Crow is a first-year business and public administration major and can be contacted at [email protected].

Do the personal lives of politicians matter? Of course they do. Politicians are ultimately public figures. Their personal lives are a pretty important factor when it comes to voting.

Many of you probably think  I am horrible for judging a person’s professional life based off what they do at home. I mean, if you think about it, many of us hold very different home and professional lives, but in all honesty, that doesn’t make a difference when people are in the limelight. In the end, their home life becomes their professional life and their professional life becomes their home life.

Politicians’ lives are very similar to actors, actresses, singers, athletes and other well-known, successful individuals. You appreciate and know them for their profession but judge them based off of their personal lives.

Like I mentioned earlier, politicians’ personal lives play an important role when it comes to voting. As a voter, would you be more likely to vote for the 50-year old male who has all of the same viewpoints on issues as you, but has cheated on his wife multiple times with various people? Or are you more likely to vote for the 50-year old male who, again, has all the same viewpoints on issues as you and doesn’t do anything shady in his personal life? Voters would most likely vote for the second candidate.

If we want a candidate whom we could trust in office, why would we vote for them if they do untrustworthy things in their personal lives? I fully believe that politicians’ personal lives really do make a difference on who we vote for. We don’t want someone to represent and lead us who does things that we don’t agree with.

Some people might think there is no reason to take politicians’ personal lives into account when voting, and I understand their point. Many people have very separate professional lives and personal lives. So when voting for a candidate, the voter should only consider the politician’s viewpoints on issues and their platform, not what they do in their free time.

You can compare voting to interviewing for a job. Pretend that you, the voter, are the interviewer and that the candidate is the interviewee. You only judge the applicant based off of their qualifications because you are only interested in whether they can do the job or not. You are not interested in what they do in their spare time. Personally, I do not agree with this way of thinking. I think you need to consider all aspects of a political candidate to make your decision.

In the end, politicians need to remember that they are constantly being graded and judged. What they do matters. Whether it’s in their professional life or personal, it will catch up with them sooner or later.

Promiscuous Politicians

Anthony Weiner (2011)
”Weinergate” was a term coined by the media and the public after this politician sent sexual pictures to six women over the course of three years.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (2011)
The Terminator fathered a love child with one of his former staff members.

John Edwards (2008)
Edwards admitted to an external affair and may or may not have fathered a daughter out of wedlock.

Bill Clinton (1998)
This former president had a tryst with the now-infamous Monica Lewinsky.

Herman Cain (1990s)
At least three women who are former employees of Cain have made accusations that Cain sexually harassed them.