Sanford, invoking Palin, vows to fight on

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By Ralph Z. Hallow

Embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford acknowledged Tuesday that he has been shaken by the failure of a single fellow Republican to back him in his fight to save his job, but vowed to fight on for conservative causes and for "what God wanted me to do with my life."

The governor, trying to survive a scandal involving a widely publicized extramarital affair, also compared a new ethics probe over his travel and personal expenses to what he called the baseless complaints brought against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I think I now know what Sarah may have been feeling," Mr. Sanford told The Washington Times.

Mr. Sanford vowed not to quit despite growing pressure from South Carolina lawmakers and Republican Party officials to resign or face impeachment. He said he intends to complete his term, not to hold on to power but to fight for conservative principles of governance.

"I feel absolutely committed to the cause, to what God wanted me to do with my life," he said in an interview. "I have got this blessing of being engaged in a fight for liberty, which is constantly being threatened."

Mr. Sanford was once considered a rising star in conservative circles and a potential 2012 Republican presidential contender. He gained national attention earlier this year for his battle to refuse a portion of President Obama's $787 billion stimulus program targeted largely for spending on education in the state.

But the 49-year-old second-term governor has been rocked by revelations this summer of an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman - which mushroomed into an international tabloid scandal - and by an official probe into charges that he misused public funds for travel and personal expenses.

Republican members of the South Carolina House, at a private retreat over the weekend in Myrtle Beach, agreed to ask Mr. Sanford to step down. Days earlier, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, also a Republican, called on the governor to quit.

"The consensus was for the governor to resign, and nobody in the room said the governor should not resign," House Speaker Pro Tem Harry Cato, a Republican, told The Times on Saturday.

Mr. Sanford made the Palin comparison after disclosing a confidential probe begun Aug. 18 by the State Ethics Commission. The investigation, requested by State Attorney General Henry McMaster and the leaders of the state House and Senate, focused on the governor's use of state aircraft, his overseas flights and the suspected use of campaign funds to pay off personal expenses.