The XX Factor: What women really think.

Private Lives

That's a good point, Dahlia—if I understand you correctly, the argument would be that human nature is constant, in high places and low, and that the proportion of wrongdoers and plain idiots is bound to be the same among politicians (even moralizing ones) as it is among private ones. We're just a lot more likely to hear about a governor and former prosecutor when he is found to have been visiting a prostitute than an ordinary person.  

I don't know if I entirely agree, though, that it's unreasonable to expect public figures to behave with more decorum than the average citizen. I don't fraternize with powerful officeholders, but living in Washington, I know lots of ordinary people who work for the U.S. government. While they are not public figures, many do consider themselves public servants, and it does affect their personal lives. Many have security clearances. In part because of their clearances—and the way their careers will be impacted by any significant ethical or legal problems, not just prostitute visits but, say, drunk-driving arrests—and in part because they feel they are vested with a public trust, they are, often, more careful about what they do and say. They are less likely to download bootleg music files or drive 30 mph over the speed limit, and more likely to pay their nanny taxes. I do, sort of, expect more of public officials. They have taken oaths of office and promised to uphold the law. For many people I know, this does result in a certain amount of behavior modification. They aren't exempt from human frailties, by any means, but they do have an extra incentive to try to be.

That said, Marjorie's point is brilliant, like everything she wrote. Maybe the trust invested in powerful public officials is offset by the temptation that more often comes their way, and so it all evens out.