Less than two weeks ago, John Ensign was in the hotseat, and his name was splashed across the headlines of every major newspaper in the country. But now that politicos and the press have found a more salacious story to focus on, his name has given way to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, whose scandal- for Ensign- couldn't have come at a better time.
Ensign, the junior Senator from Nevada who recently admitted that he'd carried on an extramarital affair with a campaign staffer, had been considered a potential 2012 contender for the Republican presidential nomination. But with the bombshell from the two-term Republican, his chances were largely thought to be blown. That became a little more likely when the story got spiced up with a few extra tidbits, including a letter from the campaign staffer's husband alleging that Ensign had not only initiated the liaison, but had pursued his wife "relentlessly."
Enter Mark Sanford, who seems to be testing himself to see just how much he can squeeze into the epitaph of his political headstone: (1) Dissappearing Governor (2) Explains Absense, Admits to Argentinian Tryst (3) In What He Calls a "Love Story" With His "Soul Mate" (4) Plus a "Handful" of Other Women Over the Years. And that's just what he did to get the story kicked off. The weird tale of a rising- conservative-star-crashed-down-to-earth broke two weeks ago, and the Sanford saga is still getting front-page, above-the-fold attention. Now, the focus is that South Carolina Republicans are throwing the Governor to the wolves, with more of them calling for his resignation every day. And every time Sanford drops a new piece of the puzzle ("I visited her while on an 'official' trade mission to Argentina on the state's dime," or "I know I said I only saw her 5 times, but it was actually more like 10, because I spent long weekends with her shacked up at expensive hotels in Manhattan"), the story gets dragged out over a few more news cycles. It's the epitome of the political train crash in slow motion.
In the meantime, while Ensign hasn't exactly regained the political stature he was building a few weeks ago, he is breathing easier. As they say with political scandals, after all, if they're talking about somebody else, they're not talking about you.
Ensign is just another guy who had an affair, and that's how this chapter of his career will be remembered. He isn't the first, and he certainly won't be the last. As to the fact that he stepped out on his wife with a campaign staffer, probably not too big of a deal in the long run. After all, according to the Durex Global Sex Survey, 62% of men who cheat do so with women they meet at the office, making it the most common place infidelity begins. Staffers are logically the people guys like Sanford and Ensign spend the majority of their time with.
But Sanford's fling spanned 8 years and thousands of miles between the Palmetto State and Argentina. His changing story made him look like a liar, the fact that he snuck out to see his mistress (a 41-year-old woman named Maria Belen Shapur) while on official state "business" made him look like a cheat, and his disappearing act just made him look downright weird.
Ensign's announcement looked like a bombshell at the time, but was a firecracker next to Sanford's continuous mortar rounds.
Ensign may never become a presidential hopeful because of this whole debacle. On the other hand, Newt Gingrich- now on his third wife after asking his first for a divorce literally while she was receiving cancer treatments, and cheating on his second while investigating Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky- is a contender in 2012. Rudy Giuliani, who moved in with his second wife while still living with his first, moved his third wife Judy Nathan into the Mayor's residence while he was still married to the second. He was a top-tier presidential candidate in 2008. But as long as the guy standing next to Ensign is crazier than he is, Ensign might as well be the picture of sanity.
