Posted on 04/29/2013 6:58:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In their first and only debate ahead of a May 7 special election for the House, Mark Sanford (R) and Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D) sparred over budgets, guns, and — of course — the Republican candidate’s personal life.
Colbert Busch, a senior administrator at Clemson University, described herself as a “tough independent businesswoman” who understood budgets from her time in the private sector. Sanford, the former congressman and governor, positioned himself as a veteran lawmaker with a “twenty year track record of trying to do something about the way the government spends.”
Although South Carolina’s First District is considered GOP-leaning, the combination of a scandal-plagued candidate in Sanford and a well-funded opponent in Colbert Busch, whose brother Stephen Colbert has helped raise money nationally, has led analysts to give Democrats the edge in recent days. The National Republican Congressional Committee withdrew its financial support for Sanford this month after news broke that his ex-wife had accused him of trespassing at her home, with a court appearance scheduled for shortly after the election. Recently Sanford has demanded more debates then sparred with a cardboard cutout of Nancy Pelosi when Colbert Busch declined, a tactic associated far more with underdog candidates rather than with former governors who enjoy universal name recognition in their state.
As the NRCC’s move suggests, Sanford’s recent history is the main reason the race is so competitive. In 2009, he admitted to traveling to Argentina for an affair with his mistress without informing the public he was out of the state. The scandal sparked a state investigation that ended with Sanford paying a $74,000 ethics fine for misusing taxpayer dollars for personal use.
Colbert Busch brought the issue up sparingly but directly. At one point she questioned Sanford’s understanding of fiscal prudence, saying “it doesn’t mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose.”
Sanford brought the Argentina episode up at times himself, claiming “you don’t go through the experience I had back in 2009 without a greater level of humility.”
And he slickly rebutted a question from the debate moderator over whether he regretted his vote to impeach President Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky given his own personal history.
“I would reverse the quesiton to you and I would say this: Do you think that President Clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life based on a mistake that he made in his life?” he said.
Sanford’s primary argument against Colbert Busch was that she would prove unwilling to buck national Democrats enough to satisfy the conservative district. Colbert Busch took care to distance herself from House Democratic leaders on a number of issues: She said “Obamacare is extremely problematic” and praised South Carolina’s “right to work” law restricting union activity. But she embraced a number of party line positions as well, including a recent Senate bill expanding background checks on guns, an immigration bill co-authored by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), and marriage equality.
“Nobody tells me what to do except the people of South Carolina’s First District,” she said.
mark Sanford can’t pass the character and fitness requirements
Sanford is a clown. Are the Republicans there insane?
Sanford is an assclown. But when the choice is between the assclown or the gun grabbing, amnesty pushing democrat there is no choice. I’d have to vote for the assclown.
“I would reverse the quesiton to you and I would say this: Do you think that President Clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life based on a mistake that he made in his life?” he said.
Sanford reveals his own misunderstanding of Clinton's impeachment.
Clinton wasn't impeached for having an affair. He was impeached for committing perjury in a federal court.
Accordingly, his response wasn't "slick" -- it gave credibility to the questioner's premise and was inaccurate.
the man is a cheat and a creep
How about . . . YES!!!
A “mistake” is forgetting to carry the one while doing addition......Sanford knowingly did that which he knew was wrong.
"Vote for the weasel. It's important."
“.... Character counts.”
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What counts even more are the coming votes in the House of Representatives that either Sanford or Colbert-Busch will be casting. Votes on issues such as Amnesty for Illegal Aliens and gun control measures that could lead to registration and possible confiscation.
Mark Sanford will vote AGAINST such anti-American bills, Colbert-Busch will vote for them. I, for one, support folks who will resist the gradual decline of America—yes, even those who have had personal conduct issues in the past.
I hope the residents of this Congressional district will show good judgement next week. We are going to need Sanford’s vote—particularly since the vote for Amnesty will be so close.
“.....after watching the debate and the union thug democrats acting like hyenas, I don’t want that Cobert bitch anywhere near the U.S. capital.”
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LOL -— Nicely put.
“I hope the residents of this Congressional district will show good judgement next week.
Good judgement is scarce;
—SC primary voters picking Sanford.
—District 1 general voters staying home, or voting minor party.
Sanford has already been caught lying in a huge way, but you still want him to represent you in Washington.
Character means nothing as long as a Republican gets elected.
No wonder this nation is in it’s death spiral.
“....No wonder this nation is in it’s death spiral.”
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I, for one, am not a defeatist so I don’t accept that my country is a death spiral—although it is in danger of entering such a death spiral. The danger of going into the death spiral comes from folks making stupid and short-sighted decisions—based upon faulty premises.
A man who does 98 things right for the country and then does two things wrong in his personal life is damned to eternal condemnation. And that person MUST be defeated for those two wrongs and instead a person who WILL VOTE WRONG 75 out of 100 times on important issues allowed to go to Congress.
PS - Enjoy the coming Amnesty—it’s going to be a real eye opener for you and your progeny. It will be a wonderful inheritance and the sterling character Colbert-Busch will be one of its parents if it comes about.
Are you sure Sandford will be so dependable? His wife and those who voted for him as govenor thought he could be depended on then he left them for some skanky chick.
On the other han, the opposing candidate is very dependable. Yes?
Absolutely. And that means I'd be voting for Sanford, unfortunately, were I residing in the district.
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