Candidates Discuss Why Politicians Cheat

CBS Evening News: McCain And Obama On Why Political Figures Commit Adultery

(CBS)  In November, Americans decide whether Barack Obama or John McCain becomes the 44th President of the United States. In the series "Presidential Questions," CBS News anchor Katie Couric asks questions that move the candidates well beyond the usual sound-bites. Some questions concern policy. Others are more personal. All will give you a better sense of who these men are - and what has shaped them. What follows is Couric's question - and the candidates' full answers.

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Katie Couric: Why do you think so many prominent political figures risk so much by being unfaithful to their spouse?

Barack Obama: I have no idea, because my attitude is the more I'm in public, I mean, I don't even want to pick my nose, you know. It's, I mean, I'm assuming everybody's watching.

And it's just an interesting - I'll leave that to the psychologists. But I find that, the more I'm in the public eye, the more I want to make sure that people know that ... there's no gap between who I am and the face I'm presenting to the world. You know, you want to, you want people to know that what you say is what you mean and that's who you are.

John McCain: I don't know, Katie, and I don't understand people's personal lives. And so I can't comment on that. I think it's something that I am not really running for president to address, and I can't comment on it.

Couric: Isn't it bizarre, though, when you think about it, Senator? Elliott Spitzer, recently John Edwards, President Clinton. I think it's very befuddling to many people in this country.

McCain: Yeah, but I also am reminded of the biblical admonition about "judge not." And so I really don't make any comments about that because, frankly, I want to be a good president and try to lead an honorable life.

And I've been an imperfect servant and so I'm not judging.

[harbinger09]

Note McCain says Judge not--he can''t say like Obama that he does not cheat--because he did--he cheated on Carol to be with Cindy and wants to install his former mistress in the White House--too bad Couric lacks the questions to follow up with the stories about McCain''s own adultery and how he dumped the wife who waited for him when he was a POW.

I mean, Who is John Mccain? This info would give us such an insiders look into his character, why lying and cheating are things he is comfortable with and why he wants to besmirch the oval office by putting his mistress in the role of First Lady. The media has a duty to run this aspect of McCain and Cindy into the ground.

[whosaid1]

YvonneS4: "If it had been Obama, she would have nailed him to the cross." You''re HONESTLY, REALLY, suggesting that if it had been Obama that KATIE COURIC would have nailed him to the cross?? Wow, you seem like a smart enough person............????

[whosaid1]

mkcscbs: "What a double standard though, if I remember right they crucified Clinton when he cheated on his wife."

So, you don''t see any difference at all in the situation involving McCain before he was "IN PUBLIC SERVICE" and Clinton when he was the PRESIDENT??? Obviously, neither was justified, but to it risk something like that when you''re the president is plain stupid....

[runningralph]

If Katie is going to to open this can of worms why didn''t she go all the way? Get after McCain about going after Cindy while still married to the first wife and then question Obama about smoking crack and getting oral *** from Larry Sinclair in a limo in Chicago? Have Jerry Springer or Maury bring out witnesses.

[casada1]

when McCain returned to America in 1973 to a fanfare of publicity and a handshake from Richard Nixon, he discovered his wife had been disfigured in a terrible car crash three years earlier. McCain has acknowledged that he had girlfriends during this time, without going into details. In 1979 %u2013 while still married to Carol %u2013 he met Cindy at a cocktail party in Hawaii. Over the next six months he pursued her, flying around the country to see her. Then he began to push to end his marriage. McCain moved to Arizona with his new bride immediately after their 1980 marriage. There, his new father-in-law gave him a job and introduced him to local businessmen and political powerbrokers who would smooth his passage to Washington via the House of Representatives and Senate.

[user168-2009]

McCain would not want to comment? Sure, he married for good times and cheated his disabled wife during bad times for good times and money again. It''s all about greed. Once a cheater always a cheater. McCain is a cheater because he believed he could cheat on a fellow citizen. He''s "me first" and totally untrustworthy!

[balki0007]

Hmm.

I guess that should be a plus eh?
The citizens of this country re-elected Clinton, so it must be OK, eh?

As for the Infidelity, didn'''' McCain cheat on his girlfriend or first wife, that is why he can not comment on peoples life. He has been slinging enough mudd, but you better believe if he hadn''''t been gulity of that, he would comment on it.
posted by karma16c at 12:09 AM : Oct 16, 2008

I don''t understand what "mudd" he has been slinging, I do wonder how many people they hired where you work, that put in 10% every day for the last 4 years...

There are 1480 days in four years, and Obama has worked 143 of them for the Senate, the rest for himself. You think it will be OK to have a President that puts in 10%??

[karma16c]

As for the Infidelity, didn'' McCain cheat on his girlfriend or first wife, that is why he can not comment on peoples life. He has been slinging enough mudd, but you better believe if he hadn''t been gulity of that, he would comment on it.

[tooedgesword]

What a joke!! These two car salesmaen Obama and McCain were tearing each other apart while while wall street is tanking!!

Ha Ha..remember when Obama becomes the next president forget 911..never forget who allowed our first world nation to become a third world nation..the GOP.

For the next eight years while your all wishing Mc Cain won the election, then eight more years of Hillary Clinton that totals 16 years for those of you who voted for Mc Cain..by then there wont be any intrest in the GOP oh by the way..for those of you who think you seem to be able to tell me what to do with my body..remember this "Mind your Business" and keep your religion to yourself..

Im a Viet-Nam vet and if you support our children to be killed for oil and you dont think its morally correct for a womans right to choose..Mind your buisness!

In closing I know that Jesus is voting for Obama..why??
Because he told me so..

[mkcscbs]

I think it was a stupid question to ask but I was still very interested in how John McCain answered. Besides Cindy he had multiple other girlfriends while still married to his first wife. He should have at least gave the standard "I take full responsibility for my immaturity" statement he ususally gives when cornered with that fact.

What a double standard though, if I remember right they crucified Clinton when he cheated on his wife.

[yvonnes4]

I agree with bob3701,(except I still watch CBS News)and I just wondered why Katie didn''t ask John McCain about the affair he had with Cindy, while still married to his first wife, Carol? If it had been Obama, she would have nailed him to the cross. Is there a double standard here? She didn''t have to ask about the people she mentioned, she had him in front of her! I guess the network didn''t want to put too much pressure on the "maverick",ha,ha!!

[bob3701]

With a senseless war that continues to grind on with no end in sight, with a financial meltdown that gets scarier by the day, with the threat of climate change and energy issues that threaten our very existence, you can''t think of anything better to ask the candidates? Now I remember why I stopped watching CBS News several years ago.