Sanford is just doing his job, and yet it’s still something to cheer

There was a moment Friday afternoon at U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford’s town hall in Beaufort when life really imitated life.

I know the saying is “art.” Bear with me.

More than 500 people had shown up for the event, but there was only room for 300 in the steep lecture hall. Every seat had a bottom in it. Lots of people were standing. And the “others” — the ones who couldn’t fit in the room — were somewhere else described as “outside.”

Whether this meant the actual outdoors or in the student union area was not clear to me, but it was apparent that “outside” was a much more commodious place, though presumably without adequate seating.

Sanford made a proposal to the Sitters in the interest of constituent consolidation.

Would the Sitters be open to moving into the area where the Others were?

He was met with a very hard, very loud “no.” The Sitters practically blew that full head of hair of his right off.

An organizer then came down and pleaded the case for the Others.

No, ma’am.

Nope.

Boooo.

The Sitters weren’t moving, and what’s more, they wanted to get started right now.

The Sitters weren’t wrong. They had arrived early. They had stood in line longer. They had things to say. And the lecture hall, quite honestly, made the most sense for the event. It best served the majority.

But it was a stunning response nonetheless.

The fierceness of it was even humorous.

“Savages!” I laughed and said out loud to no one in particular.

A woman taking pictures nearby said, “Isn’t this kind of like the immigration debate?”

Sanford likened it to Congress, which was either a sly, esoteric burn that he should be commended for or a noble attempt at pre-emptive neutralization, a clear statement of “See? We can’t please everyone. Now keep that in mind as you berate me.”

His attempt at offering fairness to the masses was interesting, though, even if it was just a politician’s futile exercise in good-guyism.

To me, it was evidence that those with an advantage will most likely seek to hold on to that advantage and that this trait is fundamentally human.

It belongs to no particular party, though both parties would have us believe otherwise.

Yes. I’m about to talk about Democrats and Republicans and you’re not going to like it, so buckle up.

It’s funny because people will often assume I’m one or the other wholly depending on their own affiliation and whether or not I’ve just agreed or disagreed with them on a single point.

Those people are always wrong.

The truth is, I regard both parties equally, which is to say “Mmmm. No, thanks. I’m good.”

(Depending on the news of the day, though, that actually might come out more like “Yuck.”)

I despise it when people try to sort me. And I hate that we’re so obsessed with political affiliation in this country.

Really, I value principles.

And I like the people who have them.

Which brings me to Sanford.

Say what you want about him, including “Cough cough, Argentina,” but over the years he has proven himself to be a principled man.

So the following comes as no surprise to me.

While others are ducking constituent dissent by skipping town halls, Sanford has consistently walked toward it with his hand extended.

While others talk circles around themselves rather than commit to an opinion, Sanford says it straight.

In return for this, his town hall Friday was mostly respectful. Those who had questions repeatedly thanked him for being there. They kept it civil.

Though not always.

Sanford was still yelled at. He was cut off. He was challenged.

But he welcomed it.

“We can have differences of opinion,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

To be clear, no congressman should be congratulated for showing up.

No congressman should be lauded for listening and responding to his constituents.

No congressman should be high-fived for speaking his mind rather than speaking in rhetoric.

Because all of this is in the job description.

But here we are.

And, I just want to say, we’re lucky for it.

This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Sanford is just doing his job, and yet it’s still something to cheer."