When character no longer counts

In April, 1987, then presidential candidate Gary Hart, responding to rumors of marital infidelity, threw down the gauntlet.  He challenged the press to "follow me around".

The Miami Herald took up the gauntlet and soon discovered his relationship with a young woman, Donna Rice.  

Not long afterwards, Gary Hart quit the presidential race . . . only to reverse course several months later with the declaration, "Let the people decide; I'm back in the race!"

During those days, I heard people asking the question, "Does character really matter when you're running for public office?"

I asked myself, "Why is this even a question?  Of course character counts!"

Apparently, many Americans did not feel the same way, because in 1992, even amid rumors of past infidelity, Bill Clinton was elected to the Presidency, and then re-elected in 1996.  

In 1998, the Monica Lewinsky scandal blew up.  

At that time, certain evangelical Christian leaders -- including Franklin Graham and James Dobson -- stood up and declared, "Yes, character counts in a President!"

Some of those same leaders, in 2016, reversed course and supported Donald Trump for president, despite his known affairs with at least two women and his disgusting remarks about women that were leaked to the media.  

Did character count then?

Apparently not.  

This is what happens when you are so fearful of one particular candidate that you end up supporting the other, despite the character flaws that you condemned so forcefully when the candidate was not the one you supported.

There are Presidents who have done things for this country and have been adulterers and have committed other sins during their time in office.  Thomas Jefferson is now well-known for his dalliances (some would say, rape of) with Sally Hemings. John F. Kennedy left of trail of infidelity behind him.  And FDR's relationship with Lucy Mercer Rutherford is also well-documented.  

As many things as they did for this country, for me, their legacy is forever tainted by the way they treated their wives.  Or, as in Jefferson's case, the women around them (I say that because Jefferson's wife had died by the time he was in the White House.)  

Should a person who has committed adultery -- or, for that matter, any other sin -- be permanently barred from running for public office?

I don't know.  I can only tell you what I think:  If someone has committed adultery, if they have repented, if they have gotten help, if they have remained faithful to their spouse since the days of that adultery, then no, I don't think that should permanently bar them from public office. People do sin. People do repent of sin. God does forgive sin. 

What I resent is the cries of, "Yes, character counts!" from respected Christians only to have those same Christians turn around and say, "Yeah, the guy has rotten character, but look at King Cyrus! God used him!" Or, "King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and God used him!" Or, "He wasn't elected to be our pastor!" 

Number one, the prophesy about King Cyrus was fulfilled when he allowed the Israelites to go home after 70 years of exile. That prophecy was not intended to be extrapolated onto a future President of the United States.

Number two, although God did use David after he sinned, there are two things to keep in mind:  a) David repented (see Psalm 51) and b) David paid a very steep price for his sins. The son he conceived with Bathsheba died. His daughter Tamar was raped by her half-brother Amnon, and David did nothing about it. David's son Absalom attempted to seize the throne. Absalom raped ten of David's concubines, and then was ultimately killed by David's own general, Joab.

No President is perfect.  We all sin.  Presidents sin. 

But what we saw on Wednesday afternoon unfold on our TV screens is the ultimate result of what happens when we decide that character no longer counts in a President. 

We end up getting a President who is unwilling to concede an election until absolutely forced to, who continues to propagate a false narrative about a stolen election, and who whips a crowd up into such a frenzy that they feel free to storm the US Capitol, with Congress inside, and break into the House and Senate chambers in order to take selfies and trash the place. 

We decided way back in 1987 that character no longer mattered in a President. 

We are now reaping the consequences of that decision.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.