I've been around long enough to see how this works.
The reason you think Trump is plagued with scandal is only partly related to the man or his administration.
Other factors include: A) you (meaning Democrats) manufacture them out of thin air (e.g., Russian collusion), and B) you (meaning Democrats in media) have always taken on for yourselves the role of picking and choosing which things will be reported and which will not, i.e., what events get elevated to the status of scandal.
Your concerns are approximately coincident with the switch to a Republican in the White House, and will quietly go away should once that changes.
We saw Bill Clinton take sexual advantage of a young naïve intern, and survive 2 rape charges while he was governor of Arkansas, plus other predator type sexual advances. And then he was caught lying under oath, and even subsequently barred from practicing law in Arkansas. Yet he was re-elected by democrats thanks to a favorable media...many are the same media figures now condemning Trump! There is a difference in the treatment of political parties by the media and everyone knows it. And that has a huge determination who will be elected. It was a shock to everyone, especially the media, that Trump actually won over Hillary after they had worked so hard to get her elected.
2
Trump has been a symbol of media hype and a playboy image for decades...but he hasn't any actual evidence of wrong doing other than innuendoes and such. So everyone knows this....then how did he get elected? It's because he was elected based on the issues he stands for and voters believed he'd actually do what he said he'd do, and he did and is! People care less whether he colluded with Russians, didn't show his tax turns and such, they just wanted him to 'fix our country'. And to make it even worse for the anti-Trumpers, he took the media on directly and showed them up for their biasness that most Americans had to watch over the years with no one to counter the media's narratives, other than Rush Limbaugh or Fox News. Trump did it all, and even more impressive, he didn't accept money from special interests during his campaign...how often do you see that from a politician. Thus the explanation about scandal and accusations. Its the deeds that count.
1
Regardless of their political parties, scandals may or not sink a politician, but they certainly can sink our nation and its supposedly sacred values by repeatedly, callously and brazenly violating them. If we accept these 'lapses' of moral behavior as normal, then we own them and must accept their consequences.
If voters stuck to issues that were important to them, then they will overlook some past mistakes, even some minor criminal activity. If they do not care about issues at all then it is who is the best looking, most charismatic, the richest or the most persuasive.
Which leads me to come to the conclusion that the only reason Trump got elected is because he was the richest. That said, people make the mistake of thinking the rich will help them get rich also. Trump's voters made the same mistake as those who believed the Communism promise of everyone would be equal.
1
The situation is simple and complicated at the same time. Let's start with simple.
Trump gives his supporters permission to Be Worst and they love him for it. Everyone that still supports Trump supports him BECAUSE he lies, cheats on his taxes, bullies his opponents, is greedy, and encourages hate and violence.
The Party of Trump is the 90% of the Republican Party that still supports Trump, and they cannot pretend that they don't know the only things he cares about is power and money.
This means that Republicans can rely on their base to like bad behavior. Trump claimed that beating up a reporter got a politician elected. I didn't hear any pushback from Republicans.
Now it gets more complicated. If we are to survive the Party of Trump with our Constitution and Republic intact, all of us who are not fans of liars and tax cheats are going to have to unite and outnumber the Party of Trump, win elections, and follow the Constitution. (This means not compromising with the Party of Trump.) No one has to pass a "purity test" but they do have to pass the integrity test.
Trump can be anti-morality because his base likes it, but that will not work for Democrats.
What the Democrats need to do is champion integrity, law, and the Constitution.
Slightly more complicated, this does mean however, that when Republicans (as oppposed to other Democrats, or the media) attack Democrats, Democrats can just laugh at them and say "you Trump supporters know nothing about integrity or honor."
1
The civil trial against Jeffrey Epstein (sex trafficking under age girls) starts today in Florida.
Expect lurid and bombshells of many names of many high powered politicians and businessmen are revealed during interrogation.
Will it sink these depraved men?
Probably not right now with Trump in power. But religious conservative women just have to start getting fed up with these constant horrific accounts of crimes against women and children abused by men in power.
3
@JM
It has appeared that "religious and conservative women" are the ones who helped Trump get elected.
1
@JM
My earlier comment has not seen the light of day, so this must suffice: don't lay Epstein on Trump, the Republicans and church ladies. He was Clinton's major buddy in the 2000s; Clinton flew on his private jet around the world 26 times, according to Wikipedia.
Epstein is the Democrats' tree. They have to sit in it.
1
It isn’t just the emperor who is walking around in new clothes, social media has made us all naked. We’re all out there; boils, zits and lumpy buts. We’re all in glass houses, we’ve all lost our dignity and no longer care. We need a major distraction to remedy our affliction and we’ll soon get it.
2
You know the old saying, he’s a crook but he’s my crook! That is why these felons are elected. The other candidate is much worse
Not while Trump is in power. Scandal is Trumpian now, and no matter how egregious Acosta's obtuseness to protect sexual predators may be, as long as he shows loyalty to the ugly bully in-chief, he'll be safe. Do we need a reminder that Trump himself, big-mouth ego's need to show off, is a sexual predator, and with deep misogynous roots?
1
It is true: the Democrats do eat their own. This is *not* a sign of virtue. It is a sign of hypersensitive, slavish adherence to political fashion and a disregard for due process. If it thins the herd, that's on them.
Al Franken did not deserve to go; Keith Ellison (with whom I share zero politics) did not deserve to get his career upended (to my knowledge, he never hit, battered or raped her). Avenatti? Well, now that he's no longer running for president, he can return to his place underneath the rock from which he emerged.
5
Only Democrats can be sunk by scandal now. Since Trump, few Republicans can appear scandalous because, no matter how scandalous they are, they can never be as scandalous as their dear leader. Trump has set the bar incredibly high...er...low.
3
The issue of truth has not become more elastic for voters. It has become more elastic for conservatives and republicans.
1
Trump proclaimed he could shoot someone in Time Square...paraphrasing. And still garners a 40 plus percent approval rating now with continued egomaniac rants. Yea.
One can guarantee however, if the next Dem presidential candidate has any type of conservative perceived ethical failing...the GOP propaganda machine will drag it out ad nauseum with full support of their hive mind sycophants.
1
Scandals can always sink Democrats, even scandals fabricated by Fox News. Republicans, on the other hand, can commit any outrage and it will be ignored, or swept under the rug, or minimized.
1
Evidently, our government can be comprised of shameless criminals who don't even bother to hide their lies and other illegal moves. Millions of voters approve of this amorality and also wish it for themselves - basically it's every man for himself with his gun.
2
Clearly, only if that politician is a person of colour, or a woman can they be undone by scandal.
@Nancy, did you read the article? Is Al Franken a woman or a person of color?
Is Michael Avenatti (who just said he will not run for president after all)?
1
@GRH
Indeed. Just think of all the female and POC politicians who have been felled by scandal. /sarcasm off/
Actually, the dopey bootstrap argument would be that this means...drum roll...that they are inherently more virtuous than those nasty patriarchal white guys. (I think instead that they just haven't had all the "opportunity" of their pallorous colleagues.)
My deepest concern is the lack of self-dicipline and party discipline that allows twelve people to run in primaries. More votes are accumulated by the 11 "losers" than by the purported "winner." C'mon, folks! (Despite apparent "ageism"), shall we say, "senior party members", should be retired, and become "advisors". Potential runners should be closely vetted for possible "weaknesses" that can be revealed in an election year. Public faces that have accumulated venom that might be an affront to independents should be eliminated. The four or five remaining contenders should further be vetted for national acceptability, and attractiveness to independents. More people voted against Trump in the primaries than voted for him. Let's not let that happen, again!
1
Depends on the scandal. Trump was involved in witness tampering yesterday on Twitter, and for some reason it doesn’t appear on the front page of The NY Times. If the scandal is a criminal act by a politician not getting the coverage it deserves, then no, it can’t sink anybody.
3
What a non-article, article. The question alone is a straw-pony.
Did scandal sink Hunter Duncan or Hyde-Smith? Of course not- so why the article in the first place?
It depends on your tribe values. Note that almost all "liberal" womanizers were immediately dismissed and it took the liberals to dismiss the few Repubs that were shown to do the same things. The record is about 85 repubs convicted foe corruption versus 2 Dems the past years. I doubt a trump type who said in TV about his womanizing would be chosen by Dems. No, I think that the two groups have very different morals and ethics that they excpect from their politicians.
1
The monopoly of corporate-owned news media is a huge part of the problem. The reason Republicans get away with their criminality is because it sells "newspapers", it keeps eyes on screens.
We need to start calling news media what they are -- tabloid newsfotainment. It's not journalism. It's not news. It's propaganda and gossip -- and it's what has helped Trumpublicans keep their sociopathic gaslighting, minimizing and normalizing narratives alive in the public discourse, while simultaneously doing nothing to refute Republican lies with the facts.
1
Apart from the dumbing down of the body politic, itself a symptom of the coarsening of American culture generally, another reason voters are willing to elect purportedly "tarnished" candidates may have to do with the fact that there is enormous skepticism of the media prism through which such candidates are evaluated.
In this environment, the presumption of innocence becomes easier to apply, so we have at work in the land the news equivalent of "jury nullification", whereby ordinary people simply do not trust the bubble-bound and ethically confused elite media either to (i) distinguish crimes that are malum prohibitum from those that are malum in se (i.e., synthetic crimes that involve violation of a statute vs. crimes that involve actual moral turpitude), or (ii) treat the powerful the same as everybody else, or (iii) to report basic facts accurately and without spin.
1
Michael Avenatti just announced that he would not seek the Democratic nomination in 2020. As long as the party does not draft him at the convention, I will consider this a minor plus for the left side of the aisle :- )
3
We dems are gonna lose for sure if put too many people in the mix. We need to concentrate all our efforts, money, and attention on one person. Sooner rather than later. The last thing we need is 20 + people crammed on to a stage arguing with each other on tv. Joe Biden is the only person with enough universal appeal to win. Trump will pick off every other wanna-be like ripe fruit, and laugh all the way back to the White House.
We have seen where political inexperience in the nation's highest office has taken us. Are we willing to lose the next election just so a bunch of newbies can have their moment in the limelight? Let's try to remember that we are all the same side here and working together is better than fragmenting the electorate.
OK, Joe Biden was harsh with Anita Hill. Boo-hoo. Move on. Pretty much nothing compared to what are considered standards in this day an age. He has the necessary experience. And an international reputation. And he won't need a map to find his way around the White House.
Come on, let's get our act together. He can always pick one of the starry-eyed bench players as a VP.
1
“Party supersedes everything else,”. “The whole issue of truth has become a more elastic idea for voters.”
False equivalence today, false equivalence tomorrow, false equivalence forever.
Could we just somehow Make America Truthful Again? Maybe then we could aspire to greatness.
There is no telling. A little thing could sink Biden or Booker. Nothing seems to sink Trump. Republican label may cover a multitude of sins. Anger at little things may be directed at pretensions to more virtue than is deemed credible. It may be a small thing that finally gets Trump A spurt of sympathy might mean clear sailing for Booker or Biden.
1
This week, or maybe a little longer, we will hear and see stories of a president who had personal values. His life and presidency are being quietly compared to the current president by a portion of the media who can’t overtly say what they think - that Donald Trump is an embarrassment - because they actually have their own set of values, chief among them objectivity. But the nostalgia is palpable and the positive stories about George HW Bush resonate even with those of us who didn’t support him politically. But in a week or two, we will all be back in Trump’s corrupt world, 24/7.
So let’s hope that the indicted Republicans get convicted of felonies and we can see if their voters still support them. Let’s hope that the efforts of the GOP to subvert the will of the voters in Wisconsin and Michigan and Missouri and North Carolina is litigated loudly. And let’s hope that Trump finds himself surrounded by more felons, whom he chooses in some cases to pardon to reward them for their silence in an obvious display of naked self-interest. And let’s hope that his own past is laid bare and his business dealings with Russians and Saudis are exposed to the light of day through the Mueller probe and House investigations. Let’s hope it’s all on the table by 2020. Then we can find out if Americans actually have their own personal standards and if we are worthy of the opportunity given to us 250 years ago and preserved, even if imperfectly, through the lives of our fellow citizens now past.
6
@Mike Iker The Repubs only want the power they do not care how its obtained, kept or used.
A moral country would have never elected trump. The fact that these four got re-elected tells you where the morals and ethics in this country are.
15
@Steve
Keep in mind, Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes.
And Democratic candidates won over 8 million more votes in the midterms than Republicans.
The tide is changing,
Trump is growing more and more repulsive each day and America is sick of his constant attacks to divide our nation and keep us in a state of chaos.
@ Ms. Pea. Ah, the good old days when campaign finance enforcement was real and the thought of Citizen's United an absurdity. With billions now sloshing around every two years, does one expect the party of greed to put forth candidates worthy of the term statesman? Perhaps a reason so many democratic females were elected?
3
The comments here are astounding. Scandal sinks Republicans, not Democrats. Look at Alabama. Then look at New Jersey. There is of course Bill Clinton. Most of all, there is Teddy Kennedy. His car may have sank, but not his political career.
1
@cleo
I agree, but think Democrats would rely on the following:
1) Menendez' alleged crimes did not involve allegations of sexual assault.
2) Clinton's alleged misdeeds happened a long time ago, long enough to be conveniently forgotten (Hey: Gloria Steinem continues to receive a pass for her prominent Op-Ed defending him in 1998).
3) Teddy? Gee, he's ancient history. His brother? Positively antediluvian.
1
Unfortunately we the voters in these cases have only four choices.
1. Hold your nose and Vote for the morally compromised candidate who you agree most closely with on the issues. 2. Vote for his/her main opponent. 3. Cast a protest vote for someone who has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. 4. Don’t vote.
I truly wish that we had a ranked choice system of voting where my protest vote would not mean electing someone who I believe would be a disaster in office but we don’t. I’ve gotten pretty good over the years at holding my nose. Sometimes this is harder than others. I totally sympathize with those who refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils though I have not taken that path myself in many years. Unfortunately Republicans are much more likely to vote for a scoundrel than Democrats and Independents.
All I can say is that I am so happy I did not have to vote in New Jersey in the recent election.
1
It's quaint to remember a time when Nelson Rockefeller's presidential ambitions were constrained by his divorce in the early 60s. Be that as it may....
I tie the aggressiveness of these responders to the lightning-like aggressiveness with which accusations of racism and misogyny have been lobbed over the last 15 or so years. They are frequent, easy to make and potentially destructive of lives and careers. Those terms, moreover, have been expanded so far as to be virtually unrecognizable, e.g. characterizing opposition to affirmative action as racism. (There was a time, not too long ago, when disparate treatment on the basis of race was reviled.)
Politicians, particularly white male politicians, have learned that abjectly hanging one's head and mumbling apologies merits nothing better than the treatment the Democrats foisted on sad sack Al Franken.
Aggressiveness begets aggressiveness, and it surely will not stop with the aggressive response of Trump-like politicians. We are on a dangerous path.
3
The fact that people like me gave Bill Clinton a free pass, blithely thinking (If we thought at all) that the stock market was going up and that the country was humming along well enough: Not a thought to mass incarceration, not enough thought to "work for welfare" type policies.
Don't get me wrong: There is no equivalency between Clinton's transgressions and Trump's. Trump is in a league of his own. But if liberals like me had stopped a moment to take an overview of Clinton's lack of moral leadership, maybe it would not have been possible for criminals of all stripes to successfully achieve offices of (I use the phrase ironically) public trust.
8
@Dan Clinton was an excellent president. His personal problems shouldn't have been made so public - he needed therapy is all. I hated the trickery of Linda Tripp and her supporters.
@Dan
Yes, the fact that Bill Clinton lied under oath, and the Democrats in the Senate let him get away with led directly to Trump.
It does not matter what Clinton lied about. What matters is that as president of the United States, Clinton was assured a question under oath, and instead of taking responsibility for his own behavior, he lied about it. He had a choice between being embarrassed and undermining the Constitution, and he chose undermining the Constitution.
If the Democrats had some the right thing, it would be much harder for Republicans to justify Trump's constant lying as normal.
There is no "but it was only sex" exception to perjury in the Constitution. The Democrats had to understands the mistake they made.
@McGloin However it was a deeply private personal question that never should have been asked, IMO. Such prurient lawmakers ! Clinton was ambushed into this. Not to say I don't think he was amazingly foolish to indulge in this affair.
The answer to this dilemma is simple. Democrats hold their candidates and officials to much higher ethical standards than do Republicans. Democrats force out officials for even the slightest transgressions.
Example A is the whole Al Franken matter. The Democrats turned on him in a heartbeat. This never would have happened to a Republican in a similar situation.
Compounding the matter for Democrats is that the mainstream media, knowing that their liberal audience have nowhere else to go for their news (unlike the GOP with Fox News), have picked up on this double standard and thus spend a large amount time dwelling on any Democratic ethical issues, however minor, knowing how much we goody-goody liberals love to pronounce judgment on each other.
Of course, the classic example of this was the media's 18-month obsession with Hillary Clinton's email server, at the very same time that Trump was negotiating for the Moscow Trump Tower and the Russians were stealing DNC and Clinton campaign emails.
The audience and profits from the Clinton "scandals" were far more lucrative for the media than they would have been for any Trump scandals, since the GOP largely wasn't bothered by Trump's actions, and thus the audience interest was lower.
Thus, to change this dynamic, one of two things needs to happen. Either the GOP raises its standards to where these things become disqualifying or the Democrats lower theirs to the point where they no longer care about scandals anymore either.
4
“The voters have made their decisions on those types of issues.”
Does that explain why 60% of voters never bother to show up?
4
"In the Age of Trump, Can Scandal Still Sink a Politician?"
What qualifies as scandal? Either Trump is raising the bar, or more of the omnipresent corruption in the halls of power is coming to light. Or both.
Mostly not if you're a republican, if you're a democrat your opponent has to be pretty heinous to get elected. It is nothing surprising, the republican voters are also where most of the racists live, the rest are libertarians.
Remember the false dirt thrown at a true war hero, John Kerry and that a obvious racist was just elected in Mississippi.
13
@Paulie
Unclear on the concept.
1
Generally, scandal sinks Democrats. Scandal STINKS Republicans, but they very rarely lose their " Jobs ". Or even Elections. It's like it's expected. Seriously.
18
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Bob Packwood?
And it was Democrats, not Republicans, who decided that Al Franken's clowning around warranted the political death penalty.
1
@Phyliss Dalmatian
And actually, Phyllis, it's more complicated than that.
Gerry Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress, and prominent Democrat, was censured in 1983 for consorting with an underage, 17 year old Congressional page. He kept his seat until 1997.
Mark Foley, by contrast, the deputy minority whip in the (then) Republican controlled House, was kicked out/compelled to resign in 2006 after he was involved consorting with pages. Don't know the pages' ages, but he was never criminally prosecuted.
Might it be that Studds' status as a gay provided some protection and cover?
The article’s cover photo sure captures the moment well. Mr. Hunter’s facial expression, whether he realized the presence of the sign behind him or not, is terrific.
6
In a party that embraces voter suppression tactics as a fundamental strategy for success, it is doubtful that allegations of crimes having to do with gaining undue advantage will dissuade Republican voters. If anything, cheating at the expense of "the libs" is regarded as a mark of competence and commitment to the cause of minority (mostly) white rule.
11
In a county where the military makes up a significant portion of the local economy, we've had two US Representatives, Randy 'Duke' Cunningham and most recently Duncan Hunter, both stalwart proponents of the defense
department, in trouble for graft. Cunningham served an 8 year sentence and Hunter faces serious charges. Voters shrug.
The elephant in the room is the DoD which hasn't completed an audit since 1996. It's been reported that since that date, approximately $21 trillion, yes with a 't', is unaccounted for as "plugs" i.e. made up numbers are used annually in DoD's annual accounting to the Inspector General's Office. To wit, DoD always needs more for "readiness" that elusive term which equals $600 billion every year. Every year.
Sure, sure we're all thankful for everyone involved in the security of our country however, until the theft in plain sight is at very least minimized, how can a paltry couple hundred thousand stand against $21 trillion in the average voter's aim for perspective? If this isn't the biggest con going, correct me.
10
Trump has normalized abnormal and criminal behavior. As well as being Putin's poodle, he has engaged in blatant obstruction of justice and witness tampering. A Watergate-era Congress would have impeached him long ago but the GOP of today has withered into a shrinking cabal of cowardly enablers who sit by silently as their Dear Leader pardons the unpardonable and shreds the rule of law.
14
So many Americans are simply ignorant?
Who knew?
9
Only Democrats, apparently.
7
Hard to imagine a sitting president was once impeached for lying about having extra-marital sex. Those were the good old days of witch hunting.
15
@joe post
Only if one considers perjury a mere peccadillo. Please keep that in mind as the Mueller investigation winds up.
(PS: which is totally aside from Juanita Broaddrick's highly credible allegations of forcible rape, which she maintains, publicly, to this day. Clinton, it is true, was not impeached for rape.)
1
@Wine Country Dude
At least Clinton agreed to be deposed under oath and answered the questions without legal ventriloquists crafting his responses.
I suppose lying directly to the public via twitter is not really lying.
1
@GG
It's definitely not perjury.
And avoiding, if legally and politically possible, situations in which perjury could be charged is a mark of astuteness, not shame. Unless one considers *everything* Trump does, ab initio and by definition, to be shameful. You may well be one of those critics; you've got lots of company on this board.
Here's to more "courageous", "honest" Democrats walking into perjury traps. It'll thin the herd.
The recent presidential election proved with crystalline conclusiveness that you don’t need to believe in anything, you just need to hate something, in a genuine way..
6
trump and his gang have succeeded in making amorality a political norm.
7
Jail can sink a political career. Particularly a maximum security state prison. Lock them up!
3
Democrats have set the bar high for their candidates with their crusade for moral purity. Its funny to watch every time they stumble and fail. It’s almost as if they’re the new moral majority, LOL.
2
@M I don't really think your opinion is fair. What's wrong with wanting to do the right thing? Or setting an example for others to do the right thing? It's better than the GOP philosophy of forcing you to do something because of my religious belief system.
3
Can scandal sink a politician in today's climate? Of course, if you're a Democrat.
14
@Themis
The operative word being "today's". Bill Clinton ended up finishing his term and making $240 million in the interim, along with the wife who helped him mightily to fend off "bimbo eruptions" (their unfortunate phrase, not mine).
1
I was absolutely mystified why the Democrats insisted on turning out Al Franken, a strong liberal Senator, over a little photographic clowning around. But then again, I'm Republican, and an apologist for depravity. /sarcasm off/
7
Hopefully Al Frankins departure will sink Gillabrands presidential aspirations. I won't vote for a opportunist and I vote dem in every election. I have voted in every election I was eligible to vote in.
3
We in NJ had to vote against Hugin in an effort to try and flip the senate, plain and simple. We will thank Menendez in advance that this be his last term ever, as we really, really did not like being put in this spot. Come on NJ, let’s get us a good dem to run in his place in 2024.
9
Perhaps the issue is that Democratic voters hold their candidates to higher standards than do Republicans.
32
Hard core republicans no longer receive real news. They are wrapped in the Faux News bubble that insures an alternate reality. How can you be outraged if you are unaware there is a problem?
13
@Ken L Ha HA HA
My hope is that many of the voters who hold party above all else will not persist. From the last election we can see that many, if not all, voters did take into account Trump's behavior (thank you suburban women).
Trump's claim that he has expanded the Republican party may be true, but how many of those voters will go away when he does?
Holding party above all else is not something new. We have seen it in other countries in the past. Like any nightmare, it will pass, and it will pass more quickly if the rest of us don't use someone else's bad behavior to rationalize our own.
2
The inability of scandal to sink a president started with Bill Clinton. Trump has just taken it to the next level.
2
That is only true if you do not regard trading arms for hostages against the explicit edict of Congress, or selling the ingredients for illegal chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein (later the basis for illegal and ill-conceived Republican led wars) as scandals.
6
J, Clinton's "scandals" were in the tiny, vindictive minds of republicans only.
3
I have to admit (and it's a little embarrassing to do it) that until the Clinton years, I wasn't cynical about politics. I believed that people ran for office because they believed in public service. I was taught in school civics classes that our presidents were great men, that some senators were heroes and that our system of government was the best. (I'm 66, so civics was still taught in those days.) Presidents were men to look up to, to respect and to emulate. They were role models. All that fell apart, of course, with the revelations about Bill Clinton, and I felt his betrayal of the presidency was a personal injury. Now of course, in the Trump years, all those high-minded and naive beliefs have disappeared. Now I realize that it's not the best of us that enter politics and it's not a calling to public service that drives candidates. Greed, arrogance, self-delusion, the drive for power and the willingness to do anything to get it are the motivations for most. If we want to vote, we have to choose between the criminals running for office. No wonder we elect people under indictment, or people serving jail sentences. Those are the candidates we're presented with. Politics is a dirty business. There's nothing noble about it. And, that still hurts me to recognize. I wish there was something to believe in, but in the age of Trump, it just seems that everything has a film of dirt over it.
2
@Ms. Pea, I guess you were still in grade school when Nixon as a candidate treasonously attempted to get the North Vietnamese to delay peace negotiations until he was in office, or when he betrayed his office with the Watergate break-in. And, let's not forget Ford's first presidential act was to give Nixon a "get out of jail" card. But where were you when Reagan swapped guns to Iran for money to help undermine a leftist government in Nicaragua -- both actions specifically prohibited by Congress?
4
Call me cynical, or maybe just realistic, but if the shoe were on the other foot you can bet the ranch that Republicans would be howling 24/7. They've spent 25 years investigating Hillary Clinton without a single indictment. They're not about to let a single scandal pass now, regardless of Trump's thousand.
9
Even in this day and age, Duncan Hunter stands out as particularly vile.
Willing to drag others through the mud, gleeful at casting innuendo on well respected people, he now has come full circle: Guilty of his own actions.
LOCK HIM UP.
9
Teflon Don lives by his own rules. Daddy's money and unscrupulous fixers have bought his way out of his frauds and self inflicted screwups of which there have been many. No one else is in that position Democrat or Republican.
4
In fairness to Senator Menendez, the government did try to prove its case and failed to do so, miserably. Many of the charges were subsequently dismissed by the Judge and the government ended up dismissing the rest, realizing the weakness of their case. Gianforte was convicted and the assault is caught on audio. Hunter and Collins haven't faced trial yet.
5
Have you forgotten, or do you choose to forget, that Bill Clinton wrote the book on how to beat scandals. How did the ole plot line go again? Oh yes, now I remember: "I wasn't there - and if I was, it wasn't me - and if it was, I didn't do it - and if I did, I didn't mean to do it - and if I did, I am very, very sorry." Now lets talk about the economy!
1
Oakwood, get oral sex hardly can be equated with needlessly sending thousands of Americans to their deaths, something St Ronnie, Nixon and the newly sainted Bush have done. Funny how republicans have no problem with other people's kids dying for no reason but are outraged by a consensual sex act.
2
Note that Oliver North, post-conviction, did not need to say any of those things to be embraced by Republicans. The fact that he was one of their own, despite lying and cheating for personal enrichment, was enough to be elevated from con to hero in that camp.
2
Can a scandal harm a politician ? It will if they are a Democrat .
4
or Al Franken ... What can work for the GOP can’t for the Democrats, even if the powerful wanted it so, for the simple reason that the constituency of women and minorities it counts on won’t allow it.
Much of the GOP still supporting Trump frankly agrees with his racism, misogyny and totalitarian tendencies. What are a few ‘scandals’, which they may not even consider as such. That they also vote against their own interests, or that the president violates the vales they preach has been true long before Trump.
4
It matters what the facts are. It matters whether something is a crime or whether it is just a mistake, or at least it should.
There is a difference between a sexual crime and sexual misbehavior. Misbehavior can be anything to prudish people. Gillibrand going after Franken appears political because many believe that what he did was misbehavior.
I actually think much time and ink have been wasted on Trumps sexual exploits. He had billions of dollars and thus hundred of fawning women waiting for a chance at some of those dollars. Oh sure, they love him. Right. If you make victims out of gold diggers your not very convincing that you care about truth or justice. Most of us know that women are perfectly capable of using sex as a manipulation tool.
As for the real crimes, it appears that one side does those more. We also see many claims of wrongdoing that are really not true, and it seems one side does that more as well.
I suggest you focus on the real crimes and quit moralizing, because I don't see too many moral people anywhere. And try to stop shaming people for being sexual animals. It looks rather prudish if in fact you are really offended, and if not then it's just political.
4
What it all demonstrates is a country on the verge. Every crises of re-invention has been about 80 years apart, as many historians have noted: The Revolution, to the Civil War, to the Depression, to the present. I wouldn't pretend to know how this will end, or what form it could take, but we're entering the crucible again.
8
The article could also have mentioned (among other things) Republican support for Brett Kavanaugh despite the Blasey Ford allegations and steadfast progressive and feminist support for Bill Clinton when the Monica Lewinsky, Juanita Broderick, and other stories were in the news. The reasons for this support are rooted in large part in group identity, biases, and individual psychology. However, even where they might have misgivings about particular conduct, voters, donors and activists are also faced with binary choices and either-or political outcomes.
7
In and of the scandal itself in the short-term? It depends whether you're a Democrat (yes) or a Republican (no) - or so it seems.
Over the longer term (i.e., re Trump)? The verdict is still out, but it probably will.
Yeah getting consensual sex is a horrible thing isn't it?
Voters often look for a presidential candidate who is the opposite, in character and temperament, from the previous president. So don't assume that Trump has brought about any permanent change. Voters in 2020, especially Democrats & independents, will likely be looking for a candidate with high ethical standards and a lack of narcissism.
14
@Baxter Jones--Who could that possibly be? What candidate fits that description? Not one of the people named so far as possibilities would qualify. Lack of narcissism? In a politician? Seriously?
2
@Ms. Pea
I would nominate Amy Klobuchar & Sherrod Brown.
1
The Republican base is characterized by a larger percentage of single issue voters willing to overlook scandal and even their own broader self interest. This makes them vulnerable to and even loyal to unethical politicians. They are a scourge on democracy.
17
Would I have voted for a convicted felon over of Hillary? Yes. Would I vote for my neighbor’s dog over a Democratic promising higher taxes? In a second.
4
@DRS Party over truth. The closing paragraph finally gets to the root of it.
15
@DRS
Would your neighbor’s dog be a better president than our current one? Undoubtedly, even if it’s not one of the smarter breeds.
7
Welcome to party over country.
2
Whether a candidate can succeed, with baggage, or scandal, depends on the known history of the individual candidate, and the nature of the infraction. Mr. Trump was well known to like women, a lot, well before he sought political office. His brash style was also well known. His antics since being elected are hardly unexpected. If he had started acting like Barrack Obama, THAT would have been a surprise.
4
After witnessing the way that the gotcha Republicans and the moralizing Christian Right treated Bill Clinton, I truly loved watching how, one by one, their hypocrisy was exposed. Newt Gingrich's affairs; Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction; Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker; Larry Craig's manspread; Strom Thurmond's out-of-wedlock child; Trent Lott's fall from grace; the list was endless.
It was gratifying to see Lee Atwater's "politics of personal destruction" cut both ways.
Most of the time, I didn't care about what they actually did "wrong" (as long as it didn't harm someone else); I just enjoyed seeing their hypocrisy exposed.
But now in the post-Trump and #MeToo world (abetted by Fox News and Twitter), the constant barrage of stories about these types of things makes it impossible to to distinguish between what's actually serious versus what's merely scurrilous innuendo. The constant game of gotcha numbs the ability to feel any empathy towards anyone.
I was perfectly fine just glancing at the cover of the National Enquirer while waiting in line to pay for groceries. Now we're having it shoved down our throats 24/7.
Both Republicans and Dems are probably equally culpable of doing slimy things. However, I place the blame squarely on the hypocritical Right for forcing it to dominate our national political discourse.
30
I agree with your sentiment. At least now when a Christian conservative tries to use moral superiority to justify an action I can now tell them to stuff it by pointing to their beloved leader.
10
A corrupt politician is unscrupulous or unethical regardless of party and they should be dealt with in a like manner, removed from government service as quickly as possible.
12
What troubles me most about this growing pattern of corruptness, is degradation of centerpiece of democratic governments---which is a TRUST.. Any elected official from a local school board member to the Presidency have opportunities in the normal course of their job to use their position for personal gain---in the case of school board member it might be a small thing---moving their son or daughter to a better teacher---in the case of someone like Duncan Hunter--it can amount to thousands and thousands of tax monies. The point being, when placed in the position of doing the wrong thing, you trust our elected representatives will do the right thing. When this norm is trashed, our democracy is in real danger.
19
@ACJ - Start to worry. This norm is trashed.
2
It used to be that a person's character mattered. But no more, as evidenced by the election of Donald Trump and others of limited integrity. We were once led by a bunch of old white men who might have been unemployable outside of the political circus, but at least tried (on occasion ) to do what was right for the nation. Now we seem to be led by old white men who are bereft of a moral compass and are only in politics for their own gain and don't care what anyone thinks.
But the thing is, all these buffoons are elected there because many credulous voters either overlook the paucity of character in those running for office or don't have a problem with elected officials who are dishonest, spineless and self-serving. We seem to be getting the very government we deserve.
I am hoping the new crop of representatives arriving in Washington are a bit better. Many lack experience, but seeing what decades of "experience" has done, maybe they'll do OK.
12
Terms limits would be a good start. Is it possible to have a national referendum?
2
The article neglects to mention the role Bill Clinton played in deterioration of public morality, which is what this article is really all about. He was credibly accused of rape and other violent, exploitative behavior as it related to women. You can't talk about scandal and the public's tolerance for egregious behavior without mentioning him. His behavior makes Trump look like a saint.
When it comes to moral decrepitude, Clinton is the elephant in the room that the left can't hide.
7
@Dougal E
Excuse me, but there's plenty of moral monkey business going on on both sides of the aisle. Always has been, always will be. Please don't make this a partisan issue.
9
@Mark S.
Review the other comments this morning, many of which are determined to make this a partisan issue--about Republicans.
2
Two wrongs don’t make a right. That’s similar to saying “Johnny’s parents let him do ....”. Republicans have lost all moral righteous indignation electing Trump. The religious leaders who have all backed Trump have lost the right to preach “how to behave and act” forever.
4
Earlier politicians were protected from scandal by a press that found it distasteful to reveal them. Don't forget JFK's need for extramarital sex and Teddy's Chappaquiddick event where he seems to have been responsible for a young woman's death. A change in attitude of the press, which later started reporting on such scandal and now can't get enough of it, has much to do with where we are now.
8
The short simple answer is Apparently Not.
Party First, Last and Always.
Character and Integrity? The voters don't really care, Do U?
What-about-Ism is rampant. But what about Hillary?!!
But, but, but............
4
Many seem to overlook the Iran contra scandal which was of a much higher magnitude than the current one. Ultimately, that one didn’t bring down the Reagan government
6
@KrisHow come the only scandal that Obama could come up with was the possible overuse of Grey Poupon? It's almost like he wasn't trying.
4
Democrats are too quick to step down or step aside. The shouts for Al Franken to resign were absurdly from his own party. Hey there, Dem leaders, take a look at the first three paragraphs of this article. Then keep your eyes firmly in your own district, act with integrity, and resist throwing your 'teammates' under the bus for minor mistakes.
12
Does anyone remember the DC mayor Marion Barry and how his supporters, who reelected him after he served six months in prison for drug possession, were pilloried and scoffed at by conservatives as being amoral and racially biased?
My how times have changed. Talk about Republican hypocrisy!
22
“The whole issue of truth has become a more elastic idea for voters.”
Can we just say it? — “for (Republican) voters.”
19
Can scandals and deceit-filled behaviors sink a politician these days?
Just ask the 41 GOP Congressmen who were just ousted by American voters who are sick and tired of corruption.
If Trump makes it to 2020, he will suffer the largest defeat in the history of our country, even with GOP gerrymandering in place.
18
One can only hope and work to make it happen.
5
I can't image something a politician could do that would lower my opinion of him or her. The fact that they got into the game indicates a lack of morality and love of lying in all it's various forms. I like our current leader for his blunt, excessive, and brutal technique. Some may enjoy being lied to and manipulated more subtly. In the end it's a matter of taste.
1
Correction: Trump is a cult leader, not a politician
39
I think this is symptomatic of the fact that many people are not voting "for" something but "against" something else. When anger and fear dictate how we vote, it's a pretty sad reflection of things. And Trump has done his best to continue to stir up the anger and fear that hit its stride in the GOP when Obama was President. I saw a news story last night about how eastern Kentucky is re-wiring itself and creating jobs for former coal workers in the health industry. Now that's inspiring. Who wouldn't rather work in a nice warm and clean hospital in an engaging job than go down into the dark and dirty coal mines? Why is bringing back the coal jobs such a desirable thing? When you focus on fear and anger you lose the human trait of creativity and resilience.
42
I think all of us are more concerned about someone's public policies than whether they're a good or bad spouse. But most of us also acknowledge that the kind of personal moral and ethical rot we see in the current administration not only affects public policy, it affects society and even the survival of democracy.
Yet a lot of support for President Trump comes from a curious faction: evangelical Christians. They've twisted theology to say 1) "who am I to judge; we're all sinners"; and 2) God can work His plan even through sinners and evil people. By that "logic," the worst tyrants and murderers in history could be justified so long as they cut taxes, appoint "conservative" justices, and promise to overturn Roe.
So the answer to the question the headline poses is "no," at least for evangelical Christians who care more about a few policy matters, and are willing to look the other way no matter the scandal or corruption.
25
@jrinsc
Let's not forget these modern day Christian zealots share all but the passage of time with their religious ancestors that brought a reign of terror upon the world with a series of "inquisitions" from the 12th to the 15th century. Their goal to rid society of the heretics, aka anyone who did not submit in lockstep to their Christian blind faith idolization, only succeeded in the violent torture and murder of thousands of innocent ordinary people.
4
I think each case is different. But with Menendez, I voted for him even though I can't stand him, Because the guy running against him, Hugin, was just horrible and to me really stupid. If the woman running against him, Lisa McCormick, in the Dem primary had run a proper campaign I would have voted for her. I didn't even know she was running, as did many people I talked too.
In many other races it may be just name recognition, why people vote for a corrupt incumbent.
5
@Doctor Woo
Ironically, Menedez is a Democrat in name only, and would be a natural fit as a Republican politician if he were living in Miami.
1
@GG** I pretty much agree with that. But Hugin is absolutely pathetic. Plus in the age of Trump .. well you know
2
"The whole issue of truth has become a more elastic idea for voters". That sadly says all about Trump world.
9
Banana Republic ain't no metaphor anymore.
The rot ain't all at the top.
Sunk to the level of the choice of less evil being your tribal brand.
And the messenger being the villain.
6
IIt's obviously the p.c. crowds' fault. They triggered that "populist" reaction as a counterattack on their too much muzzling up the public speech on "sensitive" and other "polemical" issues. Simple as that.
3
This says a lot more about the Republican voters than about the corrupt Republican politicians.
59
As Ms. Goldberg wrote "Maybe they're just bad people".
12
They call them “representatives “ for a reason.
3
“The whole issue of truth has become a more elastic idea for voters.”
I think there are some less elastic issues like climate change, gun control, opioids, discrimination, real jobs and education that require the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Can’t lie about these forever.
5
I have long thought that one has to read a New York Times article with a view toward determining where the biases are.
In this case the headline complains that President Trump gets a pass on certain things while Democrats do not. I’m also struck by the attacks on Joe Biden, I guess the New York Times is not lining up behind his potential candidacy?
3
@NJ resident
I agree whole-heartedly. This article reads like a laundry list of Democratic dirty laundry. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
2
It’s funny how we view things. Yes, this is mostly about Democrats and their questionable pasts. Beto drunk driving 20 years ago, Brown being caught up in MeToo even though his ex-wife supports him, Biden Jr plagiarizing, Frankin for pretending to fondle a Republican operative with a flak jacket on... yet I read that the crux of the story is that 3 Republicans ran for election and won despite their either having been convicted of a crime, or being out on bail awaiting a trial in which both those cases there is already clear and convincing evidence that crimes were committed. And the Dem from NJ who won re-election despite having had a trial in which jurors couldn’t decide whether he was guilty.
Some will read this article as Dems are worse than Reps, since more are discussed. Some will read it as Dems have issues but the Reps in the article are actual criminals. For most the take away is that both sides do it.
The real point of the article should be that it is a reflection on the voter should they vote for convicted criminals, criminals awaiting trial, criminal who broke the law 20 years ago or an alleged criminal who had a trial and was not found guilty. It used to be a voter could draw the line at a lie, an affair, drug use. Now that line is what...how many months or years the candidate they vote for spends in jail?
20
#45 continues to lower the bar on Common Human Decency.
45
With the triumph of Don the Con Trump, the bar has been set very high for what a politician can get away with.
Things that sank Richard Nixon and Gary Hart are now just normal.
Sure, we have had politicians who have lied, had affairs and been engaged in crooked dealings but have we ever had a self confessed sexual predator occupy the White House?
6
Republicans don't dare run as the party of conservative family values anymore - now they run as the party dirty enough to topple the individuals and institutions that keep undereducated white Christians down. That's why their crimes don't matter - GOP crimes are not bugs, they're fine features in these racist, immoral GOP candidates for office. The reason that even minor crimes or illicit behavior from Democrats looks far worse? It's because they're running as the party to clean up Republican malfeasance. It's like a doctor showing up for a checkup with dirty fingernails. Can't be done - so keep it squeaky clean, Dems, and sweep out the GOP in 2020!
7
Hunter and Collins will no doubt be spending a lot of their time in court rather than Congress. The ignorance of their Republican voters is infinite. They could be dead and the mindless soldiers in their districts would still elect them.
In the case of Menendez, it was a choice between a Democratic crook and a Republican crook, and voters elected the lesser evil.
22
In the minds of voters in the district Chris Collins won in upstate N.Y., and Duncan Hunter won in California, is this. It's better to vote for a damaged republican than any democrat.
7
@Jim Tagley
I think the words you're looking for are "criminal republican".
6
It appears to be a hyper-correction of hyper-political correct-ness. We are so bombastic.
3
"What, if anything, matters?"
The last two years have suggested that nothing matters. There's no line too far. Every time we thought "this is it," it wasn't.
Ironically, this seems only to apply to Republicans. Any Democrats with any baggage will be figuratively crucified by the conservative "establishment" and, more likely than not, will loop endlessly in media coverage.
36
If Donald Trump's behavior and life history represent acceptable characteristics for political candidates in the United States today, it speaks volumes, and not in a complimentary way, about us- Americans.
19
I think timing is tremendously important. It's one thing to ignore unsavory behavior when the alternative is to vote for a person/party you view as contrary to your worldview. Its another to survive a primary. Biden will never be able to show up at an event without Anita Hill coming up. That takes a toll.
1
Today, politics is war, and in war, there are only two sides and one winner.
To look at morals and decency and compassion, to care about those in the way of destruction, is to be weak and the war gets lost.
So, march on, and fight with the army you have, not the army your grandmother wishes you had...
We in America are, in fact, in a slow motion civil war, one that, like the previous civil war, is a fight to the political death to allow white supremacy and the rule of the powerful elites to continue even though the majority wishes for change.
Hugh
40
The same standards don't apply to Democrats, because (1) they are not blessed with the same numbers of intellectually and morally compromised followers as Trump/Republicans and (2) because they cannot employ the same tactics (e.g. shout fake news or angrily dismiss #metoo allegations) without alienating their sanctimonious followers who have recently started insisting on total ideological purity.
2
The last thing America needs is more crooks, but from the other party.. I don’t know how the enabling of corruption started, but it has to end.
7
The answer may depend on whether the current outrageous degree of scandal and abuse of power in the White House and GOP are ever brought to task. In other words, will scandal result in any material reckoning? If not, it will continue or perhaps get worse. If it is reeled in legally, politically and socially, then maybe things will go back to a normal level of political deceit and tomfoolery.
20
The bar gets lower and lower. There is a general depravity and corruption of our culture that is echoed in our politics. We need to look in the mirror and see who we've become. It's a Dorian Gray story.
66
@Dorian's Truth
Yes but 63 million Americans including 58% of the white voting majority voted for Trump knowing exactly who he was and what he represented.
Trump is a symptom. Trump is not the cause. We cannot blame Trump on either divine royal sanction nor an armed uniformed military coup.
5
Politics are tribal by nature. As long the scandal ridden candidate in question is a perennial fundraiser, claims victim-hood, and paint the opposing candidate as being worse then they will get reelected. Even if Trump gets indicted, impeached, and even jailed his lurid political base will still stick by their man.
16
It appears that Donald Trump has Made Crime Pay Again.
It's quite a contribution to our country.....akin to flushing it down a toilet.
One can make the weak case that 'both sides' do it, but degree matters...and so does public policy.
The greater crimes are the respective public policies of the political parties.....an 0.1% welfare tax code, the greatest healthcare rip-off in the world, an unregulated stock market, raping of Mother Earth, rejection of democracy, 0.1% campaign finance corruption, the Voting Rights Act and the will of the people.....these are all major crimes against American humanity...and they are all the heart and soul of the Greed Over People party.
Vote accordingly.
D for democracy; R for Russian-Republican rot and regression.
69
@Socrates . You always get it right! I'm a Socrates fan!
It is so discouraging to have indicted criminals re-elected, especially Duncan Hunter, the wife-thrower. The 0.1% Club in the Senate and House has hypnotized the very people who should be outraged. That's what has me so frustrated!!
2
The general rule these days seems to be that if a Democrat does nothing wrong, the Republicans will hold years of hearings and shout "jail her," but if a Republican admits to grabbing women by the genitals and publicly dangles pardons before co-conspirators, it's OK.
131
I for one no longer care for civility dealing with the GOP or ANYONE who supports their agenda - it's a waste a time. DEMZ: nice days of "reaching across the isle" are over. A new day has come.
15