Chris Matthews And "Hardball" Panel Examine If There's A '2012 Republican Curse' (VIDEO)

Republicans just can't seem to catch a break as another one of their leading candidates to challenge President Obama in 2012, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, falls by the wayside - he revealed today that his seemingly random and secret trip to Argentina (which sparked a frenzy in the political world) was about ending an affair he'd been having with an Argentine woman.

Sanford is almost certain not to run for the Republican nomination in 2012. Indeed it's questionable if he'll be able to serve out the last year of his term as governor. But Sanford is just the latest in a string of high-profile setbacks among Republicans who were considered viable contenders against Obama in 2012. Just a week ago, Senator John Ensign of Nevada admitted to an extramarital affair. Texas Governor Rick Perry suggested that his state could secede from the union during raucous Tea Party protests. And Bobby Jindal crashed in his prime-time debut with a widely-panned State of the Union rebuttal earlier this year.

Chris Matthews and his "Hardball" panel of NBC's Chuck Todd and the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza debated whether or not there's a Republican curse of 2012. Todd made the good point that the ones who seem to be floating to the top, like Miss. Governor Haley Barbour and Mitt Romney, have been in the spotlight before and "have made all their mistakes, have been around the block before."

Matthews grinned widely and said, in one of his classic lines, "So veterans do well in the playoffs, right, is the old argument." "Exactly," Todd replied.

Watch the debate below.

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Comments

[Willow207]

Sure there is a problem......it is called being Republican!

[theubermensch]

Maybe that's what the Mayans were predicting. Vote in a repub and it will be the beginning of the end. Oh, 2012 will be an interesting year.

[toushe]

Why can't sanford go on to be POTUS that would be the most hypocritical thing to say. So he cheated on his wife by reading the comments here it seems to be alright with the left just not if your conservative,maybe he will switch sides,that will make it all better!

[oldedinthailand]

"Look at it this way. Whereever people are obtuse and absurd... and whereever they have, by even the most generous standards, the attention span of a small chicken in a hurricane and the investigative ability of a cockroach ... and whereever people are inanly credulous, pathetically attached to the certainies of the nursery and in general, have as much grasp of the realities of the physcal universe as the oyster has of mountainee­ring"...ye­s America: there is a moral republican party that cares for you. Quote stolen from the great author Terry Pratchett. Al mspellin credited to me.

[GayGrandpa]

Perhaps the first question to ask any national candidate should be, are there any affairs going on your life that your wife does not know about?

[Grunty1]

Wrong discussion. There is most certainly a Rushpublcian Curse, but it isn't 2012. It started in 2000.

[Travis bdboy]

Hold your nose.....YOU'RE GOING DOWN FOR THE THIRD TIME

[susiesorority]

No brains, no policy, no credibility, no class=a curse.

[Siobhan11]

We all know that people in all walks of life are not perfect and sometimes cheat. Not excusing it. It could be kept out of politics all together if they didn't have a history of making statements against prior politicians who cheat. Of claiming a moral highground.

This case is different in many ways. It appears he was totally irresponsible as far as his duties as Governor. Take the whole affair out of the picture. If he left the country and told noone. What if there was a state emergency. And his cell phone didn't work. Who could get in touch with him. His behavior has been totally irrational.

[zest]

Haley Barbour; they have to be kidding.

[jbrantow]

The GOPers will say it's a curse because it's pretty well known that they will never take the blame for their
F-ups. Just look at sarah palin and her whining/blaming.

[toushe]

Just look at barry he whines like P Hilton!

[duchessofbs]

More like karma

[jbrantow]

The GOP is a curse on this country and it's citizens

[Marnie1]

I think that too many RepoNazi started believing Herr Karl's PR about a thousand year reich (well actually 40 year majoority).

Some people, who have no moral compass,If they assume that you can do anything and still win, will eventually do just about anyhing.

It's the entitlement, hubris problem. The Republican Party convinced itself that it didn't have to represent anybod but itself, and that's the way its still acting.

[seted]

Y'know, in my younger days I tried to join the GOP but I failed their Compassion Test ; they found out I had some.