September 3, 2007
Column: Sniggers see off erring politicians
This summer two American senators have had their secret lives revealed in humiliating circumstances. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana admitted to a “very serious sin”, after his name appeared on the phone records of a Washington escort agency. Senator Larry Craig was given a 10-day suspended jail sentence after apparently cruising for gay sex in a public lavatory.
This weekend, Mr Craig resigned from the Senate. Mr Vitter, however, is hanging on. So what does it take for a sex scandal to be truly fatal? Why do some politicians survive this sort of thing and others perish?
In the Anglo-American heartland of the political sex scandal, this is not a marginal question.
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I don’t believe Larry Craig was convicted in court as such - he agreed with the police to plead guilty to a minor misdemeanour charge.
However, you make no mention of perhaps the key reason why Vitter and Craig have been treated differently - Louisiana has a Democratic governor, Idaho a Republican governor. If Vitter resigns, he gets replaced with a D; if Craig resigns he gets replaced with another R.
So whilst I can acknowledge the concept of the snigger-factor when it comes to sex scandals, and the fact that American conservatives may have particular problems with a gay sex scandal, there is also a raw political calculation that may explain the different treatment of the two US Senators.
Posted by: Ed | September 4th, 2007 at 2:16 pm | Report this comment