IN RECENT weeks, multiple politicians have come under fire from the media for activities and relationships outside of their professional lives. From the criticism fired at Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over his affiliation with his pastor to the sex scandals that have entangled former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, it is clear that the private sphere has become very much public. Such vast amounts of publicity reveals an important set of truths that ought to be readily apparent to all involved in politics: When one runs for elected office, the line between public and private fades, and anything is fair game for the media and the voters at large. Elected officials, however, seem to be unable to fully grasp this, and inevitably, trouble ensues.
Americans care about the private lives of elected officials because they see in them a window into what lies behind the carefully crafted mask all politicians (with the possible exception of eccentrics like Ron Paul) wear on all public occasions. They know what to say to whom and are generally smooth enough to avoid any sort of dust-up in public. In their private lives, however, politicians let their guards down, and thus the public and the media will jump on anything that can give them more information about what a candidate or elected official is like when they are not playing their appointed part.
This is especially true of the media. Because, by and large, politicians know how to avoid making mistakes in public, the media must dig deeper, seeking to find something that contrasts with the public persona of politicians. This can often get quite nasty, as can be seen through a New York Times story suggesting Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) had an affair with a lobbyist, and the aforementioned controversies.
The opposing political factions also seize on these incidents as weapons. Though they seemingly have nothing to do with one's politics, they can be used to create doubt in the minds of a voter. For example, insinuations of infidelity regarding McCain might make one question his loyalty to his policies or to his campaign promises. On the flip side, Obama's association with a pastor who is an outspoken critic of American society might make one wonder whether or not he harbors the same sympathies. Attacks on character and personal revelations can be an effective tool for swaying undecided voters or dislodging members of one coalition and bringing them into another. Thus, the media seeks to discover as much as possible about what goes on in the private lives of a candidate or elected official.
It is perfectly legitimate for people to seek to utilize information about candidate's private lives in making a decision on whether or not to vote for them. In placing people in power, they ought to know everything they can. The problem becomes when information-seeking turns into scandal-mongering fueled by pure malice and spite. However, the only two ways for this to be entirely unavoidable without placing restrictions on the freedom of the press would be for people to ignore lurid stories meant only to create scandals and stirs or for all politicians to behave as saints.
Since both of these scenarios are unlikely to impossible, the appropriate response is for politicians to realize and accept that all of their actions are subject to public scrutiny. While most would probably admit this already, it is clear that many, some even in high places, do not take it to heart. Witness the hullabaloo surrounding Eliot Spitzer. He must have known that as a public figure he would be held to a different standard if caught dabbling with a prostitute, but he chose to do so anyway. The same can be said of Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky affair. They both ought to know that nothing good could come of these encounters, yet they chose to pursue them anyway. Given the increasing emphasis placed on private lives by the American people and media, politicians ought to know that if they stray from accepted morality, they put their credibility or even careers on the line. They ought to assume that everything they do is being watched and behave accordingly.
Some might say that this is expecting superhuman moral behavior from our leaders, and that it is unfair to hold them to a standard to which the average American may or may not adhere. This, however, is the price of leadership in modern America. If you want to be a major public figure and hold the respect of the people, you must realize that it comes at the price of your privacy.
Robby Colby's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at rcolby@cavalierdaily.com.
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