It’s a shame that our people can’t stay 100 percent above suspicion. At the same time, we have to know when people who are perhaps less than perfect are worth standing by and when they’re not. The problem is particularly difficult when we’re picking a challenger rather than weighing the value of an incumbent. I don’t know what the answer is. If Ryun runs, the primary election process (and result) may provide us with the right result. Or it may not.
Once you’re in public life, it’s impossible to stay “above suspicion” or free from allegations. Once one runs for and/or elected to office, they will instantly earn the suspicion or disapproval of those of the opposite party (and sometimes those of the same). In an “evenly-balanced” Congressional district, for example, you almost tend to start off with 1/3rd of the electorate immediately disapproving of you, no matter what you do. Some in office care about that, some don’t give a damn (the latter for a myriad of reasons — some due to simple arrogance of power, the rest due to acceptance of the above and simply pushing forward trying to do the right thing).
Because our party has been identified with those of the more morally upstanding kind, we are held to a substantially higher standard. But conversely, the Democrats aren’t really held to any standard at all (until they start voting more with us, and then it’s open season — look at Lieberman, votes wrong maybe 90% of the time, but because as an observant Orthodox Jew, he “gets” WOT and supports it — he will be viciously attacked).
Jim Ryun was probably one of the most vocal religious Conservatives in Congress (for example, when he signs autographs, and I have an autographed photo from him, he always puts a biblical quote on it — I can’t recall many others that do that), and tends to abide by that privately. I think it is quite true that when people of strict moral standards get to DC (or even Hollywood, for that matter), you start feeling the corrupting influence right away.
I remember just participating in an online political government sim, that after just a few days as a “virtual Senator”, the backroom wheeling and dealing, selling of votes, threats and the like is truly sickening. We were trying to pass this particular bill, and “leadership” asked me to approach this self-styled moralizing “Conservative Democrat.” After talking to him for a bit, he effectively offered to sell me his vote, which I agreed (on behalf of leadership) to “acquire.” I told leadership it was one of the most disgusting, unprincipled scenes I had ever witnessed, and said I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. Later on, I learned this guy came from a political family in WV and had numerous times to try to run for office for real (and he’s still trying). A very disturbed young man named Drew Pritt (his cousin, Charlotte, was the Dem nominee for Governor of WV in ‘96, and was considered so self-serving and divisive, in other words, she’d knife her granny in the back to win high office if she had to, that many Dems endorsed her GOP opponent, and we won that office as a result). You ever see his name pop up from time to time, as I do, it just sends a chill up my back. Lord help us if this guy ever wins public office.
Well, anyway, I think you get the picture. But, yes, we should try to have our people stay above suspicion, but just the act of being in politics makes doing so nearly impossible. Whomever said “politics is a dirty business” knew precisely what they were talking about.