Jenny Sanford To Vogue: "I'd Like Somebody 5,000 Miles Away I Could E-Mail" (PHOTO)

South Carolina's first lady Jenny Sanford is profiled in Vogue's September issue, where she offers a pretty intimate glimpse into her feelings about her husband Mark's infidelity. Vogue isn't a particularly surprising venue for her considering she garnered praise for her post-affair fashion (see a slideshow here).

Excerpts from the interview and photo below.

On her and Mark's courtship:

“We weren’t madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends,” she says. “I like to think we balance each other out. I am a conservative at heart, but I’m not passionate about ideas like he is. I am better at making the trains run on time...At heart, I am an old-fashioned woman. If the Lord blessed me with children and family, I knew that would be my calling.”

On her husband's affair with Maria Belen Chapur:

"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 her own desire to escape:

"Everybody would like an escape sometimes. I'd like somebody 5,000 miles away I could E-mail. It's not exclusive to men, but I know that isn't realistic."

On how she feels sorry for her husband and his mistress:

What the world saw in that press conference is someone who is struggling. None of us are perfect. We are all trying to do the best we can. I also feel sorry for the other woman. I am sure she is a fine person. It can't be fun for her, though I do sometimes question her judgment...All I can do is pray for her because she made some poor choices. Mark made some poor choices."

Jenny Sanford was photographed at the Sanford's Sullivan's Island beach house by Jonathan Becker for Vogue

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Comments

[hschmacter]

LOL.

[THE JEDI 69]

Hey I'm 18,000 miles away..and have excellent cardio..and love milfs..hehehehe

[qtip46]

knock off all that christian bs and go have some teall great sex!!!!!!!

[VOTER]

Jenny asked for privacy during this horrific time in her life.
Freedom From The Press! Please!!!!

HA!

Nothing says "privacy" like and an interview and photos in Vogue.
She is such a hypocrite.
She and her husband deserve each other.

[norepublicanleftbehind]

"It's not exclusive to men". What does that mean?

[verycold]

I suspect by the way she describes herself that she was unable to be that spark in her husband's eye. It happens. Being good friends is important, but I think up until each person takes their last breath, he long for that spark of really being in love again. Maybe he never really had that spark with her even in the beginning. Maybe he has always been looking for it.

It is possible to love many people during a lifetime. We can't always know who we will meet. Maybe a person falls in love very early and never again. It happens. Maybe a person falls in and out of love often. That happens too.

I think what ruins so many lives is that humans just can't stand to admit they have emotionally left the marriage and have quit trying. So many try to have both worlds and hang on to the realistic one and embrace the highly sexual one at the same time.

Maybe Jenny will find out she has been set free to find love for herself.

[RuthHouston]

Controversial comments from an infidelity expert on selected points from Jenny Sanford’s interview with Vogue magazine. http://bit.ly/zjprz
Why Jenny’s curiosity about her husband’s mistress is normal, her amazing insight into the dynamics of her husbands affair, a husband’s susceptibility to extramarital affairs, emotional infidelity and how it begins, should a wife seek revenge, how far should a wife go to reconcile with a cheating husband, and more. http://bit.ly/zjprz You can also access this article through my Infidelity News and Views Blog.

[racetoinfinity]

I think it's more likely that she is RATIONALIZING the love affair away, calling it an "obsession­/addiction­."

It's quite possible that Gov. Sanford and the Argentine woman really had/have a deeper bond than just lust - a true love affair even soul-mates, as Gov. Sanford declared, and that Ms. Sanford is trying to rationalize it away. I don't KNOW if I'm right, but I could be. It's my best guess about it, and I don't think she deserves to be lionized in the media and by women.

[katielady]

absolutely!!! and the sooner she cuts him loose, the better for her....

[judiNJ]

Spoken from experiece, if your girlfriends help you move out (and not your husband) then good bye marriage. It is kaput. Seeing the video clip of those woman taking boxes after boxes out, gave me a chill down my spine and it has been many, many, many years.

[tednarcotic]

She is pretty good looking for a republican woman.

[garymc8]

SHE MAY BE A DEMOCRAT BY NOW.

[Schneb]

Hey--I got it! Perfect season ending episode for this plot-line: Lady Sanford decides to let off some steam, puts on dark glasses and a wig, and in a 'lost weekend' hooks up with Jon Gosselin at some seedy befront motel.

I know, the comparion has already been made, but frankly there's not a whole lot of difference between the situations, is there? Two marriages ending badly with a eighty million people doing a schadenfreude two-step between the two.

If she's as level headed as the interview presents her, she'll be okay (sounds like she already is, actually) but regardless, I'm sorry for the kids hurt in both families.

On another level, gotta say, seems like the whole marriage/monogamy expectation is a bit out of touch with reality. It may be possible for some, but seems unrealistic for many others.

[rf dude]

Well, there's certainly nothing like a leggy-photo spread in Vogue

to get out the " I'm available " message...

[Schneb]

re Sanford--my thoughts exactly.

re Doc Savage icon--cool.

[judiNJ]

Note Maureen Dowd's editorial in today's New York Times.

[SoccerNana]

“We weren’t madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends,” she says. “I like to think we balance each other out. I am a conservative at heart, but I’m not passionate about ideas like he is. I am better at making the trains run on time...At heart, I am an old-fashioned woman. If the Lord blessed me with children and family, I knew that would be my calling.”

That first sentence paved the road for what happened in this marriage; it was inevitable. Mrs. Sanford was "satisfied" with the way things were; she needed to grow with her marriage. What ideas was Mr. Sanford "passionate" about that she was not passionate about? It is okay for her to be an "old-fashioned" woman, but she needed to be an erotic and sensual woman with her husband. Those trains she wanted to make run on time should have been late a few times. Being a mother is indeed a great calling; we must always find time for our spouses. Somehow, that got away from the Sanfords.

Initially, I was very upset with the Governor. Hopefully, they can work this out.

[t iessa]

Oh, boy! The marriage expert! She who disrespects and devalues any woman who is not married. I think it is wonderful how you can analyze the marriage of people you don't even know. You really are a hoot!

[SoccerNana]

It is obvious you are the "hoot", whatever that country term means.

You try to analyze people you do not know; you should deal with the unhappy person you see in the mirror everyday.

[AudreyH]

"She's 47 and in most photos looks 60. Could be part of the reason the SC hounddog was out sniffing the ground."

Not true...not true...as a graduate student for Marriage Counseling, I can tell you most affairs, yes even with men, have little to do with looks. Actually, unlike what most people think, they have nothing to do with looks. Men have affairs on wives that are gorgeous--hello Donald Trump--and not so gorgeous. It doesn't matter. Most of the reason is that there is some sort of stress or emotional issue the husband does not properly deal with and then strays. So, please, please ladies, if your man ever strays after you leave, don't' stress about what the other woman looks like, 9/10 she's as good as you are not as great...move on! It was really him, not you.

[Paulofer]

she is absolutely hot !