Sanford was seen as a potential candidate for higher office a few years ago, but his affair, along with economic and political troubles in SC, have made that prospect very questionable.

The GOP can definitely do better. They won't go for a candidate which is damaged goods.

As far as I'm concerned, politicians can put their dick wherever they please without criticism from me, but I think Sanford's "hike on the Appalachian Trail" finished off his presidential aspirations.

No chance. FRED would have a better shot, and he's dead. So would Grady and he's also dead. Rollo....maybe Mark Sanford could beat him.

Trouble at home shouldn't disqualify you from public life and I wouldn't have said that his affair would be a deal breaker if it had been more, what's the word, vanilla. But he had the poor judgement and rotten luck to make his misdeeds WAY more salacious than even the previous two southern governors who went to the Oval Office.

The deliciously colourful details of his doings may not have impacted his qualifications for the job, whatever they may have been. But they will prove an insurmountable challenge when it comes to be taken seriously as a person let alone a candidate. I don't see him having the charm to pull off a Clinton-esque, "I've been a bad boy but I still want to be loved" style comeback.

I'd say Mark Sanford would make an excellent travel agent but he could be good at grooming Joe Biden's hair plugs.

Not since he ran off for a few days without telling anyone for that little affair thingy.

cheater!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAH sorry this is Obama's dream opponent.

Sanford could be a great candidate- if he starts working on name racognition in the near future. He is a rare commodity in that he is a true conservative. His main disadvantage could be the fact that he is from a relatively small state.

Update: Well....RIP Governor Sanford.
I left my original review, but changed my star rating.
Over the years, we have learned that extra-marital affairs only matter if the man (and only then if it is a man) is a Republican.
I know...someone is going to bring up Edwards...as though that little twit ever stood a chance to begin with.
I reaffirm what I said my original review, that Sanford was, and remains, a true political conservative. Before this affair business surfaced, Sanfords attack dogs were not from the SC Dem Party....he was hated by most Republicans in Columbia. He was hated because he was not a neocon and because he rocked the good ol boy boat one too many times.
Be all that as it may....I think we all know that as a Republican Presidential candiate in 2012, he is done. The Republican Party is in such sad disarray however, the question is, does it even matter?

Although I tend to believe that choices a person makes in his or her private life are independent of their ability to lead, I don't get the impression that the vast proportion of the American populace or the Republican base in particular agree with me there.

As such...in light of recent events, I doubt Mark Sanford has much of a chance:

"Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina widely seen as a Republican presidential hopeful for 2012, stood before the cameras today in Columbia and confessed to an ongoing affair with a woman in Argentina, we could have fallen off our chairs. He was not, as he apparently told his staff, hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

In a surreal press conference, where for some inexplicable reason his aides allowed him to show up without a prepared text and even take questions from the media (!), Sanford apologized to his wife and family, to his staff and his state and his party, and resigned as chair of the Republican Governors Association.

He is term limited for 2010 and he only has a year and a half left as governor. But it's hard to imagine him staying in office much longer. Members of both parties have fought with him for much of his term, and many will be pushing him to leave.

He said he's known this woman for eight years but it became romantic about a year ago.

Sanford had made national headlines months ago when he refused to take stimulus money for South Carolina out of principle.

When it comes to Mark Sanford, stimulus now has a new meaning."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/politicaljunkie/2009/06/th e_reaction_to_the_sanford_bo.html

Sanford has proven himself a true fiscal conservative. In running his state he has shown the type of leadership necessary to make a good go of things in DC.

He is a great leader and a great governor. He could be the savior of our party and can bring an end to the obama administration