An Insider Advantage poll, commissioned by Politico, finds 50% of South Carolina voters think Gov. Mark Sanford (R) should resign from office following his odd press conference and disappearance related to an extramarital affair. Forty-two percent said he should remain in office.

I.A. surveyed 926 registered voters yesterday shortly after the governor's afternoon press conference.

A SurveyUSA poll, which Tom mentioned earlier, found 60% of voters in the state think Sanford should resign.

DuPage County Chairman Bob Schillerstrom is the latest Republican to join the fray in what promises to be a very crowded race for the Illinois Gubernatorial nomination. Conservative pundit/strategist Dan Proft announced the other day, and state Sen. Kirk Dillard is set to announce his decision on July 8. All told there could be up to seven contestants in the Republican primary.

James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter has the details:

Fox News is on track to have its most-watched year ever, showing significant ratings growth despite having just come off a highflying election year.

With the second quarter coming to a close, Fox News averaged about the same number of viewers as the top three other cable news networks combined. And while rivals including CNN (-22%) and MSNBC (-18%) took hits following last quarter's inauguration-fueled boost, Fox News (-3%) remained nearly steady.

Compared with last year, the Fox News (averaging 2.1 million viewers, 509,000 adults 25-54 quarter-to-date) is up 35% over last year in primetime viewers and 48% in the demo. CNN (805,000 viewers, 210,000 in demo) fell 16% in viewers and 29% in the demo. MSNBC (787,000 viewers, 259,000 in demo) climbed 15% in viewers and about on par, -3%, in the demo. And CNN Headline News (553,000, 201,000) showed very strong growth, up 39% and 37%, respectively, and is on track for its best second quarter.

FOX's ratings now put them third behind USA and TNT among all ad supported cable networks in primetime.

New Pennsylvania poll from Franklin and Marshall College has a tiny bit of good news but much more bad news for Democrat Arlen Specter.

The good news: Specter leads potential challenger Joe Sestak by 20 points in the Democratic primary. However, Sestak is not nearly as well known statewide as Specter, and 48% of Democrats remain undecided.

Specter 33
Sestak 13
Other 6
Undecided 48

Now the bad news for Specter: since switching parties on April 28 his ratings have taken a serious hit.

In March of this year Specter had a 52% job approval rating, today it's just 34%.

Specter's favorable rating has plummeted a net of 30 points in the past three months, swinging from a +24 (48 fav/24 unfav) in March to a -6 (31 fav/37 unfav) today.

Most troubling of all for Specter: 12 weeks ago 40% of voters said he deserved to be reelected, now only 28% support his reelection while 57% say it's "time for a change."

Other results from the poll: after a brief respite in March, Pennsylvanians are back to feeling more sour about the direction of the state. 44% say the Keystone state is headed in the right direction, while 48% say its moving down the wrong track. That's an 11-point negative swing since the last poll in March. Additionally, 43% of voters say they are "worse off" financially than they were a year ago, a seven-point increase from March.

F&M pegs President Obama's job approval rating at 55% while Governor Ed Rendell's approval rating is at a far more modest 38%.

A snap overnight poll from SurveyUSA shows 60% of South Carolinians say based on what they know Governor Mark Sanford should resign. More from the poll:

63% say he did not have the right to take a vacation without informing the public of his absence.
77% say he did not have the right to take a vacation without informing his staff of his whereabouts.
37% say the epidsode will end Sanford's political career, while another 45% say it will only "hurt" his career, and a brain dead 15% say it will have no effect at all.
Of those who saw Sanford's press conference, 22% believe Sanford said "too much," 36% feel he "needs to say more," and another 36% responded that he said "just the right amount."

The House Ethics committee has opened an investigation into trips taken to the Caribbean by Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) and four other House Democrats.

The official release from the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct states that a newly formed investigative subcommittee will look into "officially-connected travel in 2007 and 2008 that was sponsored, funded or organized by an organization known as Carib News or Carib News Foundation."

Along with Rangel, the inquiry will include four other members of the Congressional Black Caucus: Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (Mich.), Donald Payne (N.J.), Bennie Thompson (Miss.), and Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christensen.

This marks the latest in a run of ethics issues for Rangel, who chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Previous reports indicate potential financial disclosure issues and allegations that he helped obtain a tax loophole for a donor to the Charles B. Rangel Center at the City College of New York.

(Cross-posted on Politics Nation)

From Rasmussen. In the Florida Senate race, Charlie Crist holds healthy leads over both potential Democratic challengers:

Crist (R) 50
Brown (D) 29
Other 8
Undecided 13

Crist (R) 46
Meek (D) 28
Other 12
Undecided 14

In the Florida Governor's race, Rasmussen shows Republican Bill McCollum with an 8-point lead over Democrat Alex Sink:

McCollum (R) 42
Sink (D) 34
Other 7
Undecided 18

McCollum leads by just 2.0% in the RCP Average.

Bill Pascoe reminds us of the story of Congressman Wilbur Mills and "Fanne Fox, the Argentine Firecracker."

Take your pick of the headlines from three of the largest papers in the country:

Sanford Case a New Dose of Bad News for Republicans - Jim Rutenberg, NY Times
For Republicans, a Long Winter Gets Longer - Dan Balz, Washington Post
Gov. Sanford disclosure deepens Republican turmoil - Mark Z. Barabak, LA Times

Even Politico succumbs to Beltway groupthink with this:

Sanford saga adds to GOP woes - Jonathan Martin, Politico

The fundamental truth underlying these stories is obvious: it's never a "helpful" thing for a party when someone who is considered one of its potential stars admits to committing adultery, let alone two of them in a month.

The other things these articles have in common, however, is the overblown notion that Mark Sanford's rather spectacular public flameout somehow hurts the GOP's reputation or affects its electoral prospects next year or beyond.

There's no question it hurt Mark Sanford's reputation and demolished his political prospects, but beyond that it is simply a sensational story about a Republican politician that won't last very long.

Unlike the Mark Foley scandal that broke directly in advance of the 2006 elections, the 2010 midterms are  sixteen months away and Republicans are in the minority. The Sanford story it will be long gone by the time voters begin casting ballots, and unless we see more high profile Republicans come out and admit affairs which takes the issue to a tipping point, those ballots next November will render  judgment on the state of the economy and the success or failure of the people who are in charge of running the government.

Jenny Sanford statement released earlier:

I would like to start by saying I love my husband and I believe I have put forth every effort possible to be the best wife I can be during our almost twenty years of marriage. As well, for the last fifteen years my husband has been fully engaged in public service to the citizens and taxpayers of this state and I have faithfully supported him in those efforts to the best of my ability. I have been and remain proud of his accomplishments and his service to this state.

I personally believe that the greatest legacy I will leave behind in this world is not the job I held on Wall Street, or the campaigns I managed for Mark, or the work I have done as First Lady or even the philanthropic activities in which I have been routinely engaged. Instead, the greatest legacy I will leave in this world is the character of the children I, or we, leave behind. It is for that reason that I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children.

I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. I believe that has been consistently reflected in my actions. When I found out about my husband's infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago.

This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage. During this short separation it was agreed that Mark would not contact us. I kept this separation quiet out of respect of his public office and reputation, and in hopes of keeping our children from just this type of public exposure. Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week.

I believe enduring love is primarily a commitment and an act of will, and for a marriage to be successful, that commitment must be reciprocal. I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage.

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.