AJC.com > Opinion > Woman to Woman > Archives > 2008 > April > 05
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Should the bedroom escapades of politicians matter to voters?
Andrea Cornell Sarvady, a left-leaning columnist, writes the commentary this week and Shaunti Feldhahn, a right-leaning columnist, responds.
Rebuttal
I tire of hearing about politicians’ sexual misconduct as much as Andy, but for a different reason. The misconduct shouldn’t be happening in the first place.
Spitzer was right to resign not because the media circus made him ineffective but because he was exposed as a hypocrite and a liar. President Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky (yes, any sex is an affair) was cause for fury not just because young people would hear sordid details, but because of the regrettable lack of self-control and responsibility it revealed in his character. What could be a “more important concern” than the personal reliability of the people to whom we’ve entrusted the most public responsibility? As General Schwarzkopf once said “Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.”
Our elected leaders are imperfect human beings just like the rest of us. But unlike private citizens, they take an oath to uphold the public trust. And they deserve every bit of scrutiny they get when they lie, sneak around and arrogantly place themselves above the law. Our alarm isn’t really about the sexual tryst itself, or even their obvious lack of good judgment: it’s about our ability to trust our leaders. If someone can set aside a lifelong vow to the person they care about most, they’ll have little problem breaking a vow to the general populace if it becomes expedient.
Spitzer resigned so New York could move on. Unfortunately, Detroit isn’t so lucky: a perfect example of personal indiscretions affecting public business. Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had an affair with a staffer, sent her racy text messages, fired the Deputy Police Chief for asking questions about misconduct, then flatly denied the affair under oath. He is now being brought up on felony charges, including perjury. The City Council called for his resignation, but Kilpatrick refuses to step down. And the city has lost millions in business revenue because of it.
After Governor Paterson took over from Governor Spitzer with his own infidelity confession, a SurveyUSA poll asked “is [a politicians’ affair] the public’s business?” Seven in ten said yes, either always or depending on the circumstances. The ability to trust our leaders still matters to most of us. As it always should.
Commentary
By Andrea Cornell Sarvady
No sooner does the Governor of New York resign amid discovery of an alarming addiction to high-priced call girls than his replacement confesses that he, too, has strayed in his marriage. Combine that with the unsavory image of the former Governor of New Jersey, his wife and a certain chauffeur and the news networks begin to look like some mid-season replacement show, Desperate Politicians.
Eliot Spitzer was probably right to resign given the media circus surrounding him. Yet as a nation, we have become dangerously confused about public and private behavior as it relates to how we view our political leaders.
It’s not that Americans should take scandalous behavior with a grain of salt. I remember the fury that I felt when we heard about the Monica Lewinsky affair, knowing that young people would be exposed to the sordid details. I hated that President Clinton’s recklessness would distract us from more important concerns, and surely damage the Democrats for years to come (no matter that at least one of the Republicans leading the charge against him, Newt Gingrich, was a serial adulterer himself.)
As for Clinton’s actual behavior? Since he isn’t my husband, I just couldn’t see what business it was of mine. Unfortunately constant network coverage of a juicy scandal means that the court of public opinion favors the temperate drinker and faithful spouse, no matter how he governs. In this day and age, even FDR and Thomas Jefferson couldn’t pass the test of folks like the blogger who plaintively asks, “If a man doesn’t show good judgment in his marriage, can we trust him to keep us safe and balance the budget?”
Of course we can. A philandering politician, while damaging his own home life, can nonetheless enact legislation that provides safeguards for other families. Happens all the time.
I’d love to see more focus on the big issues, more constituents demanding substantive conversation on political behavior that affects all of us, from the air that we breathe to the countries we invade. If we’re really out to change the next generation, let’s become a citizenry more outraged by legislative recklessness than bedroom escapades.