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The Marriage Issue

by Ryan Sager
Wed, 7 Mar 2007 at 5:38 PM
updated Wed, 7 Mar 2007 at 5:41 PM

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No, not the gay-marriage issue. The multiple-marriage issue. How big a role will it play in the Republican primaries? In the general election?

The issue was brought to the fore this morning by comments made by the head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, Richard Land, in an interview with the Associated Press. Mr. Land told the Associated Press that Evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover.

"I mean, this is divorce on steroids," Mr. Land said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."

Mr. Giuliani married Judith Nathan in 2003. They had dated publicly while Mr. Giuliani was married to Ms. Hanover. (His first marriage ended in an annulment.)

In the GOP primary, Mr. Giuliani faces one opponent who is divorced (Senator McCain) and one who's been happily married for 37 years (Mitt Romney).

Mr. McCain cheated on and divorced his first wife when he returned from Vietnam and launched his political career with his new wife's family's money. But Mr. Land tells the AP that this is no big deal. "It's a molehill compared to Giuliani's mountain," Mr. Land said. "When you're a war hero [like McCain], you have less to prove on the character front."

Mr. Romney, then, stands out. His wife, Ann Romney, has made the quip that her husband, the Mormon, is the only candidate in the field who's only had one wife. And Mr. Romney looks ready to exploit that to its fullest.

Taking the stage a few hours after Mr. Giuliani at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., last Friday, Mr. Romney handed the mic straight over to Mrs. Romney — whom he invariably calls "my sweetheart" — to talk about their marriage and their family. "You all are very familiar with Mitt's accomplishments," she said, "but those that are not known as well are the accomplishments that I hold most dear in my heart, because for me he has been an extraordinary husband, and, most importantly, he has been a terrific example to our five sons and now to our ten grandchildren."

Subtle, it is not. But all's fair in politics, and it certainly doesn't hurt that Ann Romney is very pretty and puts forward an extremely wholesome image on behalf of the Romney family. To put it mildly, Ms. Nathan will not represent a similar asset to the Giuliani campaign. And it's all quite a contrast with the reported estrangement between Mr. Giuliani and his children.

Do these personal morals issues matter? Well, President Clinton's inability to control himself led to a parade of embarrassing and distracting scandals throughout the 1990s — though Democrats would likely blame Republicans and the press for making such a big deal out of the president's philandering. Would anyone care about such trivialities in a post-9/11 world? Probably less than in the past. But how would the nation handle a repeat of the mayor's past behavior, but this time in the Oval Office? Or, if the mayor were to run a general-election campaign against Senator Clinton, would the prospect of embarrassments from the first "first husband" be of greater concern?

So many questions, so few answers at this point. But, as one last point, I'll note that the Republican Party must remember that married women are an important swing constituency. They split their vote for president in 2000 but then voted for President Bush by 11 points over Senator Kerry of Massachusetts in 2004. Mr. Giuliani, whatever other electoral advantages he brings to the table, might well have some extra hurdles to jump over with this group.

Not to mention the nation's first wives.

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