Sex Scandals

Well, the who-is-going-to-be-the-next-face-of-the-Republican-party-game just became a little bit easier. Hint: it probably wont be Mark Sanford. That much is obvious, but the point that politicians seem to continually miss is exactly why that is the case.

Its easy to point to Sanford, a conservative Republican governor from South Carolina, and say that his current political firestorm is the product of his affair with a divorcee from Argentina. But that’s not what the problem is. People can accept and forgive transgressions, but the real mistake that Sanford made, and the one that is unforgiveable, is the hypocrisy of his actions.

Many nodes of the Republican party (though not all) have taken their typical posture in response to this kind of scandal. Talk radio has condemned his actions, but at the same time it has railed that the “liberal press” has provided a biased coverage of the story. Many say that a Democrat wouldn’t receive the same level of criticism, and that Sanford, while in the wrong, should be treated the same as anyone else. But if you ask me, I don’t think he should be treated the same at all.

Republicans always have, and forever should, be held to a higher standard and be subject to increased scrutiny with respect to moral and ethical transgressions. That’s just what happens when you develop a platform that entails gaining the moral high ground. We espouse family values, quote scripture, and carve out a political identify steep in conservative ideals. The end result of these ideological choices is that we are judged by the high standards that we ourselves create, and when our actions come into conflict with our ideals, we end up as little more than run of the mill hypocrites and liars.

The comparison has readily been made between John Edwards and Mark Sanford. Who has been treated more harshly? Has the media spewed more venom out towards Sanford by comparison? I find both of their actions despicable, and would not dare to defend either. But, I would argue that Sanford’s political identity would justify increased criticism relative to Edwards. Sanford stood for a return to family values, faith-infused governance, and fiscal responsibility. Compare that to his actions: he had a prolonged affair with a divorced mistress in Argentina, lied to his staffers, constituents, and family about it, and used state funds to secure his travel arrangements (although he does plan to reimburse the state). By contrast, Edwards was also a liar and an adulterer, but none of those things strike at the core of what he represents. He gained a following based on support for unions, lawsuits, and expensive haircuts.

To a large extent, how our actions are judged is self-determined. Transgressions are viewed against the backdrop of our proclaimed values and within the context of the reputations that we accrue over the course of our lifetime. Dissonance between our actions and those two factors is what people disdain, much more so than the actions themselves. And this disdain is not party-specific.

Democrats caught in similar levels of hypocrisy have largely received equal, if not more criticism than their Republican colleagues. Take for example Elliott Spitzer. His use of a prostitution service, which ran in direct contradiction with his tough on crime persona, was the most prominent political story in the news for a significant period of time. His political career was torn to the ground, and his base of support almost entirely lost. Spitzer was not a Republican, but like many Republicans who have received similar criticism for unethical behavior, he shared in their hypocrisy, and therefore received the same backhand of public reprimand.

In general, Democrats have received less criticism for ethical scandals because their party’s more liberal demeanor leaves room for personal choice, privacy, and understanding. You can’t really criticize a congressman for his own wrong choices when he is inclined to allow legalized marijuana, gay marriage, and a fundamental right to privacy. I mean, Clinton may have had an affair, but its not like his political beliefs exacerbated the problem. This was the same president who instituted the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

We Republicans need to stop viewing these scandals as opportunities to criticize the press in order to rally the right-winged base. Because guess what? Criticizing the press isn’t going to bring you more favorable coverage, and I don’t necessarily think that the right-wing needs a whole lot more shoring up. Last I checked, they were pretty firmly locked into the party.

What the party needs to do is to realize that the extreme reaction to these scandals is the price you pay when you have a moral-based consciousness and you violate it. You have to grow up and just deal with that. And in the meantime, maybe the party should learn to soften its tone towards those who don’t always share its conservative ideology, because it seems that the party’s figureheads themselves sometimes fail to share it as well.