This month's Vogue contains an interesting interview with Jenny Sanford--the first interview she's given in two months about hubby Mark's affair.
Jenny's discovery of Mark's Argentine honey hit her from somewhere around nail level on the floor of their home in Sullivan's Island.
Finding evidence of the affair last January in a stack of papers was, she says, a shock. "It never occurred to me that he would do something like that. The person I married was centered on a core of morals. The person who did this is not centered on those morals.
Jenny thinks that the governor needs to learn what happiness really is, and also thinks that it's up to him if their marriage is to be saved.
["]I have put my heart and soul into being a good mother and wife. Now I think it’s up to my husband to do the soul-searching to see if he wants to stay married. The ball is in his court."
Although the above quotes may make it look otherwise, the Sanfords aren't as fundified as we thought they were. For instance, they have wine on their kitchen counter. The state's poet laureate, Marjory Wentworth (a former writer for The Nation), says that they almost never talk that much about religion.
As for why the affair happened, Jenny thinks her husband is having a midlife crisis. She says a lot of men Mark's age find themselves asking questions--but Mark just acted on them.
Some other interesting revelations:
- When Mark Sanford originally ran in SC-01 back in 1994, he initially thought he wasn't going to win the Republican primary against Van Hipp--so he put the campaign phone line in their Sullivan's Island kitchen.
- Jenny has never really been comfortable in the governor's mansion. Even before the affair broke, she was already counting down the days before they could move out.