Sanford affair leaves The State as well as state with egg on face

South Carolina’s capital-city newspaper, The State, allegedly had copies of the e-mails between Gov. Mark Sanford and his Buenos Aires mistress, Maria, six months ago, one of many revelations from an in-depth Washington Post story:

Late Wednesday, the State, a South Carolina newspaper, published e-mails between Sanford's personal account and the woman it identified as "Maria" in Buenos Aires. The newspaper said it obtained the messages in December, but did not explain why it waited to publish them.

That, in turn, makes this column by Gina Smith at The State “interesting” at least. She wonders why no DC media is at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport.

Well, considering your newspaper had been sitting on a bombshell for six months…

My question is, did Smith herself know about the e-mails, and when?

She indicates she did, and says The State will have a big "wrap" story Sunday.

Meanwhile, headed back to the Post story:

And, during these last days, before going public, he apparently bared his soul to former peers in Washington from his days as a Congressman (shades of John Ensign!):

Sanford referred obliquely to receiving spiritual guidance from a Christian bible study group in Washington that he identified only as "C Street." The group holds private weekly prayer and counseling meetings at a Capitol Hill home shared by several members of Congress.

Finally, Sanford is refusing to resign, partly because Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, already looking at a 2010 run himself, would step up, and the two loathe each other.

Update: Sanford apparently originally had a two-week rendezvous planned with the now-identified Maria Belen Chapur. And, this was after his wife insisted on their trial separation.

Boy, talk about pouring gasoline on yourself.