Seems that Mark Sanford’s candidacy will not be the only strange feature of the Republican special primary to choose a successor to South Carolina congressmen Tim Scott (recently appointed to Jim DeMint’s Senate seat). No, his ex-wife’s not running, which would have been great fun because everyone always figured her to be the brains of the Sanford family.
But already in the field is one Teddy Turner, son of the eccentric media mogul, bison rancher, and major benefactor to the United Nations. In a colorful profile for TNR, Molly Redden explores the candidate’s wandering career as a factotum for his father, a large-yacht sailor, and a hit-or-miss (mostly miss) entrepreneur. It doesn’t appear he has much of a background in policy or a terribly clear world-view; his pronouncements as recorded by Redden are mostly of the middle-school variety of conservative cant, bereft of the fiery attitude Palmetto State conservatives prefer.
But gotta say, the dude has one of the better lines about his preparation for bipartisan debates in Congress:
“I’ve sat across the dinner table from Ted Turner and Jane Fonda and discussed politics,” he says, in the course of explaining why he belongs in Congress. “And everybody’s come away happy.”
It’s a much better family story than anything Sanford’s likely to offer.
But that may not be the case with a potential Democratic candidate for the seat: Elizabeth Colbert-Bush, whose brother is named Stephen.
