Assuming that there were some corrupt political network, geriatric males or no, it is of some political concern, and assuming that Folks had something to do with it, such a story would be relevant. If Andre or another politician is behind the hatchet job, then he should be out of the running for being unserious, peddling falsehood, and smearing a fellow Republican. My beef is more with the fact that this douchebag got so much initial play on multiple sites, and that the saga continues. So long as Nikki didn’t do anything illegal, I don’t see why an allegation of infidelity should have been a big deal, particularly when you consider the array of issues we’re facing as a nation (and which I’m sure SC is facing as a state). Nikki’s presumed infidelity, regardless of its veracity, doesn’t affect anyone in any way, nor does it add or detract from her exemplary record. Why is the affair, and whether it transpired or not, more important than her qualifications for the job she’s running for? (For the record, I highly doubt that it happened, but even if it had, wouldn’t make any difference to me.)

Presumably, what makes political networks so pernicious is not their personal sex life, but the very real damage they do to their states in the form of myopic and self-aggrandizing lawmaking, incompetent appointees, and a perversion of our democratic institutions.

Folks’ masturbatory and self-aggrandizing musings on his “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley would have floundered on some slashfic site where they belonged

I like Haley, too, just don’t see why her sex life (or lack thereof) is of interest any whichway. Seems to me that we play into our opponents’ strategy by loudly denying such non-sequiturs, in the same way that responding to claims of racism with, “my black friends” is ineffective. A cool denial in the same vein of Reagan’s reply as to whether he was a racist would do just fine, IMO. Let those who purvey such stories perish without receiving what they want: attention and relevance.

i part because of his marks as a stellar family man. Reagan was the first divorcee to be elected President. I’d argue that personal characteristics matter in the absence of a record of public service, but that having built up a record, it will be a surer predictor of future character in office than personal character. Indeed, our entire system is built up in such a manner: very few of us feel the need to ask our bankers, lawyers, etc. about their love lives, because their job performance is sufficient. Anyone who saw Obama’s public record could have easily predicted that he would be a radical liberal who would pursue policies damaging to America, but that he would also be ineffective. Lo and behold, those who read his book and saw his record as a legislator were right in their inferences, and those who babbled about hope and change, “family values”, and superficial and highly stylized details of his personal life were proved wrong in their beliefs. There’s a time and a place to use personal failings in evaluating a candidate, but this isn’t it.