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6/28/2009 3:32 AM

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OK, so it turns out that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail when he disappeared for several days last week and the week before.

Nor was he learning the tango or visiting sites associated with firebrand communist Che Guevara while he was in Argentina. As everyone knows by now, Sanford, a married father of four, had a girlfriend there.

The story has obviously attracted a great deal of prurient interest, and some of the partisan glee at Sanford's embarrassing predicament has some justification. When Sanford was in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1998, he called for the resignation of President Bill Clinton when his relationship with Monica Lewinsky became public, and voted for an impeachment resolution in the House.

What's that phrase again about people in glass houses not throwing stones?

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Though the private lives of public officials should usually remain private, Sanford's relationship with the woman that so far has been identified only as "Maria" is a matter of public interest because Sanford fled his job, couldn't be reached for seven days and may have used state funds in carrying on the affair.

Until last week, Sanford was also prominently mentioned as a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. It's just about impossible to imagine a scenario where Sanford could now be a viable candidate, particularly when social conservatives and evangelical Christians play leading roles in GOP primaries and caucuses.

Sanford deserves credit for being almost uncomfortably candid in a press conference he gave last week where he discussed the affair. And his governorship will be ending in January 2011 in any event, thanks to term limits. At this point, he'd be wise to start shopping around his résumé in the private sector. Perhaps there are some openings in Buenos Aires?

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