The World

I was glad to see that the subject of adultery – which has long played such a central and entertaining role in American politics – has reared its head again. Hillary Clinton made a guarded reference to her marital problems in her closing remarks in the most recent debate.

But the big news – of course – is the New York Times’s suggestion that John McCain had an affair with a lobbyist.

McCain has denied the story. His wife Cindy has said that he “would never do anything to disappoint our family and, more importantly, to disappoint America.” More importantly? That seems excessively high-minded of her.

I’ve no idea whether these latest allegations are true. But McCain has not denied accusations of adultery during his first marriage. He left his first wife – who had waited for him while he was a POW in Vietnam. She alluded to his affairs by saying – “John turned 40 and wanted to be 25 again.” Perhaps as he approached 70, he decided to be 30 again?

But – salacious details aside – the interesting question is does it matter? Would America have any right to be “disappointed” or to think less of McCain as a candidate, if he had committed adultery?

Allegations of infidelity are certainly awkward for a man who has made much of his integrity and whose campaign bus is called the “Straight Talk Express”. The usual line of criticism is that – “If he lied to his wife, he might lie to the country.”

I think this line of argument is specious. Governing a country and running your private life are different things. Lying about sex and lying about politics do not fall into the same category.

I assume that most people who have committed a sexual indiscretion will try to cover it up. Even if Bill Clinton had not been a politician, he would have tried to avoid telling the truth about the Lewinsky affair. It was embarrassing. And – as a politician – he could plausibly argue that it had no bearing on his ability to balance the budget or bring peace to the Middle East.

Anyway, I think it is much harder to be honest as a politician than as a spouse. The nature of their trade sooner or later forces most politicians into lying – on an almost daily basis. It doesn’t mean they are bad people. It is just that they are constantly asked questions that it would be foolish to give a straight answer to. Have you thought about sacking X? Have you been conducting secret discussions with country Y? As a politician, you will inevitably have to lie.