The Ensign Affair -- Morality, Privacy & The Media

I have long expressed my ambivalence about reporting on the private behavior of elected officials, whether it's sexual preference or sexual dalliances. There is a public life and there is a private, personal life, and I think there is a line that should be respected. And I don't deal in rumors, which have somehow permeated the mainstream media in ways I find deeply troubling.

For the same reason, I'm strongly opposed to "outing," the seemingly vigilante practice of exposing who is gay -- especially those officials who are accused of hypocrisy: being gay while voting against issues important to the gay community.

At the same time, there comes a moment when something happens and the issue can no longer be ignored.

There had been, for example, whispers about Idaho's Larry Craig for years, as far back as when he was first elected to the House in 1980. Craig's name had regularly appeared on lists of closeted politicians. But it was not something I had any inclination to report or hint about. One, who knew if it was true, and two, even if it was, it was his business and no one else's.

But when we learn that Craig was arrested in a Minneapolis airport restroom by an undercover cop for alleged lewd behavior -- see my Political Junkie column of Aug. 29, 2007 -- it becomes part of the conversation.

Similarly, there had been whispers about Bill Clinton's dalliances for years, well before Monica and Paula and Gennifer and the others. Still, when we were totaling his pluses and minuses as a 1992 presidential candidate, we left that stuff out of the equation. But when Bill and Hillary appear on 60 Minutes to discuss the rumors and the state of their marriage, then it's out in the open, and it becomes part of the political conversation.

Also similarly, despite screaming front-page headlines from the National Enquirer, I ignored claims that John Edwards -- he of presidential hopes and a wife suffering from inoperable cancer -- was having an affair. That is, until he publicly addressed it (see Political Junkie, Aug. 14, 2008). And for reasons with which I completely agree, there is no longer any discussion about John Edwards' political future.

So I guess there's no avoiding the fact that yesterday, in Las Vegas, Sen. John Ensign (R) read a prepared statement acknowledging he had an affair last year with a campaign staffer.

Part of me says this is something that only Ensign, his family and Nevada voters should care about (he's not up for re-election until 2012). I'm certainly not swayed by the actions of some to blast Ensign for having an affair when in 2007 he urged Craig ("a disgrace") to resign. There's a difference, in my mind anyway, between having an affair and being arrested.

Despite my hesitation, there is nonetheless something about this that makes it newsworthy, and troubling. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Ball & Tetreault note that Ensign has had a career as a pro-family conservative and says there's clear hypocrisy here:

Ensign campaigned as a social and religious conservative who defended family values. ... Speaking on the Senate floor in 2004, Ensign called for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying, "Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded."

Will it complicate Nevada Republicans' efforts to unseat Sen. Harry Reid (D) next year? It sure will; the party is already in trouble with the low public standing of GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Does it end whatever discussion there had been about Ensign being White House material for 2012? Probably, though calling him a leading Republican presidential hopeful, as some have in the wake of yesterday's news, was a bit of a stretch.

Does it end his effectiveness in representing Nevada in the Senate? That's up to Nevada.

Does it clarify my views about the line between private and public behavior? I'm still wrestling with it.