The special election in South Carolina's first congressional district is over. Republican Mark Sanford defeated Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch. It is an amazing result considering all that Sanford had to overcome. If anything, it speaks to what a flawed candidate Colbert Busch must be. I guess one has to have something more to say than "my brother is on TV, and I am not Sanford."
Remember that Sanford had an affair while governor of the state which led to his subsequent very public and very messy divorce. Remember that Sanford had to pay a fine for using public money to travel to see his mistress while governor. Remember that just as the campaign began in earnest, Sanford's ex wife filed charges against the candidate on the grounds that he had violated an order that required him to stay out of the home of his ex wife. Just three weeks ago, it looked like all of this would sink Sanford even in this heavily Republican district.
Then things changed. It turned out that Sanford was in his ex wife's house on Super Bowl Sunday since his youngest son was there alone and did not want to watch the game by himself. It is hardly the sort of infraction that voters worry about. Then it came out that Colbert Busch, herself, had been arrested in the midst of her own angry and messy divorce a few years ago. The arrest got little national attention, but it made the rounds in the district. Then the national Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi came into the district with a heavy ad buy bashing Sanford. In a brilliant move, Sanford was able to turn this to his advantage by using it to tie Colbert Busch to Pelosi, one of the most despised national figures in the district. Finally, Sanford kept his good cheer and his cool all through the campaign. He got Republican voters to vote Republican and that put him over the top.
It is interesting that the national Democrat party spent over 1.5 million dollars to support Colbert Busch while the national Republicans spent essentially nothing to help Sanford. Money does not buy everything.
Remember that Sanford had an affair while governor of the state which led to his subsequent very public and very messy divorce. Remember that Sanford had to pay a fine for using public money to travel to see his mistress while governor. Remember that just as the campaign began in earnest, Sanford's ex wife filed charges against the candidate on the grounds that he had violated an order that required him to stay out of the home of his ex wife. Just three weeks ago, it looked like all of this would sink Sanford even in this heavily Republican district.
Then things changed. It turned out that Sanford was in his ex wife's house on Super Bowl Sunday since his youngest son was there alone and did not want to watch the game by himself. It is hardly the sort of infraction that voters worry about. Then it came out that Colbert Busch, herself, had been arrested in the midst of her own angry and messy divorce a few years ago. The arrest got little national attention, but it made the rounds in the district. Then the national Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi came into the district with a heavy ad buy bashing Sanford. In a brilliant move, Sanford was able to turn this to his advantage by using it to tie Colbert Busch to Pelosi, one of the most despised national figures in the district. Finally, Sanford kept his good cheer and his cool all through the campaign. He got Republican voters to vote Republican and that put him over the top.
It is interesting that the national Democrat party spent over 1.5 million dollars to support Colbert Busch while the national Republicans spent essentially nothing to help Sanford. Money does not buy everything.
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