Sanford, Ensign and the Politics of Affairs

Sanford, Ensign and the Politics of Affairs

Sanford, Ensign and the Politics of Affairs

Nation contributor Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks to MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann about philandering politicians and why their private affairs matter to the public.

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Nation contributor Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks to Keith Olbermann about philandering politicians and why their private affairs matter to the public. She notes that “if [marriage] was a private matter, then gay men and lesbians would be free to marry in this country.” As Mark Sanford and John Ensign continue to hang on to their political careers, Harris-Lacewell notes the prevalence of an “old-boys club” mentality that subordinates women to the desires of powerful men, and makes the case that these issues should indeed be public.

Sarah Jaffe

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

Support The Nation’s June Fundraising Campaign

With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Nation elevates progressive ideas, movements, and elected officials achieving real change across the country into the national conversation. At the same time, our journalists are exposing how crypto and AI-funded super PACs are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to knock out candidates they oppose, reporting on the devastating impact of the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act, and sounding the alarm on attempts by red states to quickly redraw electoral maps, disenfranchising Southern Black voters.

We can play this critical role because of support from readers like you. This June, we’re raising $20,000 to power The Nation’s independent journalism in the run-up to November’s immensely consequential elections.

It’s in our power to build a more just society, and your support at this critical moment brings us closer to that bold vision. I hope you’ll donate today.

Onward,

Katrina vanden Huevel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x