Sanford: That’s My Boy

It’s a standard, but well-worthy file photo circulating this evening, the philandering Mark Sanford mainlining the adulation, the power, the thrill of election night. “The brand,” Mr. Leadership, exudes character just by virtue of the three identically dressed mini-Sanfords, as well as that woman with the pearls just off his shoulder (looking, perhaps, a little demure).

If we’ve seen like victory images a thousand times, what’s so evident here is how much the candidate is getting off on it.

(edited 7/3/09: second image deleted showing Sanford in Argentina. Post previous and incorrectly identified trip as occurring this year. Photo, in fact, was from 2008.)

(image: Mary Ann Chastain/A.P. caption: A Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006, file photo shows South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford after winning his second term by defeating Democrat Tommy Moore, in Columbia, S.C. He is joined at the podium by his family, from the left, sons Bolton; Landon; his wife, Jenny; and son Marshal. Gov. Sanford admitted to having a affair during a news conference Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in Columbia, S.C..)