COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, clinging to office after admitting to an extramarital affair, wrote in an opinion piece released today that God will change him so he can emerge from the scandal a more humble and effective leader.
“(W)hile none of us has the chance to attend our own funeral, in many ways I feel like I was at my own in the past weeks, and surprisingly I am thankful for the perspective it has afforded,” Sanford wrote in the opinion piece distributed for newspapers statewide.
Sanford, a two-term Republican, returned from a nearly week-long disappearance last month to reveal a romance with a longtime friend in Argentina. In a series of Associated Press interviews, he described the woman as his “soul mate” but said he would work to repair his relationship with his wife, Jenny, the mother of their four sons.
Sanford and his wife left the state last week for an undisclosed location and are expected to return this evening, said spokesman Joel Sawyer.
In the opinion piece, Sanford vows to work with lawmakers he has long fought and cites Scripture and his faith in God — just as he has done in his few public appearances since admitting the affair.
“It’s in the spirit of making good from bad that I am committing to you and the larger family of South Carolinians to use this experience to both trust God in his larger work of changing me, and from my end, to work to becoming a better and more effective leader,” he wrote.
