
1. Reparations
2. Free college
3. Student loan forgiveness
4. Massive illegal immigration and asylum seekers with free healthcare.
5. Medicare for everybody!
6. Green new deal
4
@M
Less than the Tax Cut for the Rich.
And most citizens will benefit.
6
Republicans ALWAYS blow up the deficit and Democrats ALWAYS fix it. That's reality, not GOP lies.
1
Ha ha ha.......
The man had an extra marital affair and lied about it.
No evangelical christian will accept that behavior.
No Republic Party voted who believes character matters will accept that behavior.
He will not get the Sierra Club endorsement.
Oh please, Trump cheated on three wives and lied about it. Evangelists who voted for Trump have all accepted that, so has the Republican party. Adultery no longer means anything to the GOP.
1
@MauiYankee
You... you *are* aware who the current occupant of the white house is?
Just... checking!
Hey evangelical Christians adore the lying, cheating, adultering, blasphemous Trump. They'll vote for anything or anyone who promises to put their minority religious views into our secular laws, despite what the Constitution says. Evangelical Christians are the font, the source, of GOP hypocrisy.
1
Governed a federal money taker state
Took vacations on the taxpayers dime
Cheated on his wife on taxpayers dime
Totally qualified to be a republican candidate
2
I’m sorry but why are columnists allowed to have an opinion on math? It’s easy to prove which party runs up the deficit, that data is tracked. Look it up.
1
The GOP believes in fiscal responsibility like they believe in defending the Constitution. Not at all, and not a single one of them.
1
What Sanford has figured out is while he has no chance of defeating Trump in 2020, he will boost his profile within the republican party after Trump's republican party is defeated in a landslide in 2020.
5
The notion that any Republican could challenge Trump, who is overwhelmingly popular in the party and its standard-bearer, is patently absurd, rendering any primary challenge nothing more than a vanity exercise. Was this paid for by Sanford's primary campaign?
@Tyler- standard bearer; no hyphen.
Haven't several state GOP committees opted out of a primary? Can a primary challenger win without some states participating?
1
"If the era of Trump has shown us anything, it’s that Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would."
Calumny! History has shown that the Democrats absolutely do a better job on debt and deficits.
33
@Chris: Yes, Democrats reduce debts and deficits, Republicans increase them and bust the economy.
4
@Chris
What "history" are you citing?
What about that big surplus Bill Clinton left in 2000? Or are you too partisan to remember? Or just don't remember that Clinton was a Democrat?
As for a more recent president, what about George W. Bush? He refused to let the disastrous Iraq war his administration promoted be included as part of the deficit. So we had a legacy of $1 trillion in war costs alone at the end of his eight misguided years in office.
And what about the $2 trillion Trump added to the deficit in his first two years in office -- mostly in the form of overly generous tax cuts to corporations and the 1 percent? We're on track under Trump to exceed $1 trillion a year in national debt. Yet merrily we roll along, forgetting that the GOP has abandoned one of its bedrock principles -- fiscal responsibility -- as long as Wall Street keeps setting records.
And when it's time to come back to Earth and clean up the mess Trump created, it will be the Democrats with the mop and bucket. Just as it was Obama who had to mop up after W.
There's your history lesson, Chris.
4
All three of Trump's "challengers" - Sanford, Weld and Walsh - are Tea Party Republicans and Libertarians who are far right of the American center. Each have their own sets of historical ethical problems although, when compared to Trump, they would each be considered an incorruptible saint.
But none are serious contenders. They are just more of the far right, fearful white nationalist fringe that has emanated with "populism".
7
@Joe Miksis
You did not read the article. The reason Sanford’s candidacy is quite important is that 1) he has had national exposure and name recognition; and, 2) he’ll get a lot of press coverage (which the other 2 didn’t/don’t) and will focus and debate on serious fiscal issues which trump has no real experience with.
12
All of his national exposure is bad. He's unacceptable for so many reasons. But hey, if he can scare Trump who is unacceptable because he's a traitor, I'm all for it.
2
@Tricia C
I remember only too well how Sanford was "hiking the Appalachian Trail" with Maria Belén Chapur, an Argentine journalist. Don't you think that there has got to be a more redeemable GOP alternative to the bottom feeder Trump, than another outed wife cheater?
1
"Unlike Mr. Walsh and Mr. Weld, both “Never Trumpers" — in fact, the latter ran as part of a ticket that aimed to draw votes from both Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 — Mr. Sanford is unlikely to be defined by Never Trumpism. His position is more nuanced."
Right, If there's one thing Republicans love is nuance.
32
Let’s be honest: there are too many “true believers” who will stick with Trump no matter what. I see the point of primarying him to uphold the integrity of the party, but most people I know who aren’t fans of Trump have already quietly left the Republican Party. It’s sort of like our Roy Moore debacle in Alabama... we elected Democrat Doug Jones to keep Moore out of the Senate because we knew he would embarrass us. The people who are disillusioned by the corruption in Trump’s GOP will do the same thing for president. Yes, he will hold onto the South, but he’s not going to fare as well as he thinks there. The main issue is the integrity of the Republican Party going forward.
11
@Corrie
The rest of us are happy to hear there is hope in Alabama! Roll Tide!!!!
2
Roll Tide! I’ll let you in on a little secret that trump doesn’t seem to understand about southern people... many of us are way more like jimmy carter and we don’t put up with the fake Christian stuff... we know right from wrong and we try to do right. The racism that has been in the south for so long has given Southerners a bad name but there are some truly good, humble people who don’t feel like they have a political party anymore. This is going to make a big difference in Georgia and North Carolina. If the democrats were wise, they’d choose a centrist.
1
If Trump's base is today's GOP, they are not going to have much interest in Sanford.
"And they regard him as having had about the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)."
I don't know what is worse -- paying $130,000 to keep a couple of extramarital affairs secret (Trump) or lying about where you are going on a vacation in order to keep an extra-marital affair secret and then being lost because they can't find when an emergency arises and you aren't where you said you'd be (Sanford was in Argentina rather than hiking the Appalachian Trail).
30
Well, consider this, it's worse that Trump cheated on three wives rather than Sanford cheating on only one.
1
@IM455
Agreed! “He fell in love...”
He lied to his constituents as well as his wife and kids, in a very public way. Shows a lack of morality in important areas of life, narcissism above even the normal levels that politicians have, as well as a complete lack of common sense.
Least scandalous indeed.
4
Let's not gloss over the fact that Mark Sanford used our taxpayer dollars to fund his 'least-scandalous scandal in modern political history'. As someone whom touts himself as a fiscally responsible, family values candidate, he has demonstrated neither based on his actions. Sadly, this would still be an upgrade over the current occupant of the oval office.
41
Great. Let him rant and rave about the debt and deficits while Democrats remind voters how the Republican tax cut for the rich and big corporations made debt deeper and what little if any boost they got in their paychecks got eaten up by higher health insurance premiums and deductibles, prescription drug prices, and college tuition hikes. There are always two ways to bankrupt the country: spend too much or cut taxes too much. Republicans have done both! Starting and financing endless wars and building walls doesn't help the bottom line either. Will Sanford talk about that?
27
A high rating from the Club for Growth means he made the libertarian Koch Bros. very happy.
Considering the Koch Bros. are all about tax cuts for big business, pollution control deregulation and deny climate change, Sanford may not really any better than Trump.
24
He has no chance of getting the nomination. Unless he then ran as an independent or on the third party ticket, his candidacy won't really hurt Trump in the General Election. The best bet for democrats is that enough people just don't show up to vote for Trump because they are disgusted, while Democrats get a huge turnout. I see more of a chance that some who voted for Trump in 2016 will sit this one out than thinking some challenger is going to have any success. The GOP has bought into Trump lock, stock and barrel, and the RNC has committed to Trump. They will do all they can to get rid of any challengers.
8
It appears that Walsh, Weld, and now Sanford, is the best that the republicans can do to muster a vote of no confidence in trump.
While in England . . .
19
How sad it is that we've gotten to the point where we'd be thrilled if wife-cheating Mark "Adirondack Trail" Sanford would jump into the race against Trump. Compared to Trump he's a paragon of virtue and stability.
39
Appalachian not Adirondack. Adirondacks are in upstate New York.
He would be a good candidate to challenge Trump. He is intelligent, articulate, a Southerner, a conservative Republican, somewhat like Justin Amash.
9
@Diogenes Go Mark! Time to end the hijacking of earlier Republican Party virtues by the unethical Donald Trump.
@Diogenes. I think you’ve forgotten what he did.
I'm all for other Republicans jumping into the race. Not that any of them have a chance, but they can help soften up Trump for a big take-down in 2020.
35
@Mark McIntyre California dreamin
1
And yet he has said he will ultimately vote for Trump if Trump is the candidate. So what is the point?
45
@Fester exactly. Zero principles. All fluff.
2
@Fester He wants to be governor again.
4
He has said he would vote for Trump, if Trump ends up the Republican candidate? No need to look at him at all, we already know he is a fool!
1
If Mark Sanford can actually get on the ballot in key states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas, and get a modest two-three percent of the Republican vote that could change the election. Let's see if he can, but any way that Trump's vote can be reduced to counteract the benefit he receives from Voter ID laws, purging of the voter rolls, and Russian interference would go far to "level the playing field" in 2020.
12
@Paul Wortman
Yes, because God forbid we ask people to prove who they are - or that they're alive - before voting. Democrats assume any attempt to make voting more accountable will hurt them. Wonder why...
6
@Chris Voter fraud is a myth, but I suspect you already know that. https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/voter-fraud
4
@Paul Wortman. How does a primary affect any of that?
2
The only words that come to mind when I think of Mr. Sanford are:
The Appalachian Trail.
Who can forget his name after this unforgettable, incredible hike brought him deep wisdom, kindled the love of his family and fellows and makes his elevation to the presidency all but inevitable?
I think no one can.
51
@CL
No question. The Appalachian Trail jokes will write themselves. And Trump will make sure we all get a daily dose of them via Twitter.
1
@CL But you'll vote for the guy with the phony school, fake charity, 2.5 divorces. The next is inevitable.
Really?
No worries about 12000 confirmed lies, Misappropriating military funds, having taxpayers foot the bill for stays t the luxury trump hotels (with bed bugs)
This guy is no good - but trump - there's a tower of virtue
Sanford has zero credibility. He said he’ll vote for Trump in 2020 if (when) he becomes the republican nominee.
26
Never thought I'd consider Mark Sanders (of Appalacian Trail fame) as a hero.
Challenging Trump gives him a chance to redeem himself!
13
The good news is a well-known conventional Republican politician is challenging Trump, and no one needs to be challenged more than President Trump, who refuses to take responsibility for anything or be held accountable for all the lies and messes he has created.
1. Republican Sanford must be allowed to challenge Republican Trump, that is, if we live in a democracy--which appears to be in serious question at the national and GOP state levels.
2. Traditional conservatives and Never-Trumpers should be allowed to have a voice in the Republican primaries, because they truly feel that Trump does not represent them--in style at least.
Notice I did not say in fiscal responsibility, because the idea that the GOP is fiscally responsible is a complete Fiction, given how GW Bush and Trump blew mighty holes in the deficit with tax cuts for the rich.
Fact: It is the Democratic presidents that clean up the economic messes the GOP makes when it is in charge.
3. Sanford's presence in the GOP primaries may bring GOP and Independent voters back to reality to realize they don't have to vote for Trump just because they don't like Democrats.
The bad news is it is always a Hobson's Choice with the GOP these days. The GOP is on a mission--and has been since FDR's New Deal to scrap all government programs for people (e.g. SS), while upping the defense budget. And even Mr. Sanford, who hiked along the Appalachian Trial, will likely take orders from the fossil fuel industry.
17
I'm not sure it matters. Republicans definitely do fall into line, and if Mr. Sanford manages to get 10% of the primary vote, he will still lose. And in the general election, everyone who voted for Sanford, or Walsh, or Weld, will probably just go ahead and vote for Trump, so as to get enough of a conservative stranglehold on the Supreme Court that abortion can be made illegal, discrimination can be made legal, and all the rest of the standard Republican, fundamentalist policies can be enacted. So I'm not sure that this little primary sideshow will make any difference at all.
15
@Dan Stackhouse. Let’s hope conservatives keep the Court.
@Dan Stackhouse Republicans fall in line, Democrats fall in love. Never so true.
1
"...a lifetime 93 percent grade from the Club for Growth..."
OK, so that makes him a hard-core big-business globalist Libertarian. He is exactly the the sort of candidate the Republican establishment wants, and exactly the sort that Republican primary voters rejected in favor of Trump last time around!
I'm not surprised though that the Times would like to see establishment Republicans back in control, because a competent nationalist/populist candidate (i.e., someone who ran on Trump's issues, without being the train-wreck that is Trump) would be extremely dangerous to the crazy woke agenda the Times and other progressives have been pushing so hard. But someone like Mark Sanford, eh, not so much.
7
@JohnB wrote "I'm not surprised though that the Times would like to see establishment Republicans back in control..."
This was not written by the editorial board of the New York Times. This was an op-ed written by Liz Mair. She was given space for her views by the New York Times. That doesn't mean an endorsement.
I'm sorry Mr. Sanford but you CANNOT be a Republican and claim to have a single iota of honesty, integrity or morality. The GOP party in its entirety is completely and utterly devoid of those attributes. Not one iota.
38
@John
Way to keep an open mind on the two party system. Agree with me... or you're a bad person.
1
@Chris The facts speak for themselves.
1
Just read that Trump won't debate his primary opponents. Guess he's already running scared.
24
@shp
I would wager that he won't debate his Democratic opponent either. Why should he? What's in it for him?
2
@shp
I'm betting Donald Trump won't debate the Democratic nominee either.
I'm betting that Trump creates massive chaos for months before the election and then resigns one week before the election with Mike Pence pardoning him for all criminal acts.
1
I know many Republicans, and there simply aren’t enough of them who care about the issues to make a difference. As the Party of Trump has shown us clearly is that all they care about is bluster. Trump will make up a name for him and they will all cackle with glee, assigning Trump the winner of the exchange. Most of them are truly stuck in Middle School. That fact explains everything.
19
@VIKTOR. No, we care about the issues and his policies are addressing them.
2
The word 'unlikely' is overused in this editorial – a little lazy for even the best op eds. But unlikely is the right word choice for Sanford. Reagan's Republicanism is dead; and standing on the now hateful ashes is Trump.
We're unlikely to get rid of Trump, even with a better conservative option.
5
I feel like using the word chortle is the new chortling.
7
Mr. Sanford will surely get lost on the campaign trail and run for president of Argentina !
12
It's interesting to see how Liz Mair attempts to brush the Appalachian Trail episode under the rug. This may be a small-scale scandal compared to Trump's numerous crimes and offences.
But lying to the public about the affair is exactly what got Bill Clinton impeached.
This character flaw still sticks with Sanford in the public eye and, should he somehow get the Republican nomination, he would not attract many voters who are by now totally sick of lies and dishonesty.
12
Yeah, but it will be a gas to hear Trump make fun of the Argentina/Appalachian Trail thing. D'ya think the other GOP'ers got Sanford to run so as to be a source of campaign zingers?
11
Obviously (or not, after reading some comments) Sanford knows he can't win the nomination from POtuS. He can damage him though, by throwing some shade for cowardly Republicans to hide in. Ms. Mair points out that Sanford not being a "never-trumper" is an advantage for him. Yet the most plausible result of Sanford's candidacy is to help make their dreams come true.
2
The main question is will the Republican Convention be, well, a Republican Convention?
1
Don't agree. His extra-marital affair was one thing. But when he left his state to visit his paramour in South America and did not inform his staff of his whereabouts - that's another. He humiliated his wife and his children in broad daylight. Presidential? He has already disqualified himself. His "Trump-resistance" isn't really palatable to the general electorate.
17
I'd care about this if ALL Republicans didn't need to go at this point. They're owned by lobbyists (NRA especially), and will always cater to Trump's deplorables and (very likely) the top 1%. Republicans are always about big business and Wall Street - they need to be steamrolled in 2020 and beyond until we get rid of party, NRA, deplorables, and 1%ers over country.
8
@chris87654
All political parties are owned by lobbyists, but the Republicans even more, they have made it an art.
I won’t vote for him until he finishes hiking the Appalachian Trail. The favorites this year are an old guy who can’t tell the truth and plagiarizes speeches, another old guy with three homes whose wife put a college out of business, a women who got where she is by saying she was a Native American and this guy who was on the Trail when he was in Chile. Are there no honest politicians like H W Bush around anymore?
2
I was thinking you were going to try to offer some actual evidence that a significant number of GOP voters actually care about debts and deficits on principle, rather than just using them as a cudgel to hurt people they hate.
I was honestly curious what evidence you'd come up with. But you didn't even try. That speaks louder than anything else you wrote.
2
Ms. Mair,
You lose all credibility when you state that Republicans (and let's go with presidents here, since that's the context) run up deficits as bad and "maybe worse" than Democrats. Of this, there is no question. It's only that under Democrats we have absolute Republican hysteria and "debt commissions." Debt commission yourself.
6
"honest to God " --> the best and funniest quote from this piece.
5
"...the least-scandalous scandal in modern political history (he had an extramarital affair because he fell in love and got engaged to the woman)," says Liz Mair, Republican strategist.
"Least scandalous" because he is Republican. Clinton was IMPEACHED for lying about a consensual affair. Did Sanford's lies to his constituents, his colleagues, his staff, and the rest of the citizenry not matter? Would he have been forgiven if he'd gotten engaged to Ms. Lewinski?
15
Bring it on Mark!!! This country needs a good fight for a real Republican candidate.
@ActualScience The last good Republican, John McCain, died, there are no more.
@Jacquie
True. true. Oh how we miss him. I realize I should have written, "This country needs a real Republican."
Orwellian times encompass the banal too it seems. How else would it be that such a compromised man could goad a news cycle without the context of the dissolution of the Republican Party?
4
Interesting, looks like the religious right is fed up by Trump and asked Sanford to jump in! Stay tune as Trump will either rebuke, change his rhetoric along the evangelist lines or find some "opportunity" to drop the 2020 race!
2
Mark Sanford is Republican establishment and lost re-election because he is not a Trump supporter. And lets not forget that this article was written by a Republican campaign strategist.
5
"Mark Sanford Is the Biggest Republican Threat to Trump"
This is true only if you think zero is a big number.
19
any republican who "showcases Mr. Trump's weaknesses" is welcomed! they will help a democrat take the white house.
4
Mark Sanford voted for the GOP tax scam that created the runaway deficit. How is he going to explain that? Republican complicity is bankrupting the US. - the time for Sanford to speak out loudly was in 2017. He could have stood out but he followed along and voted yes with all of the other republican sheep
6
Sandford might be a threat in his election district but to the remainder of the nation, not just the GOP, he will always remain infamous as the man who pretended to be lost on the Appalacian Trail, abandoning his state, while wooing a lover in South America. Politicians have survived deficit spending and Trump is another Teflon politician but ridicule is unforgivable. No one represents a challenge to Trump in the GOP. I pray Democrats do not nominate an extremist on the left (Warren, Sanders) or we had better plan on another debacle in 2020.
4
The only reason you consider Warren an extremist is because the right has moved the goalposts so far in their direction that even Reagan would appear leftist now.
20
Mark Sanford seems like a decent guy. Maybe he’s what the Republicans need to pull away from the mess currently disgracing the White House. Trump bullying him over his extramarital affair is hilarious. At least it was a middle age crackup centered on love and not Stormy Daniels and sexual assault. Take the bully on, Mark, but stay decent, and please try to expand your own horizons. As a gay liberal from NYC, I ain’t so bad. Together we form America. It’s Trump whose the opponent, not me.
1
Liz Mair repeats many tropes that republicans have used for years; fiscally conservative, etc. It's all laughable now.
25
Mark Sanford cares only about himself. He is in this race only to gain recognition in the hopes of a gig on cable TV. If he is not the basis of Selena Meyer’s ex-husband on Veep, he ought to be.
3
Mark Sanford is about as big of a threat to Trump in the Republican primary as I am.
4
“when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would.”
Please
Give
Me
A
Break
5
“whose worry — honest to God — was excessive spending by both parties. “
And how many of them voted against the Trump deficit explosion?
1
Although I disagree with conservative stances in many domains, there's no doubt that climate change and the spiraling national debt are the major bombshells waiting to blast our posterity into oblivion--you have only to look at the Debt-to-GDP ratios of nations like Japan to see firsthand the deleterious effects of "debt drag" on economic expansion.
As far as the Never Trump challenge, I think I speak for many Americans when I say that ANY principled position, regardless of where it falls on the ideological spectrum, might be preferable to the leadership that we have now. The bar is currently set so low that Republicans are scrambling to dig a hole, throw the bar into it, and then point to Trump's chicanery, fraud, idiocy, sexual assaults, and contempt for wisdom or democratic norms as proof that he's clearing that bar.
1
The only reason they want to get rid of the primaries is that the goons who run these primaries recognize how weak Trump is on a national level. To spare him from embarassment, they do what they do best. Supress.
1
Joe Walsh - life's been good to him so far.
Mark Sanford - will he run with his son as running mate?
1
So the guy who was walking the Appalachian Trail but was having an affair with a woman in South America is now the guy to beat Trump, eh? What is wrong with the so-called straight shooting Republicans when a know philanderer is the best guy to beat Trump? What has happened to the moral rectitude Republican party? They seem to have lost all moral direction. Thanks Donald Trump, you have destroyed the GOP in one fell swoop.
1
But unfortunately kept the bulk of the voters
1
Keep in mind that while Sanford cheated on one wife, Trump cheated on three, paying vast sums in the end to try to get the porn star, Playboy model, and others to keep quiet.
This is the same guy who refused government money to his state during the recession. He basically said that Jesus doesn’t want poor people to have the money. He’s also the guy who was supposedly hiking the Appalachian trail...but was elsewhere.
He’s a member of “The Family”
4
The genius of America's founding generation was their desire to allow Americans to live their lives free of governmental intrusion or that of religious organizations. Today women find themselves trapped by fringe "Christians" and their minions. One should note that unchained religion will run amok in the name of God and will impose itself on others as they see fit. Abortion is not anyone's business except for the woman who seeks it. Beware the danger of religious zealots and note that the Dark Ages fathered this snake and it is up to free thinking Americans to say "enough!" to them.
2
Another philanderer, and a religious one at that. Can the GOP not come up with a decent candidate? Someone we maybe able to look up to? Never mind. I am a never again Republican anyway.
3
Well, that's one way of saying there is no Republican threat to Trump.
How did this op-ed get cleared? This is a huge amount of free publicity and cachet for Mair Strategies. Why now, why Sanford? As a subscriber I demand transparency from the editorial staff. You have something to answer for here, speak up.
7
Here all add my "Unlike" to go with the authors-
Unlike Mr. Weld, Mr. Sanford is a philander who, as Govenor, abandoned his wife, and young family to run off to Argentina to be with his mistress while telling his office that he was on the "Appalachian trail."
So I guess this makes him a viable republican candidate as he has many of the republican qualities we've come to know. He's a liar, a philander, and a hypocrite as he espoused "family values" before his infamous affair.
4
Isn't this the same guy that cheated on his wife for his mistress? Nuff said. Americans are fed up with leaders with shoddy pasts. He never should have announced this.
1
Not a word about his mistress in Argentina while he was supposed to be hiking the Appachian Trail? He got elected to Congress in spite of that, but wait until the Trump machine gets serious about that. It ain't gonna be pretty....
1
The best they can get to stand up to Trump in the republican party is a politician that quit his last election in scandal because of an extra marital affair. It's all so pathetic. Even so, Sanford is squeaky clean compared to trump.
2
I was a big Mark Sanford fan--until his walk on the Appalachian trail--when he was really in Argentina with his mistress.
3
Mark Sanford, humm, where do I know that name from? Oh yeah, he is the guy who resigned due to an affair in Argentina right? The Republican party, the party of Family Values. Ha.
5
Mark Sanford is a scam. And I am ignoring his embarrassing escapade to South America when he was South Carolina's governor.
No, he is a scam because he will vote for Donald Trump in the end. Sanford has admitted as much on MSNBC (Morning Joe, I think).
So, no matter what negative things Sanford says about Trump -- all of which will be accurate -- Sanford will cave like the coward he is and vote for Trump. That is not a Republican I can take seriously.
5
So…another soak-the-poor, so-called “fiscal conservative” throws his hat into the Republican ring, and we’re supposed to overlook his past “hiking in the Appalachians” while we barrel into another recession? How low have our standards sunk in this age of Trump?
6
Don’t cry for me Argentina.
9
Mark Sanford will never pull Trump voters away by talking about deficits, debt or the economy. Why? Because none of these are what really motivate Trump voters.
So what does motivate them and what would it take for a Republican candidate to mount a legitimate challenge to Trump? That's easy. Race. Religion. These are the only issues that Trump voters care about. They are the ultimate identity voters.
Any Republican candidate who tells them, as Trump has, that as white Christians, they are the only "real" Americans, will garner votes. Any Republican candidate who parrots Trump's disgusting remarks about "very fine people" in the KKK and neo-Nazis will garner votes. Any Republican candidate who talks about brown-skinned people as "rapists" and "animals" will garner their votes.
Three years on this disastrous presidency, Trump's many failures should have caused his supporters to peel off by now. But they remain in lockstep with him. Why? Because it was never about feeling "left behind." It was never about getting their coal mining jobs back or affordable health care. They wanted none of these things.
Trump voters want only one thing - to be considered the only "real" American, and those of us who aren't white or Christian should be forced to accept the scraps of second-class citizenship.
The only way a Republican can challenge Trump is to promise his voters that he will turn this country into a more ignorant, racist backwater than it has become these past three years.
4
This is what Walsh says about Trump ..... “He’s nuts, he’s erratic, he’s cruel, he stokes bigotry”
In Illinois that's exactly what we said about Walsh.
And now this endorsement for Walsh from a Republican strategist?
This is what Republicans have to offer.
Trump wasted no time attacking Sanford's adventures on Argentina's Appalachian Trail. After all, Sanford is a rank amateur at lies, deceit and philandering next to a virtuoso like Trump.
5
Should be interesting to see if Trump brings up Sanford's affair. The kettle may wish to not bring up the pot's blackness.
2
New Hampshire!
Just what we need: another liar and adulterer! Please watch "The Family" on Netflix. They've got a hold on us. Now you can misbehave, repent, get elected, rinse, repeat. Don't believe a word this guy says.
2
This is an extremely optimistic column that feels delusional to me. There may be a few Republicans left who care about fiscal responsibility, but the vast majority of today's Republicans are simply small-minded bigots who are criminally myopic about the future.
3
I'd like to hear from his ex-wife on his ability to serve and on his mental stability.
Don't Cry for me Argentina.
1
Just another millionaire on an ego trip. I never vote for millionaires. Anyone who does forfeits any right to complain that the government doesn't help working people. When will voters wise-up?
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
@Rev. E. M. Camarena, PhD
Aren't they all millionaires?
@Vail: Pretty much. Both "major parties" serve the 1%. And that will continue until people open their eyes. Electing the rich then whining about the way the rich make out in America? That's cognitive dissonance, to say the least.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
1
Wrong SC governor.
Nikki Haley, where are you?
2
I think it only appropriate that an infamous adulterer go up against another infamous adulterer. At least Sanford was forthright about his dalliance.
2
The GOP only cares about debt under Democratic POTUS.
1
Good luck to Mr Sanford! Anyone, any republican, would me much better than the malignant narcissist there now! Go Mark, I think I will send money!
2
Two peas in a pod. I think I can describe Mark Sanford as absolutely brazen. When will the NYT et al give voters credit for good memories.
1
All the liberals think, "Great! Let him siphon votes!"
It's a noble thought- but siphon votes from whom?
2
Oh don't be silly.
Mark Sanford can take a hike.....
7
@Tom ,Retired Florida Junkman
Funny
Walsh or Weld didn't do fake hiking in the Appalachians. We already have a man with dubious morals in the White House. Is Sanford's judgment better now? If so, I certainly wish he or the other two had a good shot to dethrone our unofficial King.
My money is o this scenereo: the Trump organization is paying this clown to run against Trump because the only sane reaction to his candidacy is uncontrolled laughter.
4
Congratulations Ms. Mair! Your party has won the blow up the deficit sweepstakes! Now I know hurricanes in Alabama are all the rage, but nope - we aren’t taking any lies about the GOP caring about the deficit. We are all full up on your foolishness. We suggest you take a long walk in any hemisphere you choose.
4
DRAFT MATTIS!
1
I disagree with Mark Sanford on just about everything but nothing would please me more than seeing more Republican challengers to Trump. Trump is a buffoon and a criminal, and the sooner he is forced to exit, the sooner NY State can begin prosecution. Obama's biggest mistake was not to prosecute and incarcerate the large bank heads who brought about the 2008 financial collapse. Hopefully, we will not make the same mistake again. Trump, his family, and his swamp should have their assets seized and sold, and should watch the auction from behind bars.
3
Just a few people could think about Kirsten Gillibrand without thinking about Al Franken, few people will be able to think about Mark Sanford without thinking about Argentina.
17
Republicans.....when is the old low is the new high?
2
The only individuals missing the insanity of any real opposition potential from Sanford are the opinion writers of the NYT and any Democrat who really thinks this fellow has a chance. I understand that he is setting up an organizing meeting somewhere on the Appalachian Trail at a location not yet announced to keep fellow insurgents protected from laughter. Trump beat the NYT, WP, NBC, CNN and all the lefties both in and out of govt who tried to frame him for collusion with the Russians (which the Clinton campaign actually did and paid for). Not even the author of this silly article can have a straight face on this one.
3
Trump mocks Sanford's run with affair with "flaming dancer" from Argentina. Did he mean Flamenco Dancer or does he even know what that is?
6
He was interviewed on CNN, and he was quite impressive. Too bad the trumpistas have blocked bim from running in his own state’s primary.
Has anyone noticed that trumpf attacked him for cheating on his wife while trumpf, himself, is a serial cheater? Such a hypocrite.
1
Before 2016, people like Sanford were just to far right fro teh US. Being part of the Tea arty, and so called "compassionate conservatism", Sanford would just be like electing Trump, but without the ego and ignorance. And, unlike Trump he knows what he si doing, and will hurt retirees, the middle class, working class and the poor, with so call fiscal conservatism and trickle down economics. It would be like the George W. Bush administration all over again, but more conservative.
Out of the three mentioned, Weld is the most tolerable. He has proven that he can work with both parties, in a very heavy Democrat Massachusetts.
It would be irony if it came down to Warren vs Weld. Minimum chance of happening, but it would be an interesting contest.
1
A stronger candidate is not the same as a strong candidate. There will certainly be traditional Republicans who will support Sanford, but the party will fall in line with Trump. While there are principled Republicans, it is doubtful that Sanford will be able to raise much money because the big money donors fear undercutting Trump.
3
I haven't heard Sanford yet but I would love love love to see Joe Walsh and Trump in a debate. The GOP will make sure that never happens.
3
Sandford is passionate about deficits and it is pretty certain that he will want to have a serious discussion with Joni Ernst behind closed doors to see how they can gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and never ever raise taxes on the wealthy nor cut a penny from the defense industry.
17
I don't like Sanford, but any damage he can do to Trump is appreciated.
31
None really have any chance, zero. But, Weld can hurt Trump in NH and possibly get 30-40% of the primary vote. Weld can further do damage across NE and NY state. That's all that is needed to put Trump on defense. Sanford, likewise (providing SC has a GOP primary) could maybe get 20%, just enough to sting. Walsh can be a nuisance but can't see him doing much, the former 2 were governors, and popular governors at that.
6
It’s really really wishful thinking to believe (hope?) that Mark “I lied that I was hiking the Appalachian trail for 6 days with my cell phone turned off when I was actually in Argentina with my paramour” Sanford can pose any sort of challenge to Donald Trump, who destroyed a field of seasoned challengers to secure the Republican nomination in 2016. Trump has already labeled Sanford, Walsh and Weld “The Three Stooges”. They won’t even make it to the (nonexistent) Republican primary.
18
Dear Shiv,
Well it must be kept in mind that Sanford's one big lie was nothing compared to Trump's 18,000 and counting; Sanford didn't really lie about much other than his affair, but Trump's cheated on three wives and lies at least six times a day to the public.
But the hilarious thing, of course, is that this means nothing to his followers, who will chant "Trail Him Up!" and continue to love their dear leader.
6
@Shiv
It's not wishful thinking to believe that, even if he doesn't win the nomination in the end, he can stand on the debate stage and refer to the many checks Trump has written to his own paramours to silence them about is extramarital affairs, and then deftly return to a discussion about fiscal responsibility. Something Trump knows absolutely nothing about.
I think Trump is to cowardly to allow a debate, however.
6
@Shiv Sanford may have lied one time. Trump has told thousands upon thousands of lies. People are sick of trump's corruption and mismanagement. He has created a climate of horror and divisiveness in the US!
4
Is it possible what Sanford really wants is the VP spot under Trump, hoping to get elected President himself in 2024?
10
Anything is possible.
I don't know how Republicans can claim to be Republicans and allow our debt to explode the way it has.... and just wait, when Biden is president the GOP will blame the huge debt on Democrats.
So glad Sanford is at least bringing this issue to everyone's attention!
23
A few observations:
First, Sanford's candidacy is sunk -- and will be ineffective -- if he cannot get his own state's Republican Party to reverse its decision to cancel their state primary. Calling on the state party, and its members, to protest this decision should be his priority.
Second, the 2020 elections will always be about Trump. Sanford must have cogent anti-Trump talking points. He cannot win on policy. He cannot win promising to be Trump on judges and abortion, but with a watchful eye on spending. If Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan don't care about runaway spending under Republican rule, why would average Republicans?
Third, the number of Tea Party faithful whose fiscal conservatism outranks their social conservatism is a very debatable number. Unfortunately for Mr. Sanford, I suspect that number is very small.
All of this leaves Sanford hoping for a calamitous error by Trump: something that would cause Republicans to be willing to abandon Trump. If we haven't seen that yet, what could it possibly be?
25
How are any of them going to challenge him when the GOP has decided not to hold primary?
21
Let’s hope the good people of Iowa and New Hampshire overwhelmingly vote Mark Sanford in their caucuses and primaries.
And that all states that truly believe in free and fair elections give him a chance through the primaries. Cancelling them to favor DJT just proves the case that the GOP only wants the voters they desire to vote. The others can be ignored, gerrymandered out, or scrubbed from the voting rolls.
Who would have the they would do it to someone in their own party.
Mark Sanford must really be a threat.
7
Sanford voted for the Republican tax cut for the rich that added to the deficit in a huge way. C'mon, man. More trickle down fantasy thinking that is a classic bait and switch. First, pass a big tax cut that balloons the deficit and next call for cuts to Medicare and Social Security, etc. because gosh we have to tighten our belts.
81
There's is virtually no chance that any Republican challenger will siphon many Trump votes. His many, many supporters love the way he speaks "their" minds. He could eat a live beagle puppy at a rally and they would cheer.
40
@fourfooteleven True. Primary challengers should be recruited not from the GOP but the WWE.
5
Sounds like a good candidate for Democrats to vote for in open primaries if they want to cross over and vote in the Republican primary. A combination of Democrats, independents, and Republicans voting for Sanford may be enough to defeat Trump in a number of states with open primaries. A win in New Hampshire for Sanford may be enough to force the Republicans to have debates. Perhaps the split in the Republican Party between the white nationalists and fiscal conservatives may begin to widen and a real battle for control of the party will take place.
11
@Bob
Anyone who votes for a Republican in an Open Primary loses their voice to weigh in on who the Democratic Nominee will be. In the crowded field you have already, with no fewer than 4 Candidates likely to win Primaries is that really a good Idea? Super Delegates already decide the Democratic Nominee you want more votes to be diluted with this scheme?
5
Here in SC, we can vote in one primary or the other, as there are separate primaries for either Dem or Rep. We don't have to declare our party preference when we register to vote. I would suggest that SC voters, especially Dems, vote for Sanford in the Rep primary. Not because he would make a good president, but to give Trump a signal which would make him go crazy. We can always vote for whomever we like in the general election, but in the mean time, it would weaken Trump's status in the polls. Just a thought....
125
@de'laine
I agree, except that didn't the South Carolina GOP already announce that they're not going to have a GOP primary? To "save money" was their reasoning?
10
I lost my ability to focus when I read "Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would."
Clinton - Balanced the budget
Bush Jr. - Created massive deficits and ushered in a major recession
Obama - Worked diligently to repair Bush's deficits
Trump - Treated the deficit like his casinos
Can we please dispense with the myth that Republicans are responsible fiscal stewards?
1109
@Thad
Democrats dispensed with the myth long ago when it was clear trickle down economics wouldn't work.
Good luck getting a Republican voter to agree...they believe what they are told by their party.
111
@Thad Clinton balanced budget thanks to the Republican congress, and conservative ideas. It was Clinton who cut capital gains taxes, and Clinton who lowered the threshold for any capital gain on real estate to $500,000. Hillary's Medicare for all was also thwarted.
Trump has been bad. But Bernie and Company will raise taxes by X, and raise spending by 2X.
4
@Thad Right on -- and don't forget that Clinton had to balance the budget because Reagan and Bush Sr. ran up massive deficits! This dynamic has been going on my entire adult life, and yet Republicans still claim they're the deficit hawks and Dems are "tax-and-spend liberals." Well, you know what Mark Twain said — “Give a man a reputation as an early riser and he can sleep 'til noon.”
113
Regarding the comment that with Republicans in charge of the House, Senate and presidency that they will pile up debt and deficits just about as badly and MAYBE worse than Democrats - where has she been the last 25 years?
Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus, which Bush erased with a tax cut and then ran two wars off the books so we wouldn’t see the price tag and left office with the economy in free-fall.
Deficit spending went up initially with Obama due to stimulus that was needed to keep things from getting worse and then dropped as the economy went through a long period of growth.
Then Trump, who with a good economy, has pushed the deficit to over a trillion dollars this year.
The idea that we need Republican’s fiscal responsibility to save our country for our children is ludicrous. This is not the Republican Party of our parents. And it didn’t start with Trump.
415
I disagree with Sanford on the issues. But godspeed if he wants to challenge Trump.
74
According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey on government spending, almost 60% of Republicans do not favor cutting spending on the unemployed. Almost 2/3rds would not make reductions in spending for the economically needy. Almost 2/3rds would not make health care spending cuts. Interestingly, almost 1/3rd said that they would favor a tax increase on the wealthy and corporations to expand aid to the poor. Yes, a decided minority that last item, but, in aggregate, this looks like a potential centrist party to me.
11
Mr. Sanford is looking for the lime light. He is running against trump who he has already said he would vote for in 2020. What kind of a candidate is that? He should take a hike!
41
@Margaret Oh. Yeah! A hike on the Appalachian Trail?
1
Maybe you've forgotten how (then) Governor Sanford hiked the Appalachian Trail to Buenos Aires where his paramour was, but Donald Trump won't forget. Trump has never been missing in action for almost a week. He's reliably in front of the TV or on a golf course. I doubt that 999 out of a 1000 Republican voters could care a fig about the national debt {seeing how much of its explosion has been under Republicans since Reagan}; but Republican voters can be made to boil over the idea of an undeserving "free-loader" (poor, minority, undocumented) having their hand out. And "the Donald" knows how to talk that talk. I can't imagine Mr. Sanford's candidacy having any substantial impact.
52
@Lar
So, Republicans are hypocrites. They rail against Gov't spending, deficits and National Debt when Democrats are in power, but run the debt up to record levels when they themselves are in power. No WHATABOUTISM, either; the deficit had been eliminated, and we had a budget surplus when he left office. Bush ran the economy onto the rocks, cutting taxes for the wealthy, etc. Obama took over an economy in deep recession, and brought it back, using stimulus policies, which increased the debt initially, but deficits were decreasing each year at the end of his Presidency. Republicans cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations, causing deficits and increased National Debt whenever they have a chance. They are hypocrites of the highest order. One other thing: the previous post stated "Republican voters can be made to boil over the idea of an undeserving "free-loader" (poor, minority, undocumented) having their hand out." Yet, Republicans give handouts to corporations and people who don't need it and didn't earn it, without a peep from their supporters. "Corporate welfare" is rampant, yet conservatives do not complain about what that adds to the debt. Think about it; or don't. It is ll well documented as fact.
53
I'm not sure what "running" really means in this context. None of these challengers will be able to raise much money, likely ten to twelve of the primaries will be cancelled, and there is no support for any of them individually beyond some vague notion a small minority of Republicans entertain of damaging Trump. They could attempt to show up at the convention, I suppose, assuming the RNC would even issue them credentials.
9
John Kasich, where are you?
On second thought, maybe it's best for the country if Trump rolls into next year totally unprepared to debate a sharp opponent.
20
@Midwest Josh
John Kasich is either looking at a menu or asking for a doggy bag. Short memory it seems because in 2016 his opponent was extremely well prepared and the Billie Bush tape had just dropped and she was so confident at the end of the Debate she was actually Shimmy Dancing in joy. So you just might get your wish. Won't change the outcome of the Election in 2020 any more than the debates did in 2016.
1
@Midwest Josh
Trump doesn't debate in the sense that most of us understand. A sharp opponent is irrelevant, and if it's Biden dullness may be an asset.
3
@Midwest Josh Trump has already said he won't debate his opponents. Maybe there should just be an empty chair for visuals?
2
It is important that he has been a governor. For he has experience in selecting staff and making mistakes in his selections.
The presidency is an executive position. If he is wrong, there is no one to counterbalance it other than the House which can control the purse strings.
There is an old and valid axiom. NEVER elect a president who has not been a 4 star general or governor of a state where the governor is powerful (Texas for instance has a weak governor.), or CEO of a really big corporation such as General Motors, or president of a huge university.
Reason: Because otherwise he has not made enough serious mistakes in his appointees and had to learn from that, in his style and had to learn to change and improve, and more.
A senator has 99 other senators to compensate for his weaknesses.
Perhaps an historian can reply with effective presidents who lacked significant executive experience until president. If so, I can guarantee it took their first four years to learn from their mistakes. Witness Obama and Bush Jr. Much better their second terms.
The president is a king who can be executed every four years. This modern world cannot afford that. Especially with the nuclear button.
Having a wonderful idea is wonderful for a senator. However significant it is not enough to be a president. A president needs many wonderful ideas presented to him screened and documented by superb staff. It’s been awhile since that has been the case.
We cannot afford to wait til 2nd term.
3
@Ramon.Reiser
Response to Challenge:
George Washington
John Adams
Abraham Lincoln
(For openers)
Dear CPMariner,
I disagree, Washington was a general, which is considered executive experience. Adams was not only ambassador to France and England, but also Vice President, all within the executive Branch. And Lincoln served in the state legislature and one term in the House, which is not exactly executive, but he could also throw a sledgehammer of a right uppercut.
2
No Primary Challenger is a Threat to an Incumbent President. It has to be a credible 3rd Party Challenger and that is much more likely to split the Democratic vote than the Trump Vote. So unless Sanford challenges him as a 3rd Party Candidate in the General won't even be a ripple.
12
@GregP Former president Jimmy Carter would disagree: Ted Kennedy didn't get the nomination but weakened Carter for the general. Same has happened to other first term POTUSs.
Anything that makes Trump's re-election harder is a good thing.
3
Didn't I read somewhere recently that the SC Republican party has pre-selected Trump and won't be having a primary? If my memory is correct, then Sanford will not have the support of his home state before the convention, which could be a problem for him.
14
@Greg Shenaut
100% Right
NYT grabbing at paper straws
Liz, YOUR party is the one responsible for the deficits. By a country mile. Does that mean the Republican party is going to accept responsibility for once? Historically, it's not the case that they ever do.
251
I'm rooting for William Weld, but only to collar the hashtag #SuperTuesdayWeld.
In case you haven't noticed it, the Republicans are steadily eliminating opportunities to challenge their president. Maximum Leader will not be primaried. Probably not debated either.
45
Okay you forced me to look up Tuesday. Turns out she’s of the same Massachusetts family as William. In closing I love, I love, I love my little calendar girl...each and every day of the year.
6
Back in 2016 during the Republican primaries, when votes were cast here in Georgia, Marco Rubio came in second. But Mr. Rubio won all of Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs. That scenario repeated itself in a number of other states.
Moderate Republicans are still there, mostly in the major cities and their suburbs. Mark Sanford is a good candidate to enter the race. He should be able to win a few states and weaken Trump.
Don't agree with most of his positions, but pleased to see him entering the race.
8
@cherrylog754 - Since Trump came on the scene anyone who doesn't foam at the mouth and wear KKK garb is considered a moderate.
4
Ms. Mair's thesis that Mr. Sanford is running on specific economic issues and not on Trump himself does not stand scrutiny. That bubble will pop when a reporter first asks Sanford the big question: 'Is President Trump in your view fit for office?'
Does anyone think Sanford will say yes?
1
"That is assuming their primary or caucus won’t wind up canceled."
Therein lies the rub, the RNC will ensure that Trump is their nominee. Republicans of conscience can still write-in whom they wish on the ballot in November.
12
If Trump's protectionist trade war with China results in a recession, Sanford's campaign will gain some traction among economic conservatives who will suddenly rediscover their long-lost principles.
6
It's not going to matter if the states don't hold primaries and his own state has said the won't.
If no one was challenging Trump then yes do away with the primaries, but since there are challengers out there they should hold them and show the world that we are a true democracy.
14
It is time for "the more, the merrier" in the GOP.
The Democrats may in deed save the nation, but it is only candidates like Mr. Sanford that might end up saving the GOP.
Trump, his administration, and his policies must be first challenged by his own party in order for them to challenged by the entire electorate.
Debate as it were, is only occurring on the Democratic Party's side of the fence. Here the fight is between old and young, moderate and left of center.
It would be most apt that the Republican party debate its own positions and directions.
6
What would be better yet would be if Sanford loses the Republican primary and runs as an independent. He wouldn't be skimming many democratic voters, but he'd surely take a lot of Trump voters with him.
175
I doubt he would risk having to carry the burden of helping Trump lose. With Trump’s base, I honestly feel his life would be in danger.
10
Ms. Mair is apparently intent upon promoting the Republican lie that Democrats cause deficits. She need only look at the last four presidents to know that both Obama and Clinton dramatically reduced deficits.
Bush II and Trump (and Reagan as well) drove deficits up wildly.
What was that line about lying often enough and loudly enough?
707
@Justin. you need to reread the article. So does everyone who recommended you. The below quote is from this article.
"If the era of Trump has shown us anything, it’s that Republicans talk a good game about debt and deficits, but when given control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they will pile them up just about as badly, and maybe worse, than a Democratic House, Senate and president would.
25
@Mark
Maybe "just about" (or just aboot) doesn't mean the same thing in Canada as it does in the USA. Describing Republican induced deficits and debt as "less than or equal to" those induced by Democratic administrations mischaracterizes their relative scale as Justin accurately relates. Re-read sure, but consider the source is Liz Mair.
39
@Mark
It's the 37 who recommended his post that gets me.
1
Oh, my. How refreshing to consider a principled, issues-oriented Republican candidate. Wonder how he and his supporters would deal with the $1.5 trillion add-on to the deficit caused by Trump's only legislative "accomplishment." Undoing the tax cuts? One small step toward a return to sanity and reasonable debate.
8
Donald Trump owns the Republican Party. This is the beginning, middle and end of the story for 2020. The Republicans don’t care about the national debt, are opposed to free trade and want lower taxes...for the rich. These other folks are making a statement that voters won’t listen to.
104
@ScottC It turns my stomach that the Republican party gave up all their (purported) morals for what? for who? Donald J Trump. Unbelievable.
11
@Andrew Clark
They gave it up for money. And it's not completely unbelievable.
2
Umm, ok. I guess I would have thought that a Republican strategist would have a better handle on the current state of Republican voters, but I guess nostalgia and delusion remain strong in many who really should be able to see that the Republican party is gone inasmuch as it is nothing like what they seem to believe it is but for this supposed abnormal election/period and "once we are past Trump", etc. all can and will return to the party we love. No, it won't, its gone.
227
As a conservative republican I have to admit that too many of the ‘conservative’ republicans are not at all conservative of anything but their wealth. Conservative has long meant to plan for and legislate for the world of our grandchildren’s grandchildren.
If that is not the drive, dream, and work of a man, he almost by definition is not a conservative. (Yes, by that definition many so-called socialists and liberals are at heart and action conservatives. Their “liberal” and “socialist”tags by alleged ‘conservatives’ are just insults.
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@Ramon.Reiser Yes, this -- and thank you for saying it.
I fit somewhere in maybe the left third of the Democratic Party. Why? Because I believe institutions and communities and natural environments and democratic governments have something worth preserving against the brutal nihilism of Trumpists and the relentless disruption of free markets.
Because I believe people who want to work hard deserve a fair chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And because I believe citizens need to take the job seriously. That means trying their imperfect best to understand the facts, discern truth from deliberate lies, and make thoughtful judgments. Above all, it means stewarding their society with their (and everyone else's) children and grandchildren in mind.
Simply put: I'm on the left *because* I'm conservative.
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@Ramon.Reiser
Reading this once was bad enough, but twice??
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Sanford should run. He would make reasonable conservative policies such as free-trade become front and center again, and would likely stop the race to the bottom that Trump has embarked on.
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Also he should run because his legs are in great shape from all that hiking! I just couldn't resist.
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