AUSTIN, Texas — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford knows what women want.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not condoning his extramarital affair. That was definitely wrong. But lurking behind that goofy grin is the central character many of us know from so many Harlequin books — that leading character who knows how to romance the opposite sex. (Yes, it should have been his wife, and I'm peeved about that.)
But the love story (his words, not mine) between the governor and the other woman, Maria Belen Chapur, has brought to light Sanford's other talents.
Certainly, I am turned off by his deception. And I'm sympathetic to his wife, Jenny, and their four boys. I mean the guy was off hiking the Appalachian Trail on Father's Day. That's the story he told family and staff in South Carolina. He might have stuck to it had he not been busted by the media. The world now knows he was not hiking anywhere near Appalachia, but taking care of business in Buenos Aires.
There's nothing new about philandering by political figures. The bipartisan list of players and their trysts is too long for this space. I have asked my male colleagues why this stupidity continues? Why do these high-powered men in the spotlight 24-7 think they can cheat on their wives with impunity?
Just a week or so before Sanford confessed, U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, publicly repented to his wife and constituents for his tryst with a married woman who worked for him. And didn't Sanford learn anything from the boy next door in North Carolina, John Edwards?
That Sanford describes the affair as a love story and the other woman as his soulmate makes this situation peculiar. Then there are those e-mail love notes.
I know I'm not the only woman on the planet swooning over the incredibly sensuous and dreamy prose he penned to his lover. If Sanford is ousted from the Governor's Mansion, he has a future in Hallmark romance cards.
Check out this July 2008 e-mail sent to Chapur in which Sanford lets loose a serious rap in which he pleads, praises and seduces:
The plea: "As I mentioned in our last visit, while I did not need love fifteen years ago — as the battle scars of life and aging and politics have worn on, this has become a real need of mine."
The praise: "You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that is so fitting with your beauty."
The seduction: "I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificently gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curves of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself ... "
In another love note, Sanford woos with words so tender, they must come straight from the heart: "Do you really comprehend how beautiful your smile is? Have you been told lately how warm your eyes are and how they softly glow with the special nature of your soul?"
Of course the problem for Sanford is that he did not write those words — or many others just as romantic — to his wife. I do realize that the grass sometimes looks greener in Appalachia or Argentina, especially when compared with the daily and sometimes tedious routines of marriage and motherhood.
So while the tan lines give way to stretch marks, we're still romantics at heart and want to hear a few sweet words. Just say them to us.
Alberta Phillips writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: aphillips(at)statesman.com.