Word: Oh, those Southern lawmakers and their affairs

Sanford’s in good company.

On June 23, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted to an affair with an Argentinian woman, following in a long line of less-than-faithful Southern politicos.

“It’s gonna hurt, and we’ll let the chips fall where they may.... The bottom line is this: I’ve been unfaithful to my wife. ... I spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina.”

— Sanford during a June 23 press conference.

“There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them. ... I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I’m ... not proud of.””

— Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admits his infidelity in a 2007 radio interview with Focus on the Family.

“I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness. ... You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself.”

— Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, in a 2008 statement about his affair.