Old Line Elephant Maryland Conservative Blog

Disappointment and Betrayal

In 2006 there was an open seat for Governor in New York. Democrats were rallying early on to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, so the Republicans needed a candidate who was exciting and able to compete. I went to a Gubernatorial candidate forum and one person stood out, Assemblyman Pat Manning. Manning was young, had a young family, was an across the board conservative, and was a great speaker. He ran in favor of old fashioned family values and classic American values. When he spoke, it sounded like he meant it. I got my picture taken with him and promptly donated to his campaign. I was hooked, I was excited. I was wrong.

A few weeks later it came out that the man was cheating on his wife, who had begun the process of divorcing him. It was messy, as it appeared him and, (according to insiders I knew at the time) other Assemblymen were passing around interns in a sketchy story that appeared less than true, until he dropped out of the race for Governor. He then tried to run for his old assembly seat, losing to Marc Molinaro in the primary - after getting caught trying to contact Molinaro's pollster pretending to be Molinaro over the phone. I was disappointed to say the least. I couldn't get over that this man who I had supported, man who I had believed in, would fall this far and could have deceived me so much. Fast forward to this year.

Early on, I had jumped on the Cain Train. When he first began talking about a Presidential campaign, I was excited. Listening to him speak about the fundamentals of conservatism was mesmerizing. His outsider credentials and his vast business experience was impressive to me. Add to that, he had a great personal story and had a great family life. His wife didn't want to be in the spotlight, she liked her privacy, so he didn't drag her on the campaign trail. I liked that. I then went out on a limb for him here and at Race42012 endorsing him. Then the allegations started rolling in.

First, there were allegations of sexual harassment. There were few details, they appeared...frankly, unfounded. Then came more allegations, including one from a person who actually came public with their specific allegations. Now, there's this - claims of a 13 year affair. Cain's response? All but admitting it with a non-denial denial. It makes all the previous allegations appear plausible. Also, she has specifics - texts, call logs, etc. I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before he drops out of the race; which is probably for the best for his family.

In both cases, I went all in for a candidate only to end up feeling betrayed and disappointed in a candidate who was not who they said they were. It's an awful feeling and one I don't want to feel again. We all need to be careful before endorsing, but that said - much like in romance, we can not allow the failures of the past to sully our future. We can not be unwilling to endorse for fear of being called a fool. We can not predict who will turn out to be a charlatan, who has skeletons in their closet. You can't be unwilling to endorse because a skeleton that you never could know about may come out. I can't just assume that everyone running for public office is untrustworthy, or else I'd never vote.

Trust is important to me and those of us on the right. Limited government, in many ways, requires an informed and responsible public; it requires us to trust each person to do what is right for themselves and their family. In order to have a limited government, you have to hold a great deal of trust in the average person. I trust that I know better for myself than my Senator or my President. I feel the same way about my neighbors and my friends. This is part of why I am a conservative. This inherent public trust carries over into our politicians. Ronald Reagan was a big time truster - according to Reagan speechwriter Peter Robinson, Reagan would trust those he appointed to do their job according to their ability and where they were the experts, he would trust their knowledge and their judgment. We on the right want to trust our political leaders. We are appalled when politicians prove untrustworthy and in most cases the grassroots will go after our own.

Trust is important to me and when it's gone, it takes time to rebuild and forgive the person who appeared untrustworthy. That's why Newt has taken until now to become politically viable. It took time to heal those past wounds. Right now I'm frustrated and betrayed. That said, I won't let disappointment prevent me from endorsing and supporting a candidate in the future.