For the last couple of weeks, as the news of Gov. Mark Sanford’s infidelities have been doled out to us spoonful-by-lurid-spoonful, we’ve had an interesting perspective over at the newspaper. Two of our staff members were on vacation – one in California, the other in Hawaii.

We started getting e-mails from them by Thursday night after the Tuesday press conference. It seemed that any time either of them mentioned they were from South Carolina, the laughter would begin. When they quit laughing long enough to speak, the comments followed with, “I hear you found your governor,” and “So your governor did accept a stimulus package,” followed by more laughter. And that was two weeks ago.

Just about time we all rapped our minds around the first “reveal,” he followed with way more information than any of us needed to hear. The fiasco seems to have no limits. At least at this point he has quit talking. But not a moment soon enough. His political future has taken a decided turn for the worse.

I’ve taken an informal poll of women on the topic of the week: Mark Sanford’s announcement that not only was he unfaithful to his wife, but the woman with whom he was unfaithful is his “soul mate” and is the first woman he has ever felt that way about. That his was not some run-of-the-mill liaison (like those he experienced with the handful of other women with whom he says he “crossed the line”) but a “love story.”

He also twisted the knife into his marriage a little harder with the statement that he was going to work really hard to try to fall back in love with his wife.

My poll question is: What would you say (or do) to your significant other should he announce to you (and anyone else who would listen) that another woman was his soul mate, but he was going to work hard to try to love you, too.

The results of my informal poll so far include a whole lot of words that I can’t print.

Then there are other, more subdued reactions, like “Are you KIDDING ME? I’d throw that sorry !*&%$*!#! out the door so fast…” followed by a lot of facial gestures and pointing toward whatever door is nearby.

Women are outraged. I’ve heard several permutations of, “I’d buy him a one-way ticket to Argentina and request that he never return to the Northern Hemisphere. Ever. Not even for Christmas. And certainly not for Father’s Day.”

Men, (the smart ones) are outraged as well. However, there are a few males out there who have not taken what I see as the appropriate umbrage over the situation, but I figure:

a.) They truly don’t have a clue what women think or

b) They don’t have a woman in their lives, or

c) They do have a woman in their lives who is not yet aware that their man is not playing with a full deck and therefore they have not yet been set straight, or

d) They have a paramour stowed away somewhere and are quaking in their loafers that they will be the next to be “outed.”

As of this writing, consensus (even among guys) is congealing around the notion that Sanford must have had some sort of mental break with reality. While some can see forgiving an infidelity, the “soul mate” and “love story” bits don’t exactly scream out that he’s all that interested in his current wife. What woman could ever forget such a slap in the face. How does a woman summon the interest in rebuilding so much as a sand castle with a man who told the world that loving her – the woman to whom he has been married for lo these two decades – would require him to make a concerted effort that may or may not yield fruit.

Really? There actually are men out there who believe any woman is going to forget that? Ever?

One friend said, “I know 16-year-olds with more finesse than Sanford has demonstrated.”

Amen.

What do you think? You can post your comments below this column at journalscene.com or e-mail me at jwatts@journalscene.com.

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