Things have definitely changed since Bill Clinton was president.
Back then, we were told that adultery didn't matter, "everybody
did it," and that even acts of perjury didn't matter if the
subject being lied about under oath was sex. Anybody who thought
differently was a puritanical right-winger engaged in a
borderline criminal conspiracy to bring down the president.
But recently we've been employing a very different standard for
politicians in both parties. The mighty Eliot Spitzer was brought
down by his infidelity and dalliances with hookers. John Edwards'
affair has destroyed his reputation and whatever remained of his
political career. John Ensign resigned his Senate leadership
position and is almost certainly out of the running for 2012.
Ditto Mark Sanford, who is no longer chairman of the Republican
Governors Association and is highly unlikely to run for
president.
Obviously, there were additional factors at play in each of these
cases. With Spitzer, it was the illegal act of prostitution.
Edwards' wife had cancer and their marriage played a prominent
role in his 2008 presidential campaign. Ensign might have helped
the husband of the woman he had an affair with secure employment.
Sanford left the state he governed and was out of the country for
days.
Nobody, as far as I can tell, said that their behavior was
understandable or not a matter of public concern because their
indiscretions were sexual in nature. One wonders how Bill Clinton
would have fared in such a political climate.
UPDATE: There's an
interesting discussion of what it takes for a politician to
survive a sex scandal over at the New York Times'
website. There are still quite a few survivors even now.