Post Politics: Michelle Obama, Sanford's Affair, More

Washington Post national political reporter Lois Romano was online Thursday, June 25 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news about the White House and Congress.

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Lois Romano: Good morning everyone! Thanks for joining us today.

So much news today! lets get started.

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Dear dear friend....not dear dear wife: He spent more time talking about the mistress than his wife and children at the news conference. I was shocked at how he focused more on his mistress than his family.

Maybe the required reading list for politicians should include the news clippings of Gary Hart, et al.

Lois Romano: No kidding! he's clearly very involved emotionally with this woman. It was painful to watch. So do we think he'll resign?

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Richmond, Va.: Two things: First, while I think we learned from Sanford more than we really should have been told (felt like he treated us all as a huge cathartic-for-him confessional), what bothered me the most was that, as a governor of his state with a huge responsibilitues why he was "wondering what all the fuss was about that they couldn't find him for five days." Is this the legitimate "wondering" of a governor? And second, what is it with Argentina and crying? First we have Evita asking Argentina not to cry for her, and then we have Sanford saying he spent "the last five days of my life crying in Argentina"

Lois Romano: Gov. Sanford has clearly lost all sense of reality. He's like a teenager in a secret relationship fighting with his parents. It would be interesting to know what the SC constitution stipulates about when to transfer power.

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St. Paul, Minn.: Hi Lois -- Thanks for taking questions today. I'm not quite sure how to phrase this question, but will the charges of hypocrisy flying all over the place regarding Ensign and now Sanford (not to mention previous Republicans with similar indiscretions) result in actual changes in policy? In other words, if and when the Defense of Marriage Act actually comes up for reexamination, will these "cases" be used by Democrats as ammunition, or will they be conveniently forgotten or ignored?

Lois Romano: I have to say I dont think these cases will have much impact. There's kind of an unwritten code among politicians not to use this kind of stuff as policy ammnution. That being said, outside interest groups who oppose the act are free to use it.

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Sanford: I have to admit that I was also struck by how genuine this man's feeling for the mistress were. It was kinda refreshing to see someone cop to an affair without claiming that the affair was meaningless sex. It somehow made me feel bad for him on a personal level, though I still think his behavior as a husband/father and as chief executive of SC was pretty awful.

Lois Romano: That may all be true- and he may be in love. But what's the point of airing his feelings so publiclly when he has four young sons who are going see it.

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Evanston, Illinois: Sanford will be out by Monday morning. This guy is not Blago, he clearly feels shame.

Lois Romano: The guy I saw yesterday didn't feel shame. He felt torment over his love life.

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Sanford: In my memory, I can only recall politicians essentially dismissing an affair as a mistake, akin to eating bad sushi. Can you recall someone giving a press conference where it's so obvious they are in LOVE with the mistress?

Lois Romano: I have to say, I cant. Most of them profess their love for their wives and talk about how they are trying to make it work.

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Anonymous: How did Sanford meet Maria? Does Mrs. Sanford know her?

Lois Romano: we dont know that yet.

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New York, NY: Are you sure it is a woman?

Lois Romano: Yes.

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Boston: Hi Lois,

Gov. Sanford seemed to apologize to everyone except me in his announcement yesterday. I really did want to spend a week hiking on the Appalachian Trail. What is the chance now that my wife or anyone else will ever buy that story?

Lois Romano: Well, keep in mind he didn't try to sell it to his wife. She threw him out of the house two weeks ago and, from what i understrand, really didnt know where he was.

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Northern Virginia: I think he's going to resign, get divorced, marry the woman from Argentina, and become a writer and lecturer. I have never seen private love letters (e-mails) exposed in the press that actually were beautifully written. Usually they are cringe-inducing (remember some of Prince Charles's utterances to his then-mistress?).

Honestly, though, what public purpose was served by The State newspaper publishing these private e-mails? I don't understand the ethics behind doing that since at this point they are icing on the cake. Do you think they mad the right call?

washingtonpost.com: Exclusive: Read e-mails between Sanford , woman (The State)

Lois Romano: Yes, I think they should have been published. For better or worse, this comes with the terrority of public life. It would be interesting to know who gave them to the paper. Clearly, someone who wanted him caught.

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Boston: After watching that press conference, it would seem that the people of South Carolina would have grounds to remove the guy on the basis of competency. Is Sanford in a right mind to execute the responsibilities of the office?

Lois Romano: I think we'll know more in the next 48 hours.

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pity for Sanford: I'm surprised at the number of people this morning expressing some kind of grudging admiration for the "honesty" of that performance yesterday. His revelations served no one's purpose except his own. He wanted us to feel sorry for him and think he's struggling nobly. Regardless of how genuine his feelings may be, talking up the mistress like that was demeaning to his wife and completely insensitive to his kids.

Lois Romano: I have to agree with you. There was something narcissistic about the whole display. This has to be so painful for his family.

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Manhattan, Kan.: Hi Lois, I was wondering how the Sanford affair might affect the hearings on Judge Sotomayor. Might Democrats now be able to argue that even a conservative Republican has been seduced by the wisdom of a Latina woman?

Lois Romano: Ha! no.

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Anonymous: The wife's long-winded statement was about forgiveness or finding higher ground for a d-i-v-o-r-c-e ?

Lois Romano: I think the statement was largely meant to convey that they weren't speaking and that she had no idea where he had been for five days.

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Alexandria, Va.: Isn't anyone seriously worried about Sanford? He strikes me as a man on his way to a major breakdown. Or perhaps the best thing he could do is resign from office, get a divorce, and marry his mistress!

Lois Romano: Im sure there are people worried for him. I suspect this is so all-consuming that he will find it very difficult and stressful to do his job.

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Boston: Any chance we can call a truce and end coverage of politicians' infidelities? I don't know what is gained from it. Yeah some are complete jerks and hypocrites, but nothing gets better just because we focus on their stupidity.

Lois Romano: The threshhold for coverage is when the infidelity interferes with official duities. clearly in thsi case it did.

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Greenbelt, Md.: Sanford is just my age (49). Spitzer was the same age as I when his scandal broke. Jim McGreevey wasn't that much younger when his scandal happened in 2004. What is it with politicians when they hit their late 40s?

Lois Romano: Maybe they start to feel invincible. or maybe, they feel time slipping away.

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Kent Island, Md.: Isn't your colleague Dan Balz overstating the effects of the Sanford affair on the fortunes of the Republican Party? Sanford is term limited as governor and will be out of office in 18 months. He isn't likely to oust either Jim DeMint or Lindsey Graham in a Senate primary. He wasn't likely to be nominated as the Republican Presidential nominee. Won't Sanford be just a footnote to history within five years?

washingtonpost.com: Sanford Saga 'Bad News' for GOP

Lois Romano: the bench is pretty thin on the GOP side for presidential leadership. he was considered a star-- as was ensign. It doesn't mean others arent out there- it just means, options are fewer among a new generation of conservative politicians.

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Fairfax: "The threshhold for coverage is when the infidelity interferes with official duities. clearly in thsi case it did."

You're rationalizing, Ms. Romano.

Mr. Spitzer's et al infidelities didn't interfere with official duties.

Have at it.

Anything that keeps us feeling ok about ourselves helps - even if it is hubris.

Lois Romano: Mr. Spitzer broke the law. That surely interferes with his duties.

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NY, NY: Has anyone listed, side by side, the marital infidelities of Republicans vs. Democrats in the past 20 years? While both sides are guilty, I'd almost guarantee that the moralistic yet entirely hypocritical Republican Party and its evangelical wings has more people on their list, starting with Newt, Hyde, Foley, Vitter, Craig, Ensign, Sanford, Bakker, Barr, Packwood, Swaggert, etc.

Hart, Clinton, Edwards, Spitzer, Condit for the Dems, but not many more come to mind. Plus, the Dems aren't self-righteous about clean, "moral" living.

Lois Romano: Looks like a good list to me.

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Burke, Va.: I loved Sanford's statement that he had discussed the affair with his father-in-law. What? If I ever went to MY father-in-law and told him I was cheating on his daughter, we would find out if I can outrun a very angry 80-year-old man with a large gun collection.

Lois Romano: Yes, that was priceless. he must an enormously tolerant father-in-law.

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Anonymous: "Any chance we can call a truce and end coverage of politicians' infidelities? I don't know what is gained from it."

When politicians stop grandstanding about "family values" and trying to exert government control over other people's private lives (i.e., birth control, abortion, gay marriage, "don't ask, don't tell," and so on), then sure, fine. Until then, I'm all for stripping every one of these hypocrites bare in the most public way possible.

Lois Romano: Thanks for your comments. Character matters in our politicians.

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Boston: Michelle Obama wants meaty projects to work on and obviously her education and professional background give her the gravitas to take those on. At the same time there is professional manufactured-outrage machine ready to throw a hissyfit at Michelle's gall for dealing with serious topics. How can she win?

Lois Romano: Thats true, and I dont get why people care if she gets involved. She's not saying she wants to be president-- she saying she wants to support the president.

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Lois Romano: Thank you all for joining me today. I'm going to sign out now. I think I've said all I can on the sanford story. We'll all know more soon!

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