One aspect of the fall from grace of SC Gov Mark Sanford and NV Sen John Ensign is the longer term political impact on the GOP. Karl Rove based his political model on boosting turnout from the most religious elements of the Republican coalition. This worked to perfection in the 2004 reelection campaign, providing Bush his margin over Kerry. But the willingness of the religious wing to remain involved in party politics has always been at risk. After coming into the mainstream of the Republican party in the Reagan years, participation declined until W appeared on the scene. Now after the disappointment they felt with McCain as the standard bearer (mitigated slightly by Palin), the double whammy of Ensign and Sanford may prove fatal.
Both Sanford and Ensign built their political careers on their image as Christian politicians (they were close allies when both served in the House). And both were trying to lay the groundwork for Presidential (or at least VP) consideration in 2012. Those hopes are obviously gone, but the question remains, how will their erstwhile supporters react? Will they just move to other candidates (Huckabee???) or begin to drop out of politics? Remember, these are the ground troops that drive turnout by manning the phones and doing the gruntwork that successful parties need to succeed.
It bears watching.
