Mark Sanford: Jerk - But Principled Jerk

In what the Edwards family can only regard as divine intervention, Fascinating Person Jenny Sanford‘s new PR blitz sticks Mark squarely back in the dog-house:

Jenny Sanford has revealed (or will, when her 20/20 interview airs) that, when they married, Mark Sanford refused to commit in his vows to fidelity – which means, of course, that barring some comfort and honor issues, as far as we know he pretty much upheld them! Jenny Sanford explains her acceptance of this principled stand thusly to Barbara Walters, “It bothered me to some extent, but … we were very young, we were in love…I questioned it, but I got past it … along with other doubts that I had.”

This revelation, not shockingly, has led to New York‘s statement that “maybe Jenny Sanford should have seen it coming.” Adds Jonathan Chait on the New Republic’s blog,

I guess that’s kind of honest of him. I mean, it does suggest a certain degree of malice aforethought and put the lie to Sanford’s claim that he suddenly fell in love and couldn’t help himself. But it does show that he took the vows themselves, if not the underlying purpose of the marriage or his wife’s well being, seriously.

Clearly, some calculation must have gone into Jenny Sanford’s revelation, and she – or somebody – must have determined that looking like a naive dupe in love was better than a calculating (if consistent!) moral relativist. For our part, we’ve known enough under-30 men talking about vague “principles” that prohibit the bourgeois hypocrisy of monogamy to understand why a) she wouldn’t have taken it especially seriously and b) we’d never have ended up at the altar with one of those dudes. (However good his band.)

Jenny Sanford Exclusive: Husband Refused To Be Faithful In Wedding Vows [ABC]
Jenny Sanford: Mark Wouldn’t Promise Fidelity — In Wedding Vows [TPM]

Maybe Jenny Sanford Should Have Seen This Coming [New York]

Mark Sanford: Jerk – But Principled Jerk