This poor guy just doesn't know when to shut up.
COLUMBIA --- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, already struggling to salvage his family and his political career after admission of a scandalous affair, added explosive details Tuesday, including more visits with the mistress he calls his "soul mate" and other women in his past.
The once-promising presidential prospect said he is committed to reconciling with his wife, but professed to The Associated Press his continued love for the Argentine woman at the center of the firestorm that gutted his political future. In emotional interviews with the AP over two days, he said he would die "knowing that I had met my soul mate."
Mr. Sanford also said that he "crossed lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage, but not as far as he did with his mistress.
"There were a handful of instances wherein I crossed the lines I shouldn't have crossed as a married man, but never crossed the ultimate line," he said.
Mr. Sanford insisted his relationship with Maria Belen Chapur, whom he met in Uruguay eight years ago, was more than just sex.
"This was a whole lot more than a simple affair; this was a love story," Mr. Sanford said. "A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day."
Mr. Sanford maintains he is fit to govern and has no plans to resign. "I've been able to do my job and in fact excel at it," Mr. Sanford said, while acknowledging he is a spectator at his "own political funeral."
He delivered a personal check late Tuesday for nearly $3,000 to reimburse the state for a 2008 state-funded trip to Argentina where he visited Ms. Chapur, and he insists no public money was used for any other meetings with her.
During more than three hours of interviews over two days at his Statehouse office, Mr. Sanford said he is trying to fall back in love with his wife, Jenny, even as he grapples with his feelings for Ms. Chapur.
"I owe it too much to my boys and to the last 20 years with Jenny to not try this larger walk of faith," he said.
Mr. Sanford detailed more encounters with his mistress than he had disclosed during a rambling, emotional news conference last week.
Mr. Sanford, at times crying and unabashedly emotional, acknowledged in the AP interview that he had casual encounters with other women while he was married but before he met Ms. Chapur. They took place during trips outside the country to "blow off steam" with male friends.
"What I would say is that I've never had sex with another woman. Have I done stupid? I have. You know, you meet someone. You dance with them. You go to a place where you probably shouldn't have gone," Mr. Sanford said, declining to discuss details. But he said those encounters were nothing like his relationship with Ms. Chapur.
SANFORD'S RELATIONSHIP
A timeline of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's meetings with Maria Belen Chapur:
2001: Mr. Sanford and Ms. Chapur met in 2001 at an open-air dance spot in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Mr. Sanford says they talked late into the night and he counseled Ms. Chapur about her failing marriage. They struck up an e-mail correspondence.
2004: Mr. Sanford and Ms. Chapur had coffee at a bistro in midtown Manhattan during the Republican National Convention.
JUNE 2008: Mr. Sanford met Ms. Chapur in Buenos Aires during a state-funded trade mission to Brazil and Argentina. The itinerary originally included only Brazil, but Mr. Sanford asked for meetings in Argentina after a colleague scheduled a hunting trip to the country. He says that's when the relationship turned physical.
SEPTEMBER 2008: Mr. Sanford and Ms. Chapur spent two nights together in Manhattan. Mr. Sanford says he flew coach, paid for the hotel in cash and told his staff he was reachable via cell phone.
NOVEMBER 2008: Mr. Sanford and Ms. Chapur spent three nights together in the Hamptons, which Mr. Sanford says he paid for in cash.
JANUARY 2009: Mr. Sanford's wife, Jenny, found out about the affair when she discovered a letter her husband had written to Ms. Chapur.
LATE JANUARY/EARLY FEBRUARY 2009: Mr. Sanford, intending a breakup, went to New York with a spiritual adviser to see Ms. Chapur.
JUNE 2009: Mr. Sanford ditched his security detail to make a secret trip to be with Ms. Chapur and, he says, spent "five days of my life crying in Argentina."
Comments
This poor guy just doesn't know when to shut up.
Didn't the SC voters get rid of Gov Jim Hodges in favor of Mark Sanford because they said Jim Hodges was an embarassment to the state? LOL.
An embarrassment to SC, particularly, and to men, generally.
Gov. Sanford isn't and hasn't done anything that 99% of of political figures are doing and have done. Give him a break....He's still our Governor and even thou he has possibly ruined himself as for as a Presidential candidate, I'd still vote for him. Mark, I'm on your side.
Obviously, Sanford missed his adolescence. He sounds like a lovestruck teenager, playing out his James Dean angst in public. I'm starting to feel sorry for him. I'm not sure he knows how foolish he is sounding.
Too bad he's not a democrat, he could have lied about the whole affair like Clinton did...
It's highly unlikely a reconciliation will take place, unless it is one of some sort of convenience. How could it possibly work when Sanford continues to call Maria his "soul mate" and says he is TRYING to fall back in love with his wife. For some that may be enough, but sure seems like a miserable existence to me! Mrs. Sanford is still too young to settle for second class..........or less.
Sounds like Sanford has been watching too many Lifetime movies of the week. It's a little late in the game to play the love struck teenager.
Sandford is like all the rest SCUM! Throwing this in his wife's face as well as all hard working tax payers that have trusted him with their votes. Now his wife and family have to live with this also. They nor the taxpayers deserve this.
Sound to me that the " Dawg" part of your user name, fits you to a " T". Hopefully neither you or Sanford will catch rabies. The hypocrites that you both are.
If Jenny stays with him she must love him, but for a man to say the other woman is his soul mate and his relationship is a love story with the other woman, he's not in love with the wife anymore. If he was just a common man, he would have left Jenny by now. Sounds like the beginning of a diary of a mad white woman. She's only going to take so much more.
Soooooo, that's one vote.
he needs to put a sock in it. His wife should spit in his face.
He is scum. If she stays with him she needs her head examined.
I hope Jenny stands up and leaves this love struck teenager..
He is disgusting. Not only does he cheat he spouts off at the mouth and makes it even worse.....Idiot
"Mr. Sanford insisted his relationship with Maria Belen Chapur, whom he met in Uruguay eight years ago, was more than just sex. Mr. Sanford also said that he "crossed lines" with a handful of other women during 20 years of marriage." You have got to be kidding me.. What a jerk!!! Jenny, you need to slap him across the face, knee him in the groin, drag him thru the mud then bleed him for everything he is worth. Make sure when you walk away from him you don't leave him standing but bent over without a pot to p-ss in or a place to throw it....
May God bless the Danford family, the Argentina woman, and everyone else who posted in this section. With God all things are possible to all who believe. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the ends thereof are thew ways of death and destruction. Mr. Sanford is a common man, The title of Govenor has no merit in the eyesight of God. I pray that God will be done in the Sanford marriage and his so called mistress life. May God get the glory out of this situation. God will never give us no more than we can bear. I willl not judge anyone because God still loves the sinners but he hates sin. Sin is an abomination to God. True repentance is needed here. God is married to the backslider.
This guy is emabarassing. At first I wasnt really for him resigning. Every time he opens his mouth, he becomes more of a sleez bag. Please Governor, resign and move to Argentina with your "soul mate". Don't worry about your boys, I'm sure they are taking all of this very well! Father of the year!
Son of God, just rememeber that God 's grace frees us from the consequences in heaven only. We are still to suffer our consequences here on this earth. Syumpjumper, so I am to assume that you condone Mr. Sanford's theft of taxpayer money, and his lying to everyone, including his wife for twenty years. You must be the same type of philandering scum as he is!
givemeabreak, You've said all. I was feeling sorry for him and thought Jenny sounded like a controling, ballbreaking bi**h but this man is definitely off in the head. SC need to get rid of him.
I am just waiting to drive by the State House to see the littered signs of a female revolt in our state! With each passing day I am surprised that we are yet to see men's clothing..trousers, shirts, shoes, boxers, scattered across the lawn in front of the Confederate memorial with a handwritten poster board sign on a stake that reads "and don't come back"! OOOPs, I think I just gave someone an idea! Meanwhile women all across the state are signing an on-line support web page for Jenny Sanford! I have posted a link to the page here: http://www.975wcos.com/pages/Jonathonrush.html
I think he is mentally incompetent for anything nowadays. He needs to move on and let the state move forward.
His "soul-mate"?? What the hell is his wife chopped liver? Sanford just needs to step down. What am embaressment he has been to SC.
I know a broken heart can make someone stupid, but he is being retarded. He isn't Bipolar. He is a good liar. The man is just love dumb. Mr. Sanford go to a dive bar, where no one knows you. Get drunk and tell them all your problems, not the media. Then leave a big fat tip!
Hey, the guy found his soul mate. Many of us never get to do what he did, leave him alone.
So he's a slut. Enough already.
Son of God - I hear you and understand what you're saying. As Christians, we always love to hear about the goodness of God and about how merciful He is. Let's also not forget that God is a God of wrath as well. The bible also says that God will not be mocked and also speaks against adultery. God didn't make Sanford stray; Sanford strayed because of his own lusts. What I find funny when reading the timeline is that Sanford counseled Chapur on her failing marriage. WHAT??? Does he have any education in counseling? How can this guy give marriage counseling at this point? Maybe years down the road, he'll be able to speak on the subject but doesn't that sound crazy to ya'll? Next thing is that after his wife finds out, he goes to meet her again with a spiritual advisor intending a breakup. Couldn't he have done this over the telephone?? This is totally crazy. What happened during this meeting? Months later, he ditches his security detail to go and meet with her. What kind of security detail was he using? Sanford put these guy's jobs at risk. If something happened to him while he was playing hide and seek, it would be the details butts on the line. Sanford needs to go!!
God always brings the darkness to light!
Men are going to line up to see what was so special about Maria Belen Chapur. What would make Gov Sanford slip away from South Carolina to have sex in Argentina? Maybe Gov Sanford will take me with him the next time! I like Argentina women too.
We are all beginning to sound like a lynch mob, me included!
If his wife would have been providing "soul mate" attention at home he would not have to look elsewhere.
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