Mark Sanford for president -- really?

Much as it may endear him to hardcore conservatives, I can't imagine Mark Sanford's stonewalling on unemployment funds is going to endear him to the national electorate in 2012. Can anyone imagine him being anything other than a Goldwateresque sacrificial lamb?

PS The Times report also includes this detail on a very classy 2004 Sanford publicity stunt -- can you say dignity problem?

Mr. Sanford once carried two piglets onto the floor of the House chamber to symbolize his opposition to what he considered wasteful spending. One of the piglets promptly defecated; lawmakers were not amused.

Here's video of the stunt:

And here are some disturbing details on how things went wrong:

South Carolina's Statehouse turned into a hoghouse Thursday when Republican Gov. Mark Sanford carried two oinking piglets under his arms to protest pork in the state's $5.5 billion spending plan.

Sanford's lunchtime arrival with the pigs came a day after the GOP-controlled House voted in short order to override all but one of his 106 budget vetoes.

"There was a lot of pork-eating yesterday," said Sanford, juggling the tiny, squirming pigs. "Ultimately what was said yesterday was: 'We're not going to cut spending by one dollar."'

The governor stood at the House chamber doors with pig feces smeared on his shoes and coat and laughed about it...

The stench of manure permeated the air as Sanford carried the pigs up the steps to the Statehouse's second-floor lobby.

Who's going to take the delivery?" Sanford asked lawmakers as they crowded around him for a peek at the piglets he picked up from a Lexington County farm and nicknamed "Pork" and "Barrel."

In the Senate, which later debated the governor's vetoes Thursday, Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, called the Sanford's stunt a crime.

Hutto said the governor should be charged with animal cruelty and defacing the Statehouse with pig poop. Sanford's spokesman Will Folks cleaned up the mess.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, defended the governor.

"If you pick up a pig and squeeze it, something is going to come out," Knotts said. "I'm sure the governor didn't know that."

Comments

[King Politics]

Sanford would have about as much chance as Phill Gramm. He'd be the occasional headline-grabber, but outside of their core home state base, wouldn't really get any traction with the national electorate.

[David]

The Times writes: He has continuously sparred with members of his own party in the Legislature over spending, limiting his record of accomplishment.

That's a liberal's POV. For a libertarian type like Sanford, a record of accomplishment would be avoiding additional government spending.

Incidentally, most state Constitutions prohibit government borrowing to pay current costs. So, I suspect that the federal loan that Sanford was resisting may have been un-Constitutional.

[daniel rotter]

Sanford's a conservative, not a libertarian. As for this incident, why didn't he volunteer to clean up that mess himself? I thought the Mark Sanford's of the world were all about personal responsibility.

[Andrew]

Given Americans' current view of their government, I don't really think most of us would care if he brought a full grown sow into a government building. People will disagree with Gov. Sanford on issues, but no one is really going to mind "degrading the honor" of our elected officials- they do that on their own.