Jenny Sanford shares views on husband’s ‘addiction’ to his mistress

Jenny Sanford, the wife of recently-exposed-philanderer Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), espoused her unique outlook on her husband’s affair in a Vogue magazine interview published yesterday. Here are some of the top excerpts.

The initial reaction:

It never occurred to me that he would do something like that. The person I married was centered on a core of morals. The person who did this is not centered on those morals.

She calls the further revelations about “crossed lines with other women” nothing short of “punches to the gut” and compared her husband’s desire for his mistress an “addiction:”

Over the course of both pastoral and marriage counseling, it became clear to me that he was just obsessed with going to see this woman. I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can’t break away from them.

On why politicians have affairs:

Politicians become disconnected from the way everyone else lives in the world. I saw that from the very beginning. They’ll say they need something, and ten people want to give it to them. It’s an ego boost, and it’s easy to drink your own Kool-Aid. As a wife, you do your best to keep them grounded, but it’s a real challenge.

How will she deal with the situation going forward:

If you don’t forgive…you become angry and bitter. I don’t want to become that. I am not in charge of revenge. That’s not up to me. That’s for the Lord to decide, and it’s important for me to teach that to my boys. All I can do is forgive. Reconciliation is something else, and that is going to be a harder road. I have put my heart and soul into being a good mother and wife. Now I think it’s up to my husband to do the soul-searching to see if he wants to stay married. The ball is in his court.