Anna Marie Smith,
"Sex Scandals, 'Responsible Fatherhood' and the 2008 Election Campaign:
When 'Sex Talk' Trumps Race and Class"
(page 3 of 7)
Sex and Race in Presidential Election Campaigns
Neoliberalism benefits, then, from a sensationalistic media that
reduces historic political campaigns to a "horse race" and displaces
in-depth coverage of economic inequality and social injustice in favor
of sex scandals. Responding to a truly unique American popular culture
that amalgamates evangelical pop culture, rugged individualism, and
deference to the capitalist market, the mainstream media offers us an
apocalyptic menu of pending moral disaster that is well-suited to an
audience of uneasy consumers who are seeking reassurance and escape.
Of course, the sensationalist sex scandal stories themselves are not
mere distractions that are empty of all significant content; given their
important role in reflecting and shaping popular opinions about gender
and sexuality, they themselves deserve to be closely scrutinized from a
feminist perspective. Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) was forced to
admit that he had had an extramarital affair with a campaign worker
during his pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination in August
2008. For days on end, key issues like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
poverty in the U.S. and global inequality, the redevelopment of New
Orleans after the Katrina hurricane, the dramatic rise of housing
foreclosures, global warming, and America's dependence upon fossil fuels
were set aside to make room for the latest angle on the story.
By August, the Democratic Party had already chosen Sen. Barack Obama
(D-IL) as its candidate for the 2008 presidential election. Even though
Edwards somehow escaped the revelation of his affair during the
nomination campaign, it is nevertheless the case that he was struck by a
different kind of sex scandal. As an anti-poverty populist, Edwards had
collected a lot of enemies on the right, and the right made its distaste
for his campaign crystal clear. He was ridiculed for hiring a Beverley
Hills celebrity stylist and two other exclusive salons to do his hair
and television makeup while he was on the campaign trail. In spite of
the fact that he is married to a woman and has four children, right-wing
pundit Ann Coulter openly tarred him with the homophobic slur that still
strikes fear in every American male's heart.
As for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the presidential candidate for the
Republican Party, one has to wonder about the free pass that he received
on his own extra-marital affairs. Only hours after McCain announced that
Governor Palin would be his running mate, news leaked out that she had
an unwed teenage daughter who was pregnant. The Palins quickly announced
that their daughter would marry the young father and that she intended
to carry her pregnancy to term. The McCain-Palin campaign, in one of its
most deft moments, turned what might have been a deeply embarrassing
moment into an opportunity to trumpet the Republicans' fidelity to
patriarchal family values.
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