Jenny Sanford's Media Blitz
Jenny Sanford is making lemons into lemonade. Almost six months after her husband South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford admitted to an affair with an Argentine woman, Jenny has decided to capitalize on her family’s notoriety. She’s got a deal with Ballantine Books to write about the affair, taped an interview with Barbara Walters to appear on the 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009, created a personal website and a Facebook page. Oprah’s probably next. Vogue interviewed her a few months ago. That’s a busy schedule.
Why would a mother who describes herself on Facebook as “a woman of grace, substance and style” want to talk about the details of her husband’s affair in such a public way? Perhaps it’s driven by anger and pain but I’d expect more from a Georgetown educated former investment banker and mother of four who told the AP in June: "Parenting is the most important job there is and what Mark has done has added a serious weight to that job." I’m sure her four boys aren’t looking forward to the publication of Staying True, expected to be released in April.
Ms. Sanford’s sudden drive toward the limelight “is accelerating at the same time that her husband is battling an impeachment resolution in the Legislature, dismal approval ratings and 37 charges of ethics violations over his unreported use of friends’ airplanes and improper use of campaign contributions,” according to the New York Times.
But she’s chosen the wrong way. Jenny Sanford should put her energy into politics where she can effect real change, make meaningful headlines and possibly become a rising star.
Having served as her husband’s campaign manager and briefly as his chief of staff in his first term, Sanford knows politics. She recently endorsed the only woman and Indian American running for South Carolina Governor, Republican State Representative Nikki Haley.
Infidelity sucks and no woman should have to go through it but putting the details of the hurtful act up for sale doesn’t help ease the pain – as Elizabeth Edwards has by now discovered. Jenny: be better than that- and make your own life.