Mark Sanford joins the Grand old Philanderers

At least Governor Mark Sanford has raised the aesthetic timbre of adultery as conducted by American politicians of both major parties. Hardened to tacky disclosures about hookers (frequented by Senator Vitter of Louisiana and Gov Spitzer of New York), hot staffers (exploited by Senator Ensign of Nevada), cruisers of airport lavatories (Senator Craig of Idaho), Americans have emerged from this darkness into the soaring prose of the Abelard of South Carolina, bathed in the afterglow of an encounter last year with his Argentinian flame:  

Tuesday, July 8. 1:42 a.m. "Got back an hour ago to civilisation and am now in Columbia [the state capital of South Carolina] after what was for me a glorious break from reality down at the farm."

Then follows Sanford's imperishable paean to basic American values: "I went out and ran the excavator with lights until the sun came up. To me… there is something wonderful about listening to country music playing in the cab, air conditioner running, the hum of a huge diesel engine in the background, the tranquillity that comes with being in a virtual wilderness of trees and marsh, the day breaking and vibrant pink coming alive in the morning clouds - and getting to build something with each scoop of dirt."

July 10. 12:24 a.m. "I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light - but hey, that would be going into sexual details... Despite the best efforts of my head my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul."

The emails were forwarded anonymously last December to the State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, which sat on them for several months. December 2008 is about the time Sanford's wife Jenny discovered the affair. It seems fair to speculate that Mrs Sanford just might have been trolling through her husband's emails and in the fury of irrefutable discovery, went straight to the 'forward' button. Then, somewhere along the line in her circle of friends, the package went off to the State.

Sanford solemnly pledged he would do penance and reform, then hurried off to book his ticket to Buenos Aires

Maria Belen Chapur, identified by the Argentinian press as Sanford's flame, is no piece of trailer trash either, but a corporate executive of a large agricultural conglomerate who speaks four languages including Chinese.

Jenny Sanford tried to exercise what she has called the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job, seeking strength in the Good Book, but some time in early June she probably came across another sizzling email exchange or simply wearied of talking to a love-smitten zombie because she told Sanford that, for the sake of dignity and their four children, she wanted a "trial separation" with "the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage".

This is no doubt when Sanford solemnly pledged he would do penance and reform, then hurried to book his ticket to Buenos Aires, telling his staff he was going for a hike on the Appalachian trail, a phrase that has entered the world’s treasury.

Politically Sanford's a goner. South Carolina is the buckle of the bible belt and in the past he’s been profuse with denunciations of politicians who have strayed, starting with Bill Clinton. He also did some irksome grandstanding earlier this year, rejecting that portion of Obama's stimulus package allocated to his state. Most Americans think it's madness to turn down the federal dollar. Now it turns out that Sanford was using state funds to meet Maria, which is what he’s being whacked with by politicians not eager, for whatever reason, to hang their hats purely on the infidelity issue.

Republicans are reeling, and will continue in this mode until the next Democratic politician steps up to the microphones to concede impropriety. Falls from grace of this nature are tougher for Republicans because of the swerve of the GOP over recent decades into Christian fundamentalism, just as America as a whole has been swerving in the other direction. Catch a Republican adulterer and in his collected speeches you'll find a hundred paeans to heterosexual Christian marriage and the importance of family just when the rest of the country has cut back sharply on such talk.

Immediately preceding Sanford of South Carolina as betrayer of the sacred bonds was Senator John Ensign of Nevada, member of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, married to Darlene and blessed with three children. Ensign settled for a mere passing grade in adulterous originality, targeting a female staffer. As so often, betrayal strode hand-in-hand with hypocrisy. Ensign had fiercely censured Clinton for his fling with Monica Lewinsky and called on the president to resign since "he has no credibility left". He and Darlene have apparently patched things up.

Before Ensign's tumble in reputation came the discomfiture of another Republican senator, David Vitter. Ensign of Nevada and Vitter of Louisiana both represent states noted for their tolerance towards brothels, facilities to which Vitter took frequent recourse, even while he was prominent in onslaughts on Democrats seeking to put marriage in the blender.

Amid a race for the Louisiana governorship in 2002 came disclosure that Vitter - a Rhodes scholar, married to Wendy, a former prosecutor, with three children across the breakfast table  – had been an enthusiastic patron of a New Orleans establishment run by Jeanette Maier, aka 'the Canal Street Madam',  who was kind enough to disclose that Vitter "was not into anything unusual or kinky or weird," and had somehow transferred his frequent public declarations about the importance of a faithful marriage into loyalty to one particular prostitute, Wendy Cortez, who herself took pains to tell the press that no “"romantic relationship" had stained a soundly professional relationship.

Vitter went to Washington DC as a senator and in between resounding declarations that marriage is "the most important social institution in human history" found time to frequent another brothel run by Pamela Martin, who later committed suicide. Exposed by Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler, Vitter made the standard-issue confession of guilt and contrition, telling his apparently understanding constituents: "Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them."

Sanford had been touted as a presidential candidate in 2012 and so had Ensign. So too has Newt Gingrich, whose own contribution to the Rotten Republican Husband archive has been to dictate harsh divorce terms to his former wife as she was recovering from a serious operation for cancer.

Probably the most sensible course for Republicans to adopt will be to retain some private investigators to trail the 20 most likely Democratic adulterers. As for presidential candidates in 2012, Republicans might as well try to repeal the second article of the US Constitution and muster behind foreign-born Gov Arnold Schwarzennegger, who has never betrayed the slightest interest in Christianity. ·