Privacy in US politics: Conservative living and dirty linen

By Laszlo Trankovits Nov 2, 2008, 0:48 GMT

Washington - The million-dollar bounty is still up for grabs.

That's the amount US publisher Larry Flint is offering 'for documented evidence of illicit intimate relations with a congressman, senator or other prominent officeholder.'

With full-page adverts in the Washington Post, the publisher of the sex magazine Hustler sought to stimulate anonymous tips about the Capitol Hill scene, in an effort to grab headlines and shock the country before Tuesday's presidential elections.

Nothing provokes more interest in the United States than the dirty laundry of politicians - precisely because an extremely decent citizen's life is expected of every candidate.

Nowadays, few can aspire to the US presidency if they are unfaithful to their spouses, do not have children and a dog and do not demonstrate familiarity with the Bible.

In 1804, president Thomas Jefferson was re-elected, even though his child with a black slave was common knowledge. John F Kennedy enjoyed an apparently hedonistic sex life without the public finding out about it and without it bothering the in-the-know political establishment.

The private life of politicians became public property in recent decades. There was Democrat Gary Hart, forced to give up his White House dream in 1987 after the media revealed his affair with starlet Donna Rice.

In the late 1990s, Bill Clinton's sex games with the intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office almost cost him the presidency.

The modern media-oriented society is more interested than ever in the family life of politicians, particularly their love life, and even serious media want to make politicians more human, to present the emotional and 'colourful' aspects of the complex world of politics.

Politicians use the public eye behind the scenes to make themselves look interesting, to inspire confidence and to talk to people's senses.

For this reason, both Democrat Barack Obama, 47, and Republican John McCain, 72, present themselves as devoted fathers and faithful husbands, and more or less hypocritically as fans of bowling, motorsport or homemade food. At the same time, candidates investigate their rivals for stains on their reputations.

For some media, this included stories that the 17-year-old daughter of the very conservative Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was pregnant.

Both McCain and Obama have been accused of having affairs.

The serious New York Times was not below quoting anonymous sources that McCain, 72, had an extramarital relationship with a lobbyist eight years ago.

In the world of right-wing blogs, Obama was charged with several sexual scandals, including one with a former employee in 2004.

In both cases, the candidates and alleged lovers staunchly denied the reports, which died a quick death.

To their credit, the Republicans did not go after Obama for the drug use in his youth and instances of casual sex that he describes in his own autobiography.

The tabloid gossip chaser, National Enquirer, had the most spectacular scoop of the 2008 campaign, persistently investigating Senator John Edwards and finding the 2004 vice presidential candidate had a prolonged affair behind the back of his wife, Elizabeth, who was suffering from cancer.

Edwards, who sought the 2008 presidential nomination, tried to explain his conduct on the ABC television network, asking his wife and God for 'forgiveness.'

Democratic Party colleagues were furious over Edwards, who had presented himself as a champion of morals and decency and strong partner to Elizabeth.

'Thousands of friends of the senator and his supporters have put their faith and confidence in him and he's let him down,' complained Edwards' former campaign manager David Bonior.

The second-largest sex scandal of 2008 was the revelation about the love life of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. The Democrat, known as 'Client Number 9' in a high-priced prostitution ring, spent large amounts of money for the services of call girls.

Spitzer, 48, known earlier as 'the sheriff of Wall Street' for his loyalty to principles and his fight against corruption, resigned from his position as governor.

As often happens in the US in such cases, he appeared before the media in the company of a petrified-looking wife.

'I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me,' he said as camera flashes popped.

Other times, scandal rags like the Globe or National Enquirer miss their mark with totally manufactured stories about US President George W Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former president Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Since freedom of the press is a fundamental right guaranteed in the US constitution, none of these high profile personalities ever pursued legal action against the tabloids.