Not a shocker, but pretty interesting nonetheless:
Fifty-four percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday think Sanford should step down, with 44 percent saying he should continue to serve as South Carolina governor.
The interest is not in the topline result, which is to be expected, and actually falls fairly close to the numbers we have seen in other surveys limited to the state of South Carolina.
What is funny is the internals: 51% of Democrats want to see Sanford resign from office. But a larger percentage, 54%, of Republicans want him to step down.
At first, this would seem counterintuitive. Wouldn't Democrats want to see the Republican gone? Wouldn't Republicans want to defend one of their own?
The logic, however, becomes incredibly clear, when you consider stuff like this:
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress — but never had sex with them. The governor said he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career. [...]
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife.
Given the exquisite way in which Mark Sanford is unspooling in front of the national press, it actually makes perfect sense that Democrats would want the trainwreck to continue unabated, while Republicans are clamoring for the hook to be applied as swiftly and ruthlessly as possible.
It also, explains, by the by, why both major SC newspapers (the State and the Charleston Post-Courier) are saying Sanford should NOT resign.
Would you want a perpetual fountain of great content to fade into the background like that?!