Mark Sanford

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is in the middle of a personal and political quandary. Last week, the Republican governor disappeared from his home state and no one knew why. Now we know where he was and why he didn't want anyone to know where he was or why he left.

Sanford has since admitted to having an affair with a Maria Belen Chapur, a former television reporter from Argentina. Sanford was in Argentina to see the woman and has since admitted to the affair and has reimbursed South Carolina the $8,000 he spent for the trip. He is in his second term as governor and cannot run again according to state laws. Sanford has been supported by some members of his party while others, especially those who are eyeing the office in the next election season, are calling for his resignation.

Sanford considered resigning the office but changed his mind after speaking with friends and allies. Hopefully fixing his political damage will help his private life and vice-versa.

Who cares?

Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts Governor and Presidential hopeful in 2008, told NBC's "Meet the Press" people elected to office should be held to a higher standard.

"Not everybody is a governor, or a senator, or a president. And we expect people to live by a higher standard because what they do is going to be magnified," Romney said. "The things they care about will be hurt. And the culture of the nation and the people who follow them will be hurt."

With all due respect, Mr. Romney. You are wrong.

Can you imagine how much time and money would be wasted if we looked into the personal lives of every elected official? When did we start holding people in public office to different standards of our friends and neighbors or even ourselves?

Who is to blame? Is it the media for reporting these stories? The people who leak this type of information to the media? (The Greeley Tribune reports Chapur's e-mail account was hacked into and news of the affair was leaked.)

I wonder if people who are regarded as heroes and historical figures today would survive if they lived in modern times. Half of the people who worked on the Declaration of Independence owned slaves. Members of the Founding Fathers wanted to include their slaves in their respective state's population for the purposes of boosting their representation in Congress but refused to extend to them the same rights everyone else enjoyed.

Throughout history, people who have been regarded as great figures have been afflicted with personal flaws. This did not prevent them from rising to the challenges that were presented to them. It did not prevent them from succeeding or contributing to their state or country.

Mark Sanford is far from perfect but he is not the only person on this planet who is flawed. The fact that he travelled to another hemisphere to be with another woman goes to show how much soul-searching he needs to do. If South Carolinians want to take another look at their governor, I hope they have the best interests of their state in mind when they do it. If South Carolina is a better state because of Mark Sanford, I hope they will keep their governor. If they feel the need for a new governor, I hope the reason is not Maria Belen Chapur.