Gov. Sanford's Big Adventure

This is a bit odd:

Where is South Carolina's governor?

The lieutenant governor doesn't know, and neither does a state senator who's a close confidante. Even Gov. Mark Sanford's wife is in the dark.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said he's been told the governor's staff is in contact with the second-term Republican, but Sanford's wife said she hasn't heard from him in several days, including Father's Day.

"He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids," Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press while vacationing with the couple's four sons at their Sullivans Island beach house. She said she didn't know where he was, but wasn't concerned.

Sanford, who's also chairman of the Republican Governors Association, earned a reputation as the nation's most vocal anti-bailout governor by refusing $700 million in federal stimulus money for schools until he lost a court battle earlier this month.

His spokesman Joel Sawyer released a statement saying the governor was taking a break after losing the fight.

"Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside," Sawyer said.

Sawyer wouldn't say where the Sanford was, but said in another release the governor let his staff know where he was going before he left last week and said he would check in.

A post-session wind-down isn't uncommon and he goes "out of pocket for a few days at a time to clear his head," Sawyer said. "Obviously, that's going to be somewhat out of the question this time given the attention this particular absence has gotten."

Gov. Sanford's name has come up lately as a potential presidential nominee, but this episode will hurt him regardless of his reasoning. Chief executives can't just disappear when they want to. I can already see the ads that will be used against him.

UPDATE: Don't bother making any attack ads. The governor's career is over.