Vox Populi = Vox Dei?

Chris Kelly has an awesome piece up at Huffington Post about Gov. Sanford's patent inability to shut up. (Thanks, Susan.) Okay, it's not just about Sanford. It's about Sarah Palin, too, and really any politician who believes she should run for and stay in office because "God has opened a door." That metaphor, Kelly reminds us, comes from the Book of Revelations. He adds,

American Evangelicals love Revelation, because it doesn't make a lick of sense and then everything explodes. Kind of like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

The whole piece is worth a read.

So, a question: Who is scarier, the politician who thinks the people want him to run, or the politician who thinks God wants him to run? I know, the voice of the people is the voice of God, but not really. Ross Perot was a serious egomaniac, but when he claimed that the American people were demanding leadership from someone like him because the two parties weren't providing it, he could at least point to a poll that, if you held it sideways and squinted, sort of backed up his point. But you can't poll God. I assume Mark Sanford's evening prayers are along the following lines: "Dear Lord, if you do not want me to remain in office and keep talking about my sexual liaisons, please signify now. [Pause] Thy will be done!"

There's an interesting partisan angle to this whole thing, too. I haven't seen the numbers, but I'm guessing that within the first 24 hours of Sanford's revelatory press conference, more Democrats than Republicans wanted him to resign. I'll bet those numbers are reversed today.