it's just that the family values Republicans voting in the primaries are raging hypocrites. One South Carolina woman who identified herself as a conservative evangelical voter said she was voting for Newt Gingrich because "the blue dress changed everything" and sex didn't seem to be that important any more. In other words, her not voting her religious values is Bill Clinton's fault.
The odd thing is that commentators and pundits across the country seems to be buying this ridiculous rationalization from the right. Just this morning, there's an article in Salon magazine by Bernard Starr claiming that the reason Marianne Gingrich's revelations about her husband fell flat with primary voters in South Carolina is that Americans don't really care about sex scandals, they're more concerned about the affairs of state than affairs of the bedroom.
Well, that may be true for Americans, but it is certainly not true for the right wing, evangelical voters in the South. If Newt Gingrich had been a Democrat, they would not only have been horrified by what his second of three wives had to say, they would have called for him to be drawn, quartered and burned at the stake. The reason these self-righteous, holier than thou, God speaks to me and tells me he hates gays, Muslims, Latinos, liberals, abortionists and most of all, Barack Obama, family values conservatives were able to support Newt is that they would support the Marquis de Sade if he called himself a Republican and espoused their beliefs.
When interviewed, many of the people who supported Newt pointed to the fact that as Christians, they believe in repentence and redemption, and now that Newt has gotten right with his maker, they can forgive his past transgressions and clutch him to their bosoms. Oh really.
Where was that Christian forgiveness when Bill Clinton repented and held weekly prayer meetings in the White House? Every minister and rabbi with whom he met attested to the sincerity of his spiritual quest and his desire to redeem himself, but southern evangelical Christians were having none of it. They demanded his head. Mind you, this a man who's been married to the same woman for almost forty years, who has never been accused of peddling influence in Congress or running money scams on supporters who believe they're buying some kind of an award, and who has spent all his time out of office bringing attention and money to devastating crises throughout the world. Still, right wing evangelicals know the devil when they see him, and Bill Clinton is the devil.
Sex has not stopped being an issue for these family values voters as far as Mr. Clinton or any other Democrat is concerned yet the women, six I believe, who brought sexual harassment accusations against Herman Caine, were part of a liberal plot to smear a good man. Marianne Gingrich is a bitter, cast-off spouse who has been encouraged by the media to come forward and destroy her ex-husband's career. Super family values espousers like Senators Rick Santorum and Tom Coburn tried to help cover up an affair that fellow family values Senator John Ensign was having with a staff member. Well, you get the picture.
If southern, evangelical, right-wing voters weren't such hypocrites and really had the courage of their convictions, they would vote for the only true family values candidate running for President; the one who is clearly faithful to his wife, loves his children, goes to church every Sunday, devotes his time and energy to helping the poor and vulnerable, gives his word and keeps it, and has never had a single ethical question raised about his life or his career. They'd vote for Barack Obama.