I have watched the Mark Sanford debacle unfold along with the rest of the nation for weeks now. If you've been hiking the Appalachian Trail and have not followed this news, basically, it's the classic story of a lying, cheating husband who is now trying to figure out what to do with his life. The only complication is that he is the Governor of South Carolina and married with four children.
When I looked him up on Wikipedia, I realized that he is also the same age as my husband. So, I can most certainly relate to what Mrs. Sanford is going through. She must be thinking, what is a silly middle aged man doing tromping all over the world to find passion, when a perfectly good (and great, even) woman, the mother of his children, is at home waiting for him to return to his senses? My answer to his ridiculous ramblings would have been different than hers, but nevertheless, she has the good sense to keep private conversations private.
My real question is: Who talked to Governor Sanford before he stepped in front of that microphone last week? Who should have rehearsed his statements with him? Who should have helped him walk away from that news conference with at least a shred of dignity? Or maybe more importantly, who didn't do their job that day?
Even politicians and celebrities should have publicists and public information officers who aren't afraid to stand up to their bosses when it is warranted. In this case, his public information officer clearly missed a teachable moment and an opportunity to help his boss.
Here are the rules for such a news conference:
- Prepare a written statement, read it verbatim and do not veer off the subject
- Do not lie or make excuses
- For goodness sake, spare us the gory details of the sordid affair
- Keep personal feelings and other details out of it
- Apologize and be done with it
- STEP AWAY FROM THE MICROPHONE and walk away
There is nothing Sanford's people could have done for him to save him from his mid-life meltdown. He decided to ruin his own political career and personal life the minute he decided to travel to Argentina to see his mistress. But they could have saved him from the 10-day news story that followed, while endless replays of him excoriating himself over and over played on the news.
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