Oops.
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who had been considering a 2012 presidential campaign, has now admitted to an extra-marital affair, and will hold a press conference later today in Nevada to explain it further.
Chris Cillizza reports that the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008, with a woman who worked for Ensign’s re-election campaign and his Battle Born leadership PAC. The Associated Press reports that the woman was married to one of Ensign’s Senate staffers.
I just have one question: Why is it that adulterer John Edwards and prostitute aficionado Eliot Spitzer are considered to be too disgraced to hold public office any more, while adulterer John Ensign and prostitute aficionado David Vitter are still Senators? I’m just asking. Think Progress, which notes that Ensign had previously called for the resignations of then-President Clinton and Sen. Larry “Wide Stance” Craig, but not Diaper Dave Vitter, has more.
“Why is it that adulterer John Edwards and prostitute aficionado Eliot Spitzer are considered to be too disgraced to hold public office any more, while adulterer John Ensign and prostitute aficionado David Vitter are still Senators?”
I don’t think it’s like you portray it in this sentence. John Edwards was already out of office. He also cheated on his wife who had cancer. Like that character in the movie “Terms of Endearment”, it does not make one a likeable character.
Eliot Spitzer REALLY had it coming. It was strange, because he really used the moralistic angle to gain popularity, but he was on the Left, and not part of the moral majority. He also overreached on his legal authority fairly often and made a lot of enemies. Like any hypocrite on the right, he deserves to be out of office if that’s what THE PEOPLE want.
Others who commit adultery in public office are still eligible for public office, it’s just a question of whether people want them there. And there’s examples from both sides of the aisle that either left office or stayed in. (R: Larry Craig – out (kinky, illegal), Jack Ryan – out (very kinky, very unusual, not illegal, newspapers sued to get access to court records). D: Bill Clinton – in (many affairs, somewhat kinky, never pinned him down on the illegal parts), Jim McGreevey (not illegal, somewhat unusual, conflict of interest)).
The Bill Clinton case is the strangest. If we can’t figure that one out, don’t expect to find the most logical pattern with the rest (as to why they are in/out of office).
I’ll grant that Edwards and Ensign are different cases, though I’d still like to know where the line between “acceptable” adultery and “unacceptable” adultery is for the political opinion-making establishment. It’d sure be a fascinating conversation to have, no?
And I still want to know why everyone demanded that Spitzer resign, but Vitter got off the hook.
Easy. Spitzer mattered. He was a rising star who along the way made a lot of enemies, so the knives were out.
Vitter didn’t and doesn’t really matter. He’s the junior senator from Louisiana which has a reputation for letting the good times roll as it were. I will be interested to see what happens when he comes up for reelection. He’s been shunted off to a corner.
It is interesting to note that before he was elected to he Senate, he served in the House for District 1 taking over the seat of Bob Livingston…who resigned amidst an adulery scandal. For those taking notes, the congressman after Vitter in LA House District one was Bobby Jidal, the current governor. Supriya might want to keep her eyes peeled to the cell phone records.
The Sen. Ensign story is front page above the fold two days in a row, while the more egregious adultery of Rep. Loretta Sanchez is completely ignored by the congressional media? Could it be that she is a Democrat? Extra, extra, read all about it–
http://latinopoliticsblog.com/2009/06/02/the-making-of-the-%E2%80%9Cloretta-sanchez-scandal%E2%80%9D/
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/06/is-congresswoman-loretta-sanchez-having-an-affair-with-a-married-defense-lobbyist/
Well, for one thing, Ensign is, or at least was, a Presidential candidate for 2012. And he’s admitted to the affair, which is the reason he’s gotten the coverage he has, while Sanchez has not. So perhaps there are some other differences in their cases besides party affiliation.