How Sanford can fix this

Okay, so South Carolina governor Mark Sanford is back, only it turns out that he wasn't hiking on the AT as his aides told the media - he was visiting South America. I say again, this is just weird. It's weird, it's weird, it's weird. And now Sanford and his aides have to fix it. He's got a press conference at 2, which will probably include a lot of this:

Q: WTF?
A: The governor needed some time to himself after a particularly stressful legislative session.

Q: So he left the country? Without telling anyone?
A: Well, that's not accurate. (NOTE: find someone who knew where Sanford was and explain why they didn't share this info.) The governor was reachable the entire time. (NOTE: this'd better be true.)

Q: His wife told us she hadn't seen him since Thursday. Didn't she know where he was?
A: Of course she knew where he was; she was protecting her husband's privacy (NOTE: she needs to apologize for misunderstanding, causing confusion, etc.)

Q: What about your claim that he was hiking on the AT?
A: Governor Sanford initially planned the hiking trip, then changed his plans at the last minute.

Q: So when you told us he was hiking, you weren't lying; you were just clueless.
A: (NOTE: this is where Sanford's PR people earn their paychecks.)

Also, it's very important that the governor's people stress that he's gone on trips by himself before, and that the only reason anyone in the media knew about this trip was because one of his political opponents spread it around to embarass him. They also need to explain exactly how communication with the governor is handled during his trips, since one of the biggest red flags with this sitch is that Sanford flaked off and left the ship of state without a captain. And they need to lay off the "why does anyone care?" stance. People DO care. Sanford needs to acknowledge that he should've been more sensitive/forthcoming/whatever, promise to handle things differently in the future and then move on.

UPDATE: So, the other day when I wrote, "Sanford is either shacked up with an underaged homosexual farm animal, or he's having a nervous breakdown," I wasn't far off. Same rules apply - tell the truth, apologize, move on. Nice knowing you, Mark.

UPDATE II: The State has video of the press conference.

UPDATE III: Screw them, they're too slow - try this one instead. Not only is wife not there - typical for the mea culpa press conference - but this idiot can't correctly pronounce "Appalachian." I expect that from Yankees, but not from a South Carolinian.