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Larry Sabato on sex and politics
 
1:47
Fred Barbash-Moderator -  Good afternoon. Larry Sabato, University of Virginia political scientist and author of a famous book called "Feeding Frenzy," about the coverage of scandals, will be with us at 2 to take questions on the Sanford and related scandals and their implications. You are invited to submit questions in advance now. Please use a name rather than a handle or "guest." Thanks.
1:49
Fred Barbash-Moderator -  Larry posted this comment in Arena yesterday: "

"Same old lesson: Politicians, especially “family values” pols, should leave the preaching to the preachers. No one wants moral lectures from elected officials anyway. Most are in no position to offer them. There are plenty of guilty Democrats, such as John Edwards, who cynically used his ‘perfect family’ for political gain, but Republicans are especially vulnerable here because they simply won’t stop telling people how to live their private lives. This kind of disaster will befall the GOP over and over until they move away from social issues, and back to issues like taxing, spending, debt, and national security—where they can have more credibility, once they recover from the record of the Bush years.

It’s hard not to feel sympathy for Sanford the human being, as opposed to the governor. But he was ill advised to have such a short press conference. As anyone who has studied feeding frenzies knows, Sanford will eventually have to answer all the questions. It’s better to get the messy, painful business over in one fell swoop rather than have drip-drip-drip press coverage.

For Sanford, it really doesn’t matter in the long run. Not only are his White House hopes dashed, but he’ll never again be elected statewide in South Carolina. He’s headed for a long career in the private sector. Good luck to him and his family in rebuilding their lives."

1:59
Fred Barbash-Moderator -  Larry: Welcome again to POLITICO's Arena. And thanks for doing this on short notice. Let the discussion begin.
1:59
[Comment From Jen]
Professor Sabato: Why are American voters so concerned with the private behavior of politicians? This isn't true in Europe. What's different here?
2:05
Fred Barbash-Moderator -  Larry is typing
2:05
Larry Sabato -  America is a more religious country than any in Europe. In addition, we have a long and maybe regrettable tradition of mixing public and private lives. There are examples throughout American history, but since Chappaquiddick in 1969, there has been an acceleration of this trend. The key episode in the 1980's was Gary Hart and Donna Rice. Bill Clinton filled the whole of the 1990's. And since the Lewinsky scandal in 1998, it is easy to list a couple of dozen major examples of sex scandals that have turned into feeding frenzies of one sort or another. Will Americans eventually tire of this? To some degree, it is already happening. We are getting jaded because there have been so many. On the other hand, last night the Mark Sanford sex story trumped Iran, healthcare, and every other substantive issue you can name.
2:05
[Comment From Joseph M]
If Republicans back away from the "family values," don't they lose the thing that really differentiates them? All they are left with is "no new taxes" which is sometimes useful and sometimes not.
2:07
Larry Sabato -  I see your point, but in fact, it is the GOP's focus on morality and social issues that is losing a generation of young people to the Democrats. I would argue that the best chance the Republicans have to regain a majority is to emphasize the fiscal and national security issues that have long been their mainstay. Most Republican officeholders privately agree with this, but they fear the fundamentalist Christian base of the GOP.
2:07
[Comment From Steve]
So who's left as potential Republican presidential contenders? Newt? Dick?
2:11
Larry Sabato -  Definitely not Newt. As I recall, he has been married three times and extramarital sex was a staple of his life in the 1980's and 1990's. And Dick Cheney is comfortably retired, writing a $2 million book. So who is left? Sarah Palin has a good marriage, but a messy family and questionable qualifications for the Presidency. Mitt Romney appears squeaky clean with a great family-but we cannot ignore the Mormon bias. Tim Pawlenty is an interesting choice if Republicans want to project a more moderate face. And Mike Huckabee's supporters can certainly claim for him a respectable image.
2:11
[Comment From Julie W.]
There's a view that if we elected more women there would be fewer sex scandals. Do you agree? Surely women are just as inclined to sin as men, right? It takes two--at least.
2:13
Larry Sabato -  There is no question that the vast majority of sex scandals involve men. But I am not a psychiatrist, nor a gender studies specialist. It may be that we simply don't have enough women in high public office to judge the validity of your assertion. Having said this, maybe Jennifer Granholm was right when she told a TV reporter yesterday "What is it with you men?"
2:13
[Comment From Bruce Blevins]
How has the appetite of the cable news channels, and their habit of hanging onto one story forever, changed the way we view these events?
2:16
Larry Sabato -  This is an interesting point. And it is true that the modern era of extensively covered sex scandals coincides with 24 hour cable news. Yet, I am skeptical of theories about political behavior that begin and end with the news media. The media cover what people read and watch--even those subjects which most people claim not to read and watch while their faces are buried in a newspaper or absorbed in every TV segment about scandal.
2:16
[Comment From Luke Maffei]
Interesting point re: the path back to power for the GOP going through foreign policy. But traditionally strong foreign policy Republicans like McCain and Lugar have never been the favorite son's of the religious conservative base. Assuming that the GOP party elite will follow your advice, is playing up the foreign policy wing of the party really a working prescription for getting Republicans elected?
2:19
Larry Sabato -  It all depends on what issues are dominating the public's mind in any given election year. We have had many foreign policy elections, including 1916, 1940, 1944, 1952, maybe 1960, 1968, 1972, 1980 in good part, and 2004. The GOP base will not ignore the headlines or the polls in similar circumstances.
2:19
[Comment From Bruce Blevins]
Is there a statute of limitations with voters on this sort of offense? Will Sanford have a political future someday, or is this the type of thing that leaves a permanent stain?
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