COMMENTARY | Former Republican candidate Herman Cain suspended his campaign for the White House in November of 2011 after continued affairs surfaced between him and various women throughout his career. Infidelity surfacing during a presidential campaign is nothing new, but should the personal lives of the candidates impact their campaign to the point where they don’t run? A major aspect of the Republican platform is family values. As a value-minded voter it is important that political candidates embody at least some of the key components of the parties’ platform. Before the most recent allegation of infidelity against Herman Cain he maintained a strong lead against his opponents, including current front runners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, despite two women coming forward to claim allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. The final straw was the allegation of a 13-year extramarital affair with a woman named Ginger White who claimed she and Cain traveled during that time while he gave her money for personal bills and expenses.
Ironically, the current front-runner in the polls is Newt Gingrich, who is no stranger to extramarital affairs after admitting to one with a White House staffer in the late 1990s, whom he later married. Gingrich also admitted that the affair lead to the end of his second marriage. Political candidates should have an understanding that any financial, sexual or business allegations pointing toward wrongdoing will come to light the closer they get to a presidential nomination. The question is whether or not personal misconduct bears any indication to how the candidate will perform as President of the United States.
Infidelity matters if it disrupts the duties and responsibilities of the Oval Office and with the vast media coverage that accompanies presidential campaigns and ultimately the President, it is difficult to ignore such large personal character flaws. With Gingrich having been in the political arena since the 1970s any personal flaws are already known by the mainstream media and therefore any additional allegations that may surface will not be a distraction for the Gingrich campaign. Herman Cain, on the other hand, had the option of coming forth with his record of harassment and misconduct in addition to addressing any extramarital affairs with his family before embarking on a political campaign and embarrassing them and himself in the court of public opinion.