Calls Begin in S.C. for Embattled Governor's Resignation

By Philip Rucker and Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 25, 2009 1:04 PM

COLUMBIA, S.C., June 25 -- A day after South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
bared his soul and admitted to having had an extra-marital affair with a
woman he secretly visited in Argentina, some lawmakers here have begun
calling on the two-term Republican governor to resign.

Political leaders in the Republican-controlled state legislature here
assailed Sanford for deceiving his staff and the public during a
mysterious five-day getaway. Some questions still linger over the
Capitol, such as whether Sanford used taxpayer dollars or state
equipment during his trysts in Argentina or whether he followed protocol
when he left the country last week.

While Democrats started the drumbeat for Sanford's resignation Thursday,
Republican lawmakers are laying low, saying this is a time for Sanford
and his family to find reconciliation.

"Every legislator that I've talked to except for those on the Republican
side doesn't understand why he didn't resign yet," state Rep. J. Todd
Rutherford (D) said in an interview. "He needs to resign because of the
dereliction of duty. It is a problem when the CEO of a
4.5-million-person organization goes AWOL and nobody can reach him. It
was a gross dereliction of duty."

Republicans have voiced harsh words about Sanford's behavior, but so far
have not called for his resignation.

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I hope he resists calls to resign. He's much more useful symbolically
as a former holier-than-thou right-wing governor of a southern christian
state.