There's nothing quite like a political discussion to get my juices flowing

I have recently run across a blog entitled "Rocks in my Dryer:" http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/
which is wildly entertaining as well as thoughtful. Today she posted a topic for political discussion, basically asking the question, would you vote for a presidential candidate if you knew he had had an affair? The ensuing discussion has been fascinating to me, and of course I couldn't resist posting my own thoughts as well. You'll have to go to her webpage to see the whole discussion, but I thought I'd post what I wrote here as well, to see if anyone else wants to chime in, 'cause as you all know...there's nothing quite like a political discussion to get my juices flowing.

One must look to history in order to determine how to answer this question. Truth be told, there are less than 10 former US Presidents who remained faithful to their spouses. While an unfortunate and very sad statistic, the point remains that we have had many leaders who are remembered for their strength and leadership regardless of their own personal struggles. The difference between then and now however, is that a candidate cannot even get a haircut without being scrutinized by the pundits, let alone cheat.
As a married woman and Christian, I am obviously not a proponent of adultry. However, as a human being created by God, I also realize that regardless of how righteous we are, we are still sinners, and frankly, sin is sin. As such, every candidate is a sinner and is going to have struggles with something that would be viewed as unacceptable. Therefore, I cannot base my opinion of a candidate solely on their personal activities.
Just because a person has an affair, does not make them incapable of being a good president, in the same way that just because a man "seems" to be the ideal Christian candidate does not mean he in fact will be great. FDR is remembered as one of the greatest presidents in American history, guiding this country through the tumultuous dynamics of the Great Depression and WWII. He died in the arms of his mistress. Does the fact that he had a mistress make him any less of a great president?
My real concern is that especially in the Christian community, we find ourselves arguing over issues such as whether or not we'd base our vote for a candidate on whether or not known adulterer.
Christ said "he who is without sin, cast the first stone...." as well as "remove the plank from your own eye, before trying to remove the sliver from you brothers." Somehow we forget these instructions, and feel justified to judge and scorn others for their infidelities, while we ignore our own struggles. Sure, we may not be adulterers, but we are still sinners in other ways, and we have the luxury of not have cameras pointed in our lives 24 hours a day to provide fodder for our neighbors.
Christ spent the majority of his short time on earth instructing us to love one another, to be fiscally responsible, and in so doing to provide care for the poor and meek. How about we follow his example and worry about taking care of the poor? Feeding his sheep? Let's discuss things that will in fact matter in the grand scheme of history. Let's look at the voting records of these candidates and see who cuts funding to the poor, who cuts funding for health care, who thinks that giving tax cuts to the upper 2% of the population is financially responsible.
Before you say there are no "good candidates" I challenge you to reevaluate your basis for what makes a good candidate. Do not base your opinion solely on the headlines of the tabloids and what the pundits say on Fox news and MSNBC. Instead, do the dirty work. Take the extra moments to log on to their websites, read their actual platform. Log in to www.house.gov, and see what issues the candidates voted for or against. Then listen to them when they speak or debate, do not take the 5 second soundbite for face value, read the transcripts for the entire context. This will show you what kind of person they will be, and whether or not they will in fact have the qualifications to lead us through this very difficult time.