In brief: Sanford planning political comeback

Charleston, S.C. – Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose political career was derailed four years ago because of his affair with an Argentine woman, is attempting an improbable comeback.

Once mentioned as a potential 2012 GOP presidential contender, the 52-year-old Republican announced Wednesday he will run for his old congressional seat in his home district along the South Carolina coast. Sanford, a penny-pinching conservative long before the tea party movement, said he is done apologizing for the affair and wants to restore “fiscal sanity” to Washington. He believes voters are ready to give him another shot in office.

“I think what they are most focused on is not the fact I have made a mistake and apologized and have tried to do right in my life since. What they are focused on is their pocketbook and their wallet,” Sanford told the Associated Press.

But some have said the affair will be difficult for Sanford to shake. After all, he disappeared from the state for five days in 2009, telling his aides, who told the media, that he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

All along, he was in Argentina. When he returned, Sanford confessed to the affair in a tearful news conference and later called Maria Belen Chapur his “soul mate.” The couple are engaged and plan to marry this summer.

McDonough likely Obama chief of staff

Washington – President Barack Obama is likely to name Denis McDonough, one of his closest national security advisers, as his next chief of staff, according to people familiar with the White House thinking.

However, White House officials say a final decision has not been made.

In tapping McDonough, Obama would be relying on an inner circle ally for the key West Wing post. McDonough, 43, currently serves as the president’s deputy national security adviser and is highly regarded by Obama and White House staffers.

McDonough would replace current White House chief of staff Jack Lew, the president’s nominee for treasury secretary.