Defined By Crisis

Several years ago, S.C. Senator Gerald Malloy told us that “it’s not the crisis people remember, it’s how you respond to the crisis.”

How true.

Being at the center of a scandal provides public figures with the ultimate test of their mettle – and Malloy is right, when it’s over public respect (or lack thereof) is typically doled out based on how a person handled their trial by fire, not necessarily the “spark” that started the conflagration.

Two years ago, South Carolinians witnessed what they probably thought was the decade’s defining political scandal – the fall from grace of former State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel.

Indicted on drug charges, Ravenel was pilloried in the papers, assailed by his political enemies and hung out to dry by many of his “friends.”

Obviously the charges against him were true – although you’ll never be able to convince us that Ravenel wasn’t set up by his political rivals.

So how did Ravenel handle his moment of crisis?

Like a champ.

He admitted his guilt, apologized to the people he had let down and – most importantly – he took personal responsibility in a very real way. He also did his time – in a federal prison.

Sanford?

He’s basically lost his fool mind.

Never one to play by the established media rules, Sanford’s initial meandering press conference seemed to have done the trick.

In fact, it strangely endeared him to a lot of people unfamiliar with his unrehearsed, seemingly authentic style.

Also, shortly thereafter, the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson took a lot of the national glare off of Sanford, while locally the political calculus over how his resignation would impact the 2010 gubernatorial race seemed to be working in his favor as well.

After a relatively quiet weekend, Sanford seemed poised Monday morning to escape the scandal with his job – albeit not his dignity – intact.

But that’s when the wheels came off.

Reportedly on the advice of his political consultant, Jon Lerner, Sanford granted a fateful, two-day interview to the Associated Press in which he contradicted his previous statements, admitted to “crossing lines” with other women and spewed forth a torrent of emo narcissism the likes of which American politics has never seen before – and may never see again.

Calling his Argentine lover his “soul mate,” Sanford basically described everything except the lovestruck couple’s sexual positions – earning him the derisive national nickname “Governor TMI (too much information).”

The interview not only garnered Sanford an official investigation into his travel records (based on inconsistencies with his previous statements), but it horrified readers given the crass treatment afforded to First Lady Jenny Sanford, who the governor said he was “trying to fall back in love with.”

At this point, it would certainly appear that Mark Sanford’s response to his “crisis” has produced an even bigger scandal.

What are your thoughts? Who handled their “moment of crisis” better, Sanford or Ravenel?

Vote in our poll below …

 Loading ...