A MATTER OF TIME - AT 8:48 A.M. ET:  Some politicians just don't know when to shut up.  There was actually some sympathy, misplaced, for South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford after he admitted an affair with a woman down Argentine way.  But he couldn't stop talking, and now he is being walked slowly, by his own party, to the execution chamber:

Gov. Mark Sanford’s long and emotional interview with The Associated Press Tuesday appears to have been the final straw for South Carolina’s Republican establishment, much of which is now actively seeking his resignation.

While Sanford seemed to have weathered the storm in the brutal days immediately following his admission of an affair with an Argentine woman, his support has cratered in the wake of the AP interview in which he talked of his “tragic” and “forbidden” love for his “soul mate” and admitted to having “crossed lines” with a handful of other women.

Fourteen GOP state senators — more than half the Senate Republican caucus — have already called for Sanford’s resignation, joining a list that, as of Wednesday afternoon, included 11 Republican members of the state House and six of the state's biggest newspapers.

COMMENT:  It's hard to believe that Sanford can hold out.  He probably wishes he were a Democrat.  In that party his actions would be considered "a lifestyle choice."

The faster he's gone, the better.  The GOP needs to keep the focus on the issues, and the shaping of its 2010 campaign.  Unhinged governors are not good for the image.

July 2, 2009