In an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball Thursday, Former South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford slammed Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich over the revelations that he asked his ex-wife for an open marriage, saying it called into question his character and that he wouldn’t get her vote.

Mark Sanford, the former governor of South Carolina who is perhaps best known for having had an affair and for making “hiking the Appalachian Trail” a fun euphemism, has been named a paid contributor to Fox News. He’s made appearances on the network from time to time, offering his take on matters as diverse as [...]

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who has mostly evaded the spotlight since a scandalous affair that found him flying to South America while his staff thought he was in Appalachia, gingerly tiptoed back into the spotlight in an extended interview with Sean Hannity last night. Sanford, clearly remorseful, put the blame of his failed marriage squarely on himself, ruled out any return to politics, and gave viewers advice on how to avoid temptation.

On Tuesday’s Daily Rundown, co-anchor Chuck Todd delivered an innocuous “On This Date” segment about the 1999 swearing in of Jesse Ventura (I-Mn) as Governor, but the 30-second spot did not escape the notice of The Daily Caller‘s Jeff Poor, who wondered if there was a shot at former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin embedded in the clip.

It’s a fair question, especially if you’re inclined to be defensive about Palin, but Todd’s remark was actually fairly broad. Even so, rather than wonder, I actually asked Chuck about it.

If his new CNN gig doesn’t work out looks like disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer can always fall back on…politics. A new Public Policy Polling survey reveals that New Yorkers want Spitzer back as their Gov. (or Lov Gov, as the New York Post would say).

Luke Russert was paneling with David Shuster earlier today, in what may have been the most shameless (and yes, sadly, entertaining) moments on cable news thus far this week. Taking off on a Daily Beast feature ranking the top political sex scandals in recent history, Russert took a decidedly sporty style to analyzing what makes a political sex scandal interesting and who has suffered the most political shame: Democrats or Republicans. Video of the sophomoric and salacious video below:

The story of embattled political soon-to-be ex-wife Jenny Sanford is one of the rarest incidents in American politics: a story that both sides can spin to fit their narrative. Sanford went on a media tour to promote her new book, Staying True, that hit all three major cable news channels and the unofficial fourth power in journalism, The Daily Show. And despite the vast ideological gaps among the mediums, every interviewer wanted her on their team.

Evidently its the season to heap vast amounts of shameful detail on sleazy politicians who were long ago buried alive in vast amounts of shameful detail. Not a week after Andrew Young, the malleable former aide to John Edwards, released The Politician, the New York Daily News has reported that Staying True , a memoir by Jenny Sanford, the soon-to-be ex-wife of the disgraced satyr-governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford, will come out this Friday. . .

Mark Sanford wrote an essay on Ayn Rand for Newsweek this week. Yes, that Mark Sanford. Where to begin? With how crazy it is that Sanford, Governor of South Carolina, is writing an essay about how useless government is to accomplish anything? Or with the irony of Sanford, who took off to South America to [...]

The sudden downfall of Eugene Robinson‘s career at the hands of his libido (no pun intended!), brought to mind all the other politicians who have suffered a similar fate . Behold, a catalog of the most awesome most absurd ways the most lustful lads have been captured in the media.

You would think that after being caught with his pants down in a South American country, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford would be on his best behavior. And yet he can’t stay out of the spotlight, collecting yet another round of bad press today. Local newspaper The State has the story and accompanying video of the governor’s unmarked town car being pulled over on the interstate for going 85 mph and getting away without a ticket.

David Letterman’s public apology Monday night for bad behavior is merely the latest in a long list of famous public apologies. Letterman joins a group of mea culpa-ers that includes a whole lot of politicians — Clinton, McGreevey, Sanford, Spitzer — and one or two jackass entertainers. After the jump, Mediaite’s top ten list of public apologies.

Mike Rogers runs BlogActive, a website that yesterday outed South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (who has been in the press of late due to the Mark Sanford controvery.) One might think that the outing of an elected official would big news, but has thus far only been reported by various websites, and has so far been ignored by traditional media outlets, illustrating the very different standards by which online media play. Unfair advantage?

Who wants Eliot Spitzer back in office more, Spitzer or the New York Post? The Post knows where it’s bread is buttered, if Spitzer were to run for office again just imagine the headlines! It would be the best thing to happen to the paper since Rudy Giuliani’s short-lived run against Hillary Clinton for New York’s Senate seat back in 2000.

Mark Sanford is the gift that just keeps on giving. Unless of course you are a member of the Press who sent him an affectionate email during his absence a few weeks back.

Do you want to know what some of the best journalists in America would do for an interview with Gov. Mark Sanford? Now you can find out. The Charleston Post & Courier released 570 pages of Gov. Mark Sanford communications director Joel Sawyer‘s emails during the confusion – we dug through the mess to find the 10 most interesting parts.

In one of the strangest twists to the Gov. Mark Sanford story, The State has new details about the days leading up to Sanford’s “affair” announcement that rocked/excited the media world. The Washington Post‘s Chris Cillizza reached out (“Dude, is everything ok?”). A “Fox News correspondent” did as well. So did Stephen Colbert. Personally. But before we get to him let’s deal with the FNC side of the story.

The State didn’t name the Fox News “correspondent,” but we’ve got the details.

Gov. Mark Sanford gave a much-talked about, news-making interview to the Associated Press this week, expanding on his news conference about the Argentinian love affair (oh wait, he wants it called a love “story”). Who gets Sanford’s first TV sit-down? Welcome to Mediaite Oddsmakers:

The Morning Joe crew talked about Gov. Mark Sanford this morning, and host Joe Scarborough called out “certain cable news hosts last night, some on this network,” that took “unbridled glee in this man’s problem and the pain of his wife, the pain of his children.” But before going to break, he asked, “Should we give names?”

He was denied, so we’ll do it — he’s talking about Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz.

In what may have been the most poorly-executed, excruciatingly-detailed news conference in recent memory, Gov. Mark Sanford explained his five-day absence today in a way that improbably made people forget about the whole “missing Governor” aspect of the story.

“Surreal” may be the best word to describe what occurred: or maybe just heartbreakingly awkward. Here’s a play-by-play of how the newser went:

Who needs television when you have a smart, funny, well-informed Twitter feed?! Here’s a glimpse of the ‘all friends’ column of my TweetDeck as Gov. Mark Sanford wrapped up his hastily-called press conference to explain his heretofore unexplained disappearance to the Appalachian Trail/Argentina with persons unknown. .