Is it About Sex, Again? I Don't Think so.

By now, I'm sure you've heard that former Dem presidential contender John Edwards admitted to an affair that took place in 2006-2007. For me, the sex part is not important. As far as I'm concerned anybody can have sex with whomever (adults) he or she likes! I wouldn't even presume to know a couple's "arrangement" of their relationship or their "understanding" of their marriage.

But, I do have a problem with hypocrisy, and I'm not talking about pretending to be a great chef when you can't even make toast. When president Clinton looked his staff, his supporters, and the nation straight in the eyes and said, "I did not have sex with that woman," he betrayed the trust he, as a leader, had asked us for. It's this simple!
I also don't buy the argument, everybody does it. Well, not everybody, but even if this was the case, those everybodies are not asking for my support, my commitment, and for the opportunity to lead this country. For better or probably worse, Americans are about marital pretenses more than the western Europeans; so a situation like this has the potential to inflict great political damage.

Can you imagine what position we progressives would be in today if Edwards was the Dem nominee? No, siree, I don't want to be debating about the skeletons in someone's closet that come out months before this critical election--when we progressives expect some good change to occur! Someone asked, think of the situation in August of 2004, when we had our hopes on the Kerry-Edwards ticket... I worked for this team (in Cleveland, Ohio), four years ago, and I wouldn't have liked it at all to have this bomb dropped on us because of Edwards's insincerity and, frankly, irresponsibility!

Now, before the Repubs jump in self adulation, they have to be reminded that many of their leaders have been the worst offenders. McCain cheated on his former wife--the one that waited for him for years to come back from Vietnam--and they're allegations [Vicki Iseman, anyone?] that he strayed later too. As for the great GOP moralists who went after president Clinton, Newt Gingrich (Speaker of the House) has admitted that he was having an affair (yes, cheating on his then wife), and the House Judiciary chairman, Henry Hyde, was also a wife cheater. These two were leaders in the Clinton impeachment!

If I was advising a candidate, I'd tell them to make sure that the story you're about to tell the people jives with the truth in your private life. If you're a philanderer, you can't run on a platform to "raise the moral fitness of America." [I like this saying, used by many in conservative Christian circles only to have their leaders (ie, Ted Haggard) fall on their sword]. Otherwise, run on other issues, like the "it's economy, stupid."

It is the story a person tells to the public that comes back to bite them. I believe that most Americans could forgive someone who committed marital infidelity or had another trespass. That is, as long as that person isn't being deceptive. When someone is parading his family and using them to score political points & improve their image, this becomes part of the story they're telling us. Yes, I know, we the citizens are partly to blame, because maybe the country is ready to elect a black or a woman to the highest office, but I'm not sure it's ready for a single person without a family and who might be a libertine...

Does this mean that, for example, a homosexual or an atheist (god forbid) should pretend? No, on the contrary! Pretending to be something that they are not might eventually be revealed with dire consequences to themselves, their cause, and the nation. At a minimum, if a candidate doesn't want to discuss certain issues they consider private, then he/she can say, sorry, this topic is off limits. Besides, despite the huge egos and often holier-than-thou attitudes, the politicians have to understand that it's not about them but about us. Service to society should be high in their list of priorities.


PS>Full disclosure: I had supported John Edwards's presidential effort, because I liked the message, on the economy, the middle class, foreign policy, energy, etc. Also, I had hoped that Elizabeth Edwards (I wish she was running sans cancer) would somehow push for universal health care as a first lady. Elizabeth will be speaking at the Dem convention later this month, no doubt about the need for health care as a right not a privilege!