I don’t typically wish bad things on anyone, but must admit I feel a degree of schadenfreude when political candidates, particularly ones who are visible bible-thumpers, have very public embarrassments as has recently happened with Nevada Senator John Ensign and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
Sanford’s announcement today that he was having an affair with an Argentinian woman comes on the heels of Ensign’s announcement that he was having a relationship with a woman outside of his marriage.
My point is less about these politicians’ bedroom activities as it is about their hypocrisy. Ensign is a member of Promise Keeper’s, a super-conservative Christian men’s group, and Sanford has actively campaigned on “Family Values”. These are the same type of politicians who claim to have the moral authority on who should and should not be allowed to get married.
The Republican Party is having an internal fight about what direction it wants to go. But the longer the party focuses on “family values” social conservatism rather than true conservative positions on fiscal and foreign policy matters, the more ground they’ll give up to the Democrats.
Ben Padnos is an Internet entrepreneur based in Manhattan Beach, California. He Twitters @benpadnos.