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Is a candidate's private life relevant to you?

Does a candidate's private sex and relationship life matter to you

  • It should be irrelevant to voters

    Votes: 1 3.8%
  • It shows the candidate's character

    Votes: 11 42.3%
  • Only if it demonstrates dishonest or betrayal

    Votes: 8 30.8%
  • It is only one of many factors I consider

    Votes: 10 38.5%
  • I don't want to hear about it

    Votes: 5 19.2%

  • Total voters
    26
Does a presidential candidate's private sex/relationship life matter to you? Do you care if the candidate is married? Been divorced? Had an affair? Has a mistress? How much does the candidate's private life matter?

From Clinton to Edwards, Kenedy to Cain, this comes up time and again. It just eliminated the front running candidate. Some consider it an issue about Gingrich.

What say you?

It depends on what aspect of their private life you're talking about.

Do I care how much money they spend on personal items? No.

Would I care if they boogered their 8 y/o nephew in the hiney? Yeah.

Do I care if they were way over-paid for some contract job, because the person writing the check was stupid enough to pay them that much? No.

Would I care if they were involved in an illegal land deal? Yeah.

Just depends and I think it all boils down to common sense.
 
If you are a Democratic and say it now matters then one of your greatest presidents John Kennedy would never have been elected.
 
Yes, I find it even more relevant than their voting record and their policy positions. If a man cannot maintain order and decency in his own home and life, how the hell is he going to maintain it in office?
 
Yeah, what does Gingrich purjuring himself in front of the Congressional Ethics Committee have to do with Clinton perjuring himself? I can see how you're confused. :lol:

Was he charged with perjury, I thought your quote said he broke House Rules?
 
Depends. Actions that hurt/deceive others are always relevant. If a person will cheat/hit/etc. on the person they love most, what will they do to Americans the person doesn't really know at all? A liar or person with anger problems is not someone I want in a position of power.

If he is watching porn three hours a day or practice some sort of unique religious ritual every morning, I don't really care unless it interferes with his political duties.
 
Is it a major thing for me? No. However I do absolutely take a persons private life into consideration to a certain point.

Who we are in private can show some things...judge of character, personal responsability, impulse control, tendancy to use power, etc. Sometimes they manifest themselves much more visibly in the less tailored Private life then how they show up in the Public life. If I'm doing an interview for someone for a job I am going to ask them some questions about their personal life...maybe not deep probing "who've you screwed" type questions but generalized things. I'm going to see if I could get their facebook page up and take a look. Is it going to stop me from picking a candidate for the job who has a great resume? No. But if I had two candidates that were both pretty equal on paper, but the little insight I have into ones personal life suggests that he's a more responsable and makes better judgements than the other then it may tip in his favor.

This doesn't mean that their private lives shouldn't be private. I'm not big on attempting to go and dig up "dirt" on them. However, the portions of their private lives that they make public are absolutely fair game. However, if stuff is dug up and its reputable I would still likely end up taking it into account, if anything subconsiously.
 
Was he charged with perjury, I thought your quote said he broke House Rules?

Did he admit to submitting a false report to the Ethics Committee under his own signature? Yes.
 
Nice try.
The fact that Newt was a cheater did not disqualify him from voting to impeach a sitting president for lying under oath. How is lying under oath the same thing as cheating on your wife. Grant it, both are bad but how are they linked. Are you saying every person in congress that has had an affair can not vote to impeach a President for perjury? Wow, that will probably knock out a hundred congressmen.
Cheating on your spouse means you have reneged on your marriage vows - something you willingly make before man and God, and is widely considered the most solemn of all oaths. Gingrich did not break his marriage vows once - but twice.

The obvious question is that if your willing to break your marriage vows repeatedly, why should anyone trust you to keep your election promises?
 
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I would be less trustful of a celibate monk of a candidate than I would of a prolific philanderer. It's not unrealistic that an aggressive and dominant person would be a good leader, nor is it unrealistic to think that such a person expresses those qualities sexually. I think it's bizarre that we expect our leaders not to have mistresses. I think it's fairly ingrained in us biologically to act that way.

I remember reading one psychological opinion that the same complusions driving someone to extreme leadership asperations and abilities inherently will tend to also mean an extreme sex drive.
 
I remember reading one psychological opinion that the same complusions driving someone to extreme leadership asperations and abilities inherently will tend to also mean an extreme sex drive.
If that's the the kind of leader you want, look no further than Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi!
 
I remember reading one psychological opinion that the same complusions driving someone to extreme leadership asperations and abilities inherently will tend to also mean an extreme sex drive.
Alpha Male Traits –

Never Qualifies Himself - the alpha male makes no apologies, he doesn’t explain his behavior
- they won’t chase after you for your validation, they don’t care.

Doesn’t Look Around - he is the party and the focus of attention
– unconcerned with what other people are doing

Is The Focus of Attention - he is centrally positioned in the group, everyones body language faces him and is positive towards him

Take The Glory - when you have an idea they acknowledge it and add to it – giving their approval and tweaking the idea it becomes their own, and they get the credit for it

Are Never Impressed - they can be self centered and unimpressed with the achievements of others

Enjoy a Challenge - make friends with beta males, but with another alpha guy they often become “enemies”

Don’t Answer Questions - they often give a non-sensical or a basic response to questions you ask them where you are trying for conversation, trying to find common ground, or trying for report
– by asking you to “guess,” they are controling the frame and leading the interaction and keeping their alpha male status

Don’t Care About You - they are self focused, you are there to entertain them, but they are above you
– believes world evolves around him and everyone is there to help him, entertain him or sleep with him

Can Show A Nicer Side and Get Away With It - this goes back to not caring what people think
- can be nice / genuine / down to earth if he wants to and on the occasions that he is he gets even more credit for it

Top 10 Alpha Male Traits « The Official Subliminal Messaging Blog
 
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Does a presidential candidate's private sex/relationship life matter to you? Do you care if the candidate is married? Been divorced? Had an affair? Has a mistress? How much does the candidate's private life matter?

From Clinton to Edwards, Kenedy to Cain, this comes up time and again. It just eliminated the front running candidate. Some consider it an issue about Gingrich.

What say you?

Just one more question involved in the "Imagery" that is our election process. I think most of it is artificially generated. If a candidate said he was sometimes a womanizer, I would not hold that against him/her. Seems human enough to me. Busy people are busy and can find time to do a lot of things. Others just couldn't handle the extra stress, entertainment, time, or juggling of schedules. I think the whole problem would be solved with a little polygamy. This marriage business always looks like a legal construct, not religious, in our day and age. That makes it an ethical issue, not a morality issue. It does identify "liars" and that is what is objected to by most citizens.
 
If Gingrich were to emerge as the 2012 Republican/Tea Party presidential candidate after the Convention, social conservatives, the Christian Right and its "family values" supporters will have alot of "backpedalling" to do!
 
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