Sanford And Stunned

The calls for SC Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to resign are getting significantly more serious as they are coming now from his own party.

Three more Republicans in the South Carolina state legislature spoke out against Mark Sanford on Monday and said the best thing for the governor to do in the wake of last week’s scandal is resign.

At a local Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Cherokee County, GOP House members Lanny Littlejohn, Dennis Moss and Steve Moss each told the audience that Sanford has lost the credibility to steer the state’s economy through the final 18 months of his term following revelations of an extramarital affair.

Reached by phone, each legislator confirmed their comments at the breakfast. All argued that Sanford has simply become too much of a distraction for the state and can no longer devote his full attention to the troubled economy. South Carolina has the third highest unemployment rate in the nation.

“When business leaders start moving to South Carolina, they want to see somebody they can have confidence in,” Littlejohn told CNN. “If you lie to your family and you lie to your friends, you lie to anyone.”

As a matter of fact, the pressure to resign just got turned on full blast on Monday.

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Monday he would be open to a scenario in which he would assume the governorship but not run for the state's top office in 2010 if Governor Mark Sanford decides to resign in the coming weeks.

Bauer said that arrangement would help tamp down some of the political jockeying among other Republicans who are likely to run for governor next year as they decide how to respond to revelations about Sanford's extramarital affair. Other candidates include state Attorney General Henry McMaster, Rep. Gresham Barrett and state Rep. Nikki Haley.

"We are at an impasse now because it's all about 2010 and the next governor's race, and I don't see anyone being an adult," Bauer told CNN in an exclusive interview.

Bauer is one of several Republicans plotting a run for governor, but his rivals worry that a Sanford resignation – which would elevate Bauer to the governorship – might give Bauer an advantage in next year's governor's race because he would be running as an incumbent. Sanford is term limited and is not allowed to run for re-election in 2010.

He said he had discussed the idea of not running in 2010 with GOP leaders in the Senate, many of whom are staunch opponents of Sanford.

"What it would do is it would get the politics out of it," Bauer said. "The people that are so concerned for their own political future about running for governor, would no longer be worried if I came in and became governor, because I would just say. 'You know what? This is bigger than politics. I will go and lead in for the next 18 months and not run for re-election.'"

If your own party is openly discussing a deal where the new pecking order after your resignation is being set, you are political toast. Mark Sanford is being given an out. I suspect his own party is making it clear that if he does not accept this out, he will be impeached. That's the implied threat. You notice Democrats in South Carolina aren't saying a thing, they are staying well out of the way and letting the SC GOP eat itself, that's very, very smart on their part. I suspect that Sanford will resign, and will resign soon. Nobody in the SC GOP is coming to his defense at this point. Newspapers are calling for him to step down, state lawmakers from his own party are calling for him to step down, the Lt. Gov. of his own party is offering to not run for the job in 2010 if he steps down...folks, decisions are being made and Mark Sanford is not involved in them. He's out of options. He'll be stepping down, possibly before the end of the week.

It's time to go, Mark. Game's over. I'm not in the "advice to GOP" game, but at this point I'd have to say "Salvage what dignity you have and take the deal."

Politico's Jon Martin on the other hand says that Sanford won't resign, and that Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer is just trying to earn points, especially since Sanford is telling his supporters that "God's plan" is to have Sanford finish his term.

We'll see. My money's on Sanford being forced out.