COMMENTARY | If you ask me, this is an easy question. You are voting for the highest elected official in the most powerful country in the world. We have plenty of classy, intelligent and moral people champing at the bit to run for this position, right? Wrong. Two of just four or five serious Republican Presidential candidates have had extramarital affairs come out in the media recently. Herman Cain has had a barrage of allegations come out about his sexual infidelity, leaving him to drop out of the race. Newt Gingrich has admitted to having two marriage ending affairs, but those were because he was “working too hard.” Seriously, America? This is the best you can come up with? This has to be troublesome for the Republican Party. Does the social norm not apply to these candidates? This is troublesome for America. We need quality officials in Washington. When scandals like this hit newsstands, it leaves me shaking my head.
A moral compass is a minimal expectation for running for President of the United States. If you can’t keep yourself out of negative press like this, you don’t deserve the opportunity. How can the voters trust someone who cannot even be trusted by their own spouse? Marriages are built on trust. Similarly, those elected into office need to be trustworthy. When those closest to them don’t even know what they are doing when no one is watching, how can we know?
The Republican Party is widely known for their dedication to family and their Christian values. This has to be a slap in the face to Republican voters. To act like you are a following of these values and then to have such horrible allegations surface is extremely insincere. How can I believe you, Newt Gingrich, when you tell me we need to keep marriage “sacred,” when you can’t do the same? When this issue comes up, how will you respond?
It is time to start asking important questions. Make sure that the candidate that you are voting for has morals that line up with your own. If you cannot trust your vote, how can you believe in our future as a country?