Lowell and I met Martin at Romney’s “Faith in America” speech at the Bush Library – he is not quite as bad as all that.

But more importantly, don’t look for him in the next cycle – he is a “B-lister” at best at this point. His performance during the last cycle was abysmal more for his lack of contacts than any bias. By the time it showed on his blog it was old news. We would have ignored him altogether except he was the Republcan primary beat guy on “the” political sheet of the election. I don’t think he’ll enjoy that position next time.

We can all look forward to more of the same from Mr. Martin during the next cycle. I just hope they don’t put him in charge of reporting on the Republicans again.

If I’m honest with myself, I must admit that Republicans are no better than Democrats in terms of personal morality. Some do argue that the likes of Ensign and Sanford are bigger hypocrites than the likes of Edwards and Spitzer because they targeted voters who believe in traditional morality. But that’s comparing kettles to pots when neither is wanted.

Since sexuality is fundamental to human nature, no elected official of any political party is or ever will be immune to the temptations of “peccadilloes” which is a euphemism for blatant betrayal of one’s spouse and family. If there’s a long-term cure for such scandals, it lies in reducing the power and money and glamor of political office.

The Republican brand has been badly tarnished. But I see no better alternative at the moment.

It is clear that the general run of news media do not relish revealing adultery by their own heroes on the left wing. The hypocrisy of a Spitzer who prosecuted prostitution while patronizing it on the side, or of an Edwards who proclaimed his own virtue for standing by his cancer-stricken wife while drowning his sorrows with a campaign worker, were facts that the major news media seem to have tried to avoid reporting as long as they could.

The most telling case was the rallying around Bill Clinton when he was impeached for lying under oath (the crime that Scooter Libby went to jail for), claiming that lying about sexual misconduct, to the courts, to counsel for a legal adversary, and to the nation at large, was excusable if it grew out of adultery. The most hypocritical aspect of this was that the same members of Congress who went down to the White House to show their support for lying adulterers were the most enthusiastic in their attacks on the Navy for allowing lewd conduct (though no proven crimes) at its Tailhook Convention. While hypocrisy that demonstrates the victory of one’s own libido over one’s rational faculties is an all too common human flaw, the hypocrisy that trumpets adultery by the Commander-in-Chief while it excoriates it when (allegedly) committed by a Naval officer is a deliberate act of calculation that makes common cause with the powerful and sacrifices the politically weak as props in a morality play.

The fact that elected officials are supposed to implement the will of the people on issues like same-sex marriage and regulation of abortion makes their own beliefs and behavior an important concern for voters. Only those who have personal integrity and who actually support traditional morality can be relied upon to craft laws that maintain a congenial environment for those citizens whose religion significantly guides their lives. Politicians who are exposed as hypocrites on this issue compound their betrayal by insisting on holding onto their power. The chairwoman of the South Carolina Republicans this morning refused to countenance Sanford resigning. She is intent on her party retaining a temporary position of power while abandoning real moral authority. Both she and Sanford ought to join the Democratic Party, where the philosophy of power above morality has full sway.