Why are we so fascinated by the sexual escapades of our politicians?
When candidates step onto the political playing field, it’s expected that they will be thoroughly investigated by their potential constituents, supporters and the press. To become educated voters, we need to know candidates’ positions on things like foreign policy, the economy and human rights.
But I fail to see what their sexual infidelity or practices have to do with their jobs in the political arena. Politicians and political hopefuls have sex, just like the rest of us. It’s a fact of life and has nothing to do with a person’s chosen profession.
This month, another politician is sitting on the sidelines because we care about what happens behind closed doors between consenting adults.
In early December, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain announced that he was suspending his campaign. The man of was a political unknown earlier this year until he rocketed to stardom following several successful debates and a tax plan to which many Republicans could relate.
But today he’s a one-time contender for the GOP nomination and the more liberal among us are cheering not-so-silently.
I’m no fan of Cain’s. This summer he proved his views on homosexuality are dated when he said homosexuality was a choice, and that’s why he opposed marriage equality and hate crime legislation.
The Godfather’s Pizza founder stayed in the race and kept his popularity soaring through all obstacles until an Atlanta woman alleged she had a 13-year affair with the presidential hopeful.
News anchors on both sides of the political spectrum jumped in to share their opinions about the married candidate’s supposed behavior this after a firestorm of controversy about Cain’s alleged sexual harassment of former employees.
Is sexual harassment okay? No. Is it right for a married man to have long-term, secret affairs on the side? Of course not.
All people, especially public figures, are expected to act a certain way. But how does a person’s sexual practices or promiscuity relate to his or her ability to run the country or even become the President of the United States?
Infidelity among politicians knows no party. Both Republicans and Democrats have been caught with their pants down, literally and figuratively, throughout the 200-plus years of our country’s existence. But that party affiliation typically plays into whether we react negatively to the news that an elected official is playing hanky-panky on the side.
When Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) left congress earlier this year because he shared suggestive photos of himself on his iPhone, many Democrats were dumbfounded at how photographs of the buff, naked representative could have anything to do with his ability to lead. When Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) resigned following a Senate ethics probe concerning an affair with a former campaign staffer, many Republicans were certain it was a witch hunt spearheaded by Democrats.
In the 1990s, Republicans lead the march to impeach President Bill Clinton for his affair with Gennifer Flowers and the headline-grabbing attention he paid to White House intern Monica Lewinsky. And in 2007, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) finally acknowledged that his Washington phone number was indeed among those called by an escort service.
Americans are oddly thrilled by the sexual escapades of our elected officials and are quick to use that act to unseat them, even when their performance is acceptable, overall.
Why?
Not once has a politician’s sexual act been to blame for the death of innocent Americans, an invasion of our land by a foreign super power or the fall of democracy as we know it. It wasn’t Rep. Chris Lee’s (R-N.Y.) topless photograph that he sent to a woman on Craigslist that caused our country’s current jobs crisis and Rep. Eric Massa’s (D-N.Y.) alleged sexual harassment of male staffers can’t be to blame for the crash of America’s housing market.
We should hold our politicians to a certain standard when it comes to their behavior, but to focus specifically on their antics behind the bedroom doors distracts from the big picture. Unfortunately, it’s those antics that seem to hold too much merit among voters vetting their next political pick.
