Thank You, Sex Scandal!

German scribe salutes Spitzer, Craig for pulling towel off prudish Americans

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 18, 2008 5:50 PM CDT

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Thank You, Sex Scandal! — U.S. Sen. John McCain talks to reporters during his visit to Amman, Jordan, Tuesday, March 18, 2008. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for the U.S. presidential elections this year, said Tuesday that any hasty pullout from Iraq would be a mistake that would favor Iran and al-Qaida. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Here's to the US sex scandal! Eliot Spitzer and Larry Craig make American politicians seem almost human, Gabor Steingart writes in Der Spiegel. He claims that prudish Americans are fueled by secret lust—"and, in the case of some politicians, naked lunacy." Which makes public shame "an invaluable benefit" to the body politic.

"The political parties can no longer lord it over their voters as the guardians of public virtue," Steingart writes. In fact, whispers of an affair may help some candidates—like the aging John McCain. How better to boost the candidacy of a 71-year-old, deemed too old by some voters, than to spread "the suspicion that he is still as vigorous as a buck in rutting season?" (More Eliot Spitzer stories.)

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