Kate, I agree with you totally. McAllister is a cad and a sinner. But I have a contrary point to make, one that my wife agrees with so this is not just a male perspective.
Why do men cheat? Yes, many times just because they can. Politicians by definition exude power, and this both attracts women and makes men feel invulnerable. But sometimes a lack of love, and yes, sex, are the final things that push them over the edge.
This came up in my discussions with my bride when both Elliott Spitzer and Governor Mark Sanford were both caught cheating. They had lovely wives and, by all appearances, nice marriages. I can even write off Spitzer -- as a rich leftist, he perhaps doesn't believe in morality and sin -- but Sanford was a conservative Christian.
Remember when Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards had that affair with that other gal? You had to look far and wide, but one obscure account had his wife Elizabeth referring to her husband the Senator as "my little hick" and basically disrespecting him. Nothing will drive a man into the arms of another woman more than a wife who doesn't appreciate him for who he is.
As a middle-aged Christian man married for over 20 years, I can say categorically that all wives -- okay, at least 8 out of 10 -- turn off in the sack by age 40. And their husbands are frustrated enough that they talk about it over campfires or on other guy outings after a beer or two loosens their tongue.
An honest liberal named Caitlin Flanagan studied this many years ago, and made the politically incorrect conclusion that while wives are not the ones sinning when a man strays, if a wife wants to keep hubby's eyes focused on her then she needs to make sex ... [this will get me flamed] ... somewhat sacrificial. Dr. Laura made the same point in her book, "Care and Feeding of Husbands."
All those old adages are operative: don't go to bed angry, don't use sex as a weapon, don't go on sex strikes, etc. By age 40, sex is like chocolate to a woman -- a treat to savored on occasion. Sex is like food to a man, something more essential to daily happiness. In other words, if the wife is satisfied with the frequency of sex, then you can bet that her husband is not. If she is turning him down 9 times out of 10, you can bet he is stewing inside, complaining to his friends, and looking more hungrily at other women.
So I stopped jumping to conclusions about men who stray. McAllister is a cad, a weenie, an adulterer, a sinner, a bozo, a dumbsh-t. But as he sits down with his wife to pick up the pieces, I hope that the above points are also topics of discussion.