SC Gov. Sanford survives disgrace long enough to give his final state-of-the-state speech

Disgraced SC gov preps for state-of-state speech

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will deliver his last state-of-the-state address this week.

It’s the beginning of the end for a Republican once considered presidential material who has lost nearly everything except his job over an affair with an Argentine woman.

The speech Wednesday is likely to be less a victory lap than a testament to his political survival.

That Sanford will be there to give the speech at all reflects a combination of politics, lucky timing, and the fortitude to keep going when another shamed politician might simply have stepped down.

The governor disappeared on a secret trip to Argentina for five days in June and returned to confess an affair with the woman he tearfully called his soul mate. He had told his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.