Politicians Look Like Fools with their Pants on the Ground

Women are beginning to take their place in the world. For the first time in the history of the United States, women will hold a majority in the number of college graduates and the population of the labor force. Women are also finding successful careers in politics. In California, two women, both former CEOs of major corporations, are currently running for political office: Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. Fiorina had a very successful career before announcing her campaign for the California Senate seat against Barbara Boxer. As CEO of HP, she was the first woman to lead the Fortune 500 list – a major accomplishment. Whitman, who is running for California governor, was given a similar honor when she was ranked the most powerful woman in business in 2004 and 2005 by Fortune for her work as CEO of EBay.

These women are people of integrity and determination. They have broken through the glass ceiling that has forbidden women from participating in business and politics. They are equal to men, except in one thing: they probably will not get themselves into the same sexual scandals that so many male politicians have found themselves in.

The reason that men cheat more than women is sometimes attributed to hormones. While men think of sex once every hour, women think of sex once every few days. Infidelity Statistics also found that 60% of men cheat on their spouse at least once in their marriage compared to 40% of women who do so. While the percentages for both are quite high, it must be noted that men are 20% more likely to cheat.

Sadly, the American people cannot look to their representatives and politicians as examples because it seems that they are just as likely to be involved in scandals as everyone else. The good thing: women politicians have proven capable of controlling themselves in positions of power. Men, on the other hand, are another story.

The most famous such political scandal was that of former president Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski. Instead of being busy at his desk, Clinton was getting busy in the Oval Office. Unlike many politicians that get away easily with such scandals, Clinton was duly punished for his infidelity to his job and his wife. After denying his affair, Clinton was impeached on charges of lying under oath by the House of Representatives. Luckily for him, the Senate spared him impeachment and eternal ruin by one vote. But such is the life of a politician.

Another recent scandal involves John Edwards, former senator and presidential nominee. Edwards probably felt a lot of pressure when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. However, instead of being there to support his wife, Edwards sought out comfort in a different way: he found a mistress. Rielle Hunter was able to console Edwards for quite a long time, that is, until the media discovered that he was cheating on his cancer-stricken wife.

Recently, Elizabeth Edwards released a memoir called Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts Facing Life’s Adversities, which details her emotions regarding the affair and other obstacles in her life. Until a little while ago, Elizabeth was part of the 70% of women who do not know about their husband’s infidelity. A very obstinate person, John Edwards attempted to deny the affair completely, convincing his chief of staff, Andrew Young, to disavow that Hunter was his mistress and that her child was his also. Now that his daughter is two years old, Edwards has finally announced that he is the father of Hunter’s child, as if the DNA hadn’t already shown it. In January 2010, Elizabeth finally legally divorced her unfaithful husband after meeting his love child.

And these two are just the tip of the iceberg. Last June, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford confessed to an affair with a woman in Argentina, after being caught lying about his official travel itinerary. A year earlier, Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign as governor of New York after being caught patronizing prostitutes. More locally, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom admitted to cheating—with his so-called best friend’s wife, while San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales had an affair with an intern. At least he later married her, but that’s probably little consolation to his former wife.

So are female politicians simply morally superior? Possibly. Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, suggests, “Women are more conscious and aware that they are being held to an even higher standard.” But James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal counters that women simply lack the opportunity to cheat. “[S]uccessful politicians, who usually are middle-aged or older, tend to have the qualities that make men superficially attractive to women (status and power), but lack those that make women superficially attractive to men (youth and beauty).”

While politicians are human, it is quite disconcerting that the leaders of our nation do not have enough integrity and fidelity to “keep it in their pants.” Not only that, but they insist on lying about the affair until something drastic happens – like the threat of impeachment.

Children are taught that a promise is a promise, and a lie is a lie – that’s the long and short of it; yet it seems that our politicians missed out on kindergarten because otherwise they would know that the more you cheat, break promises, and lie, the more trouble you get into. Let’s hope that Whitman and Fiorina can do a little better.