Steve Kornacki, a news analyst for MSNBC, spoke about the South Carolina senate race recently won by Mark Sanford against Elizabeth Colbert (Steve’s sister) Busch. He said the win was due to factors not obvious – he didn’t think she ran a bad race, he didn’t think that forgiving Sanford for his badly managed personal life was the key. He said it was that whites in the deep south have overwhelmingly voted Republican since the Goldwater years. They are mired in their mindset and the merits of a race are not relevant. They are knee-jerk Republicans, end of story.

I don’t see that changing any time soon. I can only be grateful that an enlightened electorate in the rest of the country can always win out in national races.

As for Sanford, he’s a screw-up. His missteps will not end here. Eventually he will succumb and I say this because, without working on himself, without acknowledging his lack of character, he will continue to make self-centered choices – they will trip him up. He is now with the mistress he considers the love of his life, the one he left his wife and children for, and the one he spent government money on, the one he is bringing to photo ops. (What, me worry?) This kind of ego doesn’t shut down because of being caught. (see Gingrich). His career should have been over. But you can always count on Republican voters to protect their own, no matter how flawed.

x, Teal