Politics with Marc Ambinder

« The Day In Politics, 6/24 | Main | Will Sanford's Sins Change Politics? »

Jun 25 2009, 6:00 am

Sanford's Style

As public admissions/apologies go, Mark Sanford's was remarkably open, perhaps verging on too much information. How does Sanford's press conference stack up to the historical likes of Clinton, Spitzer, and Vitter?

Comments (3)

The press conference verged on criminal. I cannot believe his staff let him come out and ramble like that. TMI comes to mind. It was like watching a train wreck. The staff is obviously very angry at him.

What is being called TMI is actually going to be a very smart move, because the information is very sympathetic. Combined with the release of his private email correspondence, you get the impression of a very decent man who fell in love, instead of a sleeze (see: Spitzer, Elliot).

QT

This guy is the vanguard of future politicians. In the Twitter/ Facebook/iPhone world, there is no such thing as too much information. People love to talk egocentrically to the point that it doesn't matter what other people say about themselves, as long as they let their 500 closest friends know that they just cleaned the bathroom. And on top of it, he was contrite to a fault, which the evangelicals will eat up with a spoon. Mitt better look out, Sanford knows what he is doing.