South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford wipes his tears after admitting to having an extramarital affair during a news conference in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) admitted that he had conducted an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina whom he had gone to visit over the last five days -- during which time a massive media story developed over where he was and why.

"I have been unfaithful to my wife . . . I developed a relationship with what started as a dear dear friend," said Sanford.

He said that he had met the woman, whom he did not name, roughly eight years ago and that it had become romantic within the last year. He visited her three times during the past year, Sanford said, and noted that his wife, Jenny, had been aware of the affair for the past five months.

"First and foremost, I apologize to my wife and my four boys. I have made decisions that have hurt and will continue to hurt them, and for that I'm sincerely sorry," Sanford said in a statement released after his at-times rambling announcement in the South Carolina statehouse. "Jenny has stood by me through campaign after campaign, through hard time after hard time, and neither she nor the boys deserve this. Please offer them your prayers."

Sanford announced his resignation as chairman of the Republican Governors Association but did not offer any hint of whether he was considering resigning as governor of the Palmetto State. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was quickly named as Sanford's replacement at the RGA. Barbour said the Sanford news "hurts all of us who have gotten to know Governor Sanford over the years."

In his statement, Sanford also apologized to his staff for misleading them about his whereabouts and added: "I want to make absolutely clear that over the past two days at no time did anyone on my staff intentionally relay false information to other state officials or the public at large. What they've said over the past two days they believed to be true, and I'm sorry to them for putting them in this position.

The State newspaper in South Carolina first reported this morning that Sanford had spent the last six days in Argentina not, as his staff had previously said, hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Sanford's public announcement punctuates a strange and winding series of events that caused confusion within the state government and considerable chagrin among the Republican Party, which saw its second potential 2012 candidate in as many weeks brought low by infidelity.

The analysis about the press conference has just begun but we had a few initial thoughts while watching the event (followed by a live online discussion).

• Sanford was clearly unprepared for the media swarm he faced. He began shakily with a riff about his time spent hiking the Appalachian Trail before rolling off a long litany of people to whom he needed to apologize. Sanford, usually an extremely confident public orator, stumbled over his words time and time again and continued to take questions well after he had promised a "last question." (In Sanford's defense, it's hard to imagine anyone would be prepared to make such an announcement.)

• This is not the end of the story. The problem for Sanford is that he appears to have willfully misled his staff, the lieutenant governor and the people of the state about his whereabouts -- signaling that he was likely headed to the Appalachian Trail before hopping on a flight to Argentina. There will almost certainly be some sort of investigation into whether Sanford misused state funds on this trip -- remember that he took a state-owned vehicle and parked it at the Columbia airport -- that will keep this wound raw for the foreseeable future.

• Sanford's 2012 candidacy is almost certainly over. Having an extramarital affair is bad, but not being truthful to the people of the state and disappearing for five days is unforgivable on the national stage -- or any stage for that matter. Let the search for a new champion for fiscal conservatives begin!

• Coming nearly one week to the day after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) admitted his own affair, this is yet another gut punch for the Republican Party, which can't seem to get off the mat. Republican strategists have to be wondering when enough is enough; the spate of bad press for the party for the past few weeks has been unrelenting.

• The cover up is ALWAYS worse than the crime. It's a cliche for a reason; note to future politicians: if you make a mistake, you need to own up to it immediately and totally. Do not obfuscate, do not try misdirection. In the modern media environment where private is public, the truth will come out.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 3:00 PM ET

voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/governors/sanfords-admits-affair-first-t.html