Do you take this man ?
Mayer, William G.
THE CHARACTER ISSUE DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN...? VOTERS & VOWS What effect will the issue of marital infidelity actually have on Governor Bill Clinton's candidacy? As I write (about a week before...
...The Clintons have acknowledged past marital difficulties, and Bill Clinton has implicitly admitted that infidelity was an issue...
...Given the public nature of this process, we are compelled—like it or not—to discuss issues of character and personality...
...If 69 percent aren't bothered by an adulterous candidate, 28 percent say they are...
...His support in the New Hampshire polls "Sure you had good intentions...
...And at least through the New Hampshire campaign, he received generally sympathetic 6: 28 February 1992 Commonweal coverage of the issue from the national media, and few of his Democratic rivals have pressed the issue...
...sexual mores have changed since the mid-1960s, most Americans still draw a line on what happens after a couple exchange marriage vows...
...Nixon's paranoiandishonesty...
...Between 1969 and 1987, the percentage of Americans who felt that premarital sex was not wrong jumped from 21 percent to 48 percent...
...It is very difficult to get 51 percent of the vote in a presidential campaign if your conduct has already alienated more than onequarter of the electorate...
...In an era of family breakdown, when divorce, teen-age pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases have reached unprecedented numbers, it does not seem unreasonable for the voters to ask that a candidate who will become the single most visible symbol of American government be capable of sexual discretion and self-control...
...Let's take a closer look at those public opinion polls that suggest a majority of Americans believe that adultery should not bar a person from the presidency...
...His book The Changing American Mind will be published in August by the University of Michigan Press...
...Any new doubts (like the one raised about his draft deferment) seem that much more credible despite his respectable defense...
...Voters who are unconcerned about adultery per se may still be persuaded that it has troubling implications for Clinton's honesty and willingness to keep promises, or his consistency and stability, or his commitment to "family values...
...Commonweal 28 February 1992: 7...
...sipped briefly right after the tabloid revelation of Gennifer Flowers was publicized, and then rebounded several days later...
...Reagan's `management style...
...On one issue there should be no doubt: Though U.S...
...During almost the same time period, opposition to adultery actually may have increased...
...Their stance has turned off many working-class voters who might otherwise have supported Democratic policies on the economy...
...28 percent said they could not...
...Indeed, in looking back wer the last three decades of American politics, one is struck by the fact that many of the most conspicuous presidential failures at least in the eyes of public opinion) had less to do with policy at least of the kind discussed in campaigns) than with the personal 'ailings of the presidents: Johnson's stubbornness...
...In the November presidential election, we will be choosing between two individuals whose characters and personalities have important implications for how they will perform n office...
...they knew the major contenders personally and had a generally good sense of how hey performed in positions of responsibility...
...But he has become a considerably more vulnerable candidate than he was two months ago...
...Sixty-nine percent said they could...
...Over the last three decades, the Democrats' most persistent problem in presidential elections has been their position on social and cultural issues such as race, crime, religion, abortion, and patriotism...
...But things are volatile...
...Whatever they may say to pollsters, voters have had troubling questions raised about Clinton...
...Today, nomination recisions are made by the public, who register their choice in primaries and caucuses...
...As I write (about a week before the New Hampshire primary), the verdict in most press accounts is that he seems to have been successful in his damage-control efforts...
...they become part of a body of "evidence" that Clinton is somehow an untrustworthy person to put in the White House...
...To nominate a candidate with Clinton's history will almost certainly guarantee that such issues will continue to plague the Democrats this fall and hinder their efforts to make the campaign a referendum on George Bush's handling of the economy...
...There are other ways to frame the issue that may make it more relevant to the issue of presidential performance...
...Party leaders once played this role...
...When accused of some personal indiscretion, a candidate's -first line of defense has usually been a self-righteous declaration hat such accusations are a distraction from the real purpose of m election campaign, which is to talk about policy issues...
...The more difficult quandary comes when we ask about the relevance of any particular trait to presidential performance...
...News interviews with "typical voters" suggest that they don't .:are one way or another...
...Carter's lack of leadership ability...
...But I doubt that such a situation could continue through the election in November...
...Typical is an ABC-Washington Post poll from late January: "Could you vote for a candidate who had an extramarital affair, or not...
...No natter how appealing this sounds on first hearing, it is seriously nisleading...
...We all had good intentions...
...in 1991, 75 percent of the adult population felt that extramarital sex was "always wrong...
...and many political commentators have decided that this is the public's final verdict on the matter...
...It may be that they will resolve those doubts in Clinton's favor...
...Even in the very best circumstances, campaign policy discussions are only a rough guide to the actual decisions that president will make once in office...
...Should we conclude the public doesn't care and this is not an issue...
...only 3 percent said it was "not wrong at all...
...Most reporters don 't know enough about the candidates to make reliable judgments...
...I think it's too soon o say...
...Once character is admitted as a legitimate issue, there is no way to draw a boundary that declares any one category of behavior off limits, including marital infidelity...
...WILLIAM G. MAYER William G. Mayer is an assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University, Boston...
...It could be that by the time this article appears, New Hampshire voters will have concurred in that judgment...
...He understood the risk before he entered the presidential race...
...here are too many attributes of character and personality to alk about them in an intelligent and useful way...
Vol. 119 • February 1992 • No. 4
