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The Trust Committed To Me, by Mark Sanford


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Our readers might wonder why Gov. Mark Sanford's book is here among the 2008 presidential books. That's because we predict that McCain will choose Sanford for Vice President. But first let's review the book.

This book is Sanford's story of his 3 terms as a South Carolina representative the the U.S. House. It was published in 2000, when Sanford was retiring from the House, and presumably was thinking ahead to running for Governor. Hence this book outlines Sanford's accomplishments in the House, and his political philosophy, in preparation for his first gubernatorial run in 2002.

The cover of this book, and its title, might make you think that it's all about Family Values or something about children. In fact, it's all about term limits, the issue around which Sanford defines his 3 terms in the U.S. House. The "trust" which was committed to Sanford in the title means "trust that Sanford would fulfill his campaign promise to limit himself to three terms in the House." Which he did, as he notes many, many times in this book. I guess the cover is just a nice photo of one of Sanford's sons on a nice South Carolina beach.

Sanford was elected to the U.S. House in the 1994 Republican takeover of the U.S. House based on newt Gingrich's "Contract With America." Sanford had not been involved with politics before -- he considers himself a "citizen-legislator" -- and he had no problem accepting the term-limit item of the Contract With America (many others in the same GOP freshman class DID have trouble with that item, including some who promised to exit and are still in the House!)

Because the Contract With America never did pass Congressional term limits, Sanford describes himself as a "self-limited" House member -- he voluntarily restricted himself to three terms. Sanford makes a compelling case that "self-limited" Congressmen really do vote differently than other Congressmen -- because they don't have to worry about getting re-elected, and don't plan to have a career in the House.

You can read the rest of the details in the excerpts below. One key aspect is that Sanford considers self-limited Congressmen to be immunized against pork-barrel spending (and to some degree, against corruption), because pork is mostly based on a desire to buy off one's re-election (and serious corruption is only possible when one has more power and experience). That core value makes Sanford very compatible with McCain's core issues of reform. Even if the two men agreed on nothing else, that would be enough for a compatible ticket.

But Sanford brings four other key factors for McCain:

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, April 8, 2008

NEW REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

Well, things have changed for Sanford A LOT since this review was written, so....

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, June 2014