Hotline After Dark -- Man In The Mirror

"World News," "Evening News" and "Nightly News" each led with Michael Jackson's death.

When Michael Jackson's death wasn't being discussed, talk centered around SC Gov. Mark Sanford (R), and the revelation he visited his Argentine mistress during a state-funded trip to South America in '08.

CNN's Hill: "A day after confessing to an extramarital affair, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford today admitting he saw his mistress in Argentina a year ago, while there on a government-funded trip. In a statement he promised to reimburse the state for what he called a mistake" ("AC 360," 6/25).

CNN's Yellin: "The fact that he has now acknowledged that he visited with this woman while he was on a taxpayer-funded trip certainly raises the political stakes for him and the pressure on his future in politics" ("Situation Room," 6/25).

CNN's Borger, on whether the issues are "over" for Sanford if he reimburses the state for his '08 Argentina trip: "No, I don't think it is, because what it is an admission that he did something that he should not have done. And I think this gives his political opponents, many of whom are in the Republican Party in that state, an opportunity to perhaps say that we ought to impeach him. And while it's early to talk about that, nobody has called for that at this particular point, I think that this does give them an opening" ("Situation Room," 6/25).

After the jump, more on Sanford and the possibly nat'l implications of his indiscretions.

(RACHELLE DOUILLARD-PROULX)

Cook Political Report's Cook, on whether Sanford offering to pay for the trip makes him look guilty: "I think he's trying to clean up a little bit a very messy situation. ... My hunch is that this guy is going to hang on, he's not going to resign as governor and that this aspect of the story won't push him out. If you think about it, his political future in terms of running for president is over. ... The only thing this guy has to cling onto is his seat, his governorship for the next year-and-a-half. ... I'd be surprised to see Mark Sanford not governor six months from now" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 6/25).

National Journal's Brownstein: "I think the most legitimate public concern, beside the fact of disappearing for five days, is the question of whether public funds were used to advance this relationship, and I think that is going to be probably the critical question in terms of his survival as governor in South Carolina. Here the Wall Street Journal story is saying that they were already planning to go to the country and he wanted to add Buenos Aires to the itinerary."

More Brownstein: "I think this is what the legislators in South Carolina, if I had to guess, are going to look at most closely because that is the area, as a lot of this becomes kind of squirm-inducing and very difficult to kind of watch, that is the area where there is the most legitimate question. I think those questions will be asked very pointedly" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 6/25).

HUMAN NATURE

There also continued to be discussion on the implications of Sanford's actions for the nat'l GOP, and whether Sanford should resign from office.

Cybercast News Service's Jeffrey: "If you talk to conservative activists around the country, one of the questions they're asking right now, who is our leader? ... People would float the name of Mark Sanford, say, maybe this is the guy. Well, clearly, he is not the guy. And another way it hurts [is] I believe the biggest public policy question we may face in 20, 30 years, this health care bill, you're starting to get conservative grassroots momentum to stop this thing. Now we have to turn and talk about Mark Sanford and this thing that happened in South Carolina" ("Situation Room," CNN, 6/25).

Dem strategist Donna Brazile, on whether Sanford can keep his job: "I think this is a very tenuous moment for the governor, because, as more information comes out ... the governor's going to have to decide whether or not he's a distraction to the state, and decide whether or not he has the time to reconcile with his family, something that his wife clearly wants, because she said that in her statement. This is just hypocrisy at its best. What the governor is doing in his private life is fine, but when it impacts the state government and the public, then it's clearly something that he has to reconsider" ("Situation Room," CNN, 6/25).

CNN's Yellin, on what SCans think about Sanford's affair: "They're impressively, surprisingly defensive of him. They feel like people make mistakes. One of the women we interviewed, she said, 'Oh, politicians have affairs all the time.' But it's the hypocrisy of spending taxpayer money when he's known as this budget cutter, a guy who doesn't like to spend even stimulus money on schools. If he would spend taxpayer money on something like this, that frustrates the voters in South Carolina" ("Situation Room," 6/25).