redblueamerica.com

What strange bedfellows politicians make. Not a year goes by that some elected official, somewhere, isn’t caught up in some salacious scandal. Edwin Edwards, the crooked ex-governor of Louisiana, famously said in 1983, “The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either adead girl or a live boy.” The history of American politics is replete with both -- and then some.

Democrats are in the news lately for their sexual improprieties. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced his resignation on March 12 amid corroborated claims that he spent more than $80,000 over a decade on high-priced call girls. Spitzer’s successor, David Paterson, admitted upon taking office that he and his wife both had several extramarital affairs. James McGreevey, New Jersey's former governor, left office in 2004 amid news that he was carrying on a homosexual relationship with his homeland security advisor. This week, McGreevey’s former driver claimed he participated in three-way sex orgies with McGreevey and his wife years ago. The McGreeveys are locked in a contentious divorce battle.

But aren't Republicans are as bad, or maybe even worse?

It's true, the litany of Republican sex scandals is long and storied.

High profile cases include:

• Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, arrested in 2007 on charges of lewd conduct for allegedly attempting to solicit sex from an undercover police officer in a Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport men’s room. Craig denies he is gay.
• Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who resigned in 2006 amid credible allegations he tried to solicit sex from male congressional pages, some underage, via instant message and e-mail.
• Ex-New York Mayor and former 2008 presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who carried on an affair in office that resulted in a high-profile divorce and estrangement from his children.
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., twice divorced and married a third time, has admitted to multiple extramarital affairs. And he served divorce papers to his second wife as she recovered from cancer treatment.
• The late Henry Hyde of IIlinois, had at least one extramarital affair in the late 1960s. Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt gleefully reported Hyde’s infidelity in the midst of the Clinton impeachment.
• Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., resigned in 1995 under a threat of public hearings involving at least 29 female ex-staffers who accused him of sexual harassment. Packwood's diaries detailed his sexual exploits.
• Police arrested Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., in 1993 when he was caught receiving oral sex from a prostitute and attempted to flee the scene.
• The late Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Id., denied she was having an affair when confronted by The Spokesman-Review. In 1998 she called for Bill Clinton's resignation, saying "I
• beleive that personal conduct and integrity do matter". Days later she admitted to a six-year adulterous affair with a married man.  "I've asked for God's forgiveness, and I've received it,"  Chenowith said.

Other cases include:

• Bob Barr, former Republican representative from Georgia, was photographed at a charity event cavorting with strippers, licking whipped cream off their breasts.
• John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was accused by his first wife of forcing her to attend group-sex parties.
• Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chaired the House Oversight Committee in the 1990s, fathered a child by another woman while he was married.

Left-leaning web sites, including Salem News and dKospedia, cite the aforementioned cases and others as examples of conservative “hypocrisy.” After all, Republicans generally tout "family values" and oppose adultery, homosexuality and abortion. Many of the aforementioned scandal-tarred officials touted policies or legislation that ran counter to their sordid private behavior.

Of course, Republicans would protest that Democrats wrote the book on infidelity and sexual perversity. The Kennedy family alone would get several chapters.

President John F. Kennedy carried on numerous extramarital affairs and one-night stands, and even had sex with prostitutes in the White House. JFK and Attorney General Robert Kennedy famously carried on with Marilyn Monroe. President Kennedy’s youngest brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, is notorious for his sexual exploits, from the unusual events surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne on Chappaquiddick Island in 1969 to the bizarre “waitress sandwich” incident in 1985 with Sen. Chris Dodd at a Washington D.C. restaurant.

Other high-profile Democrats caught up in sex scandals include:

• Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. The Senate Ethics Committee eventually dropped its investigation for lack of evidence.
• Former Rep. Gus Savage of Illinois was accused of sexually assaulting a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee ordered Savage to apologize in 1990.
• Openly gay Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank faced congressional sanction for turning a blind eye to a roommate who ran a prostitution service from Frank’s home in the 1980s.
• Former Sen. Brock Adams of Washington abandoned a reelection campaign in 1992 amid numerous allegations from women of drugging, assault and rape.
• Former Rep. Fred Richmond of New York was arrested in 1978 for soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy. He remained in Congress and won re-election, but resigned in 1982 after pleading guilty to tax evasion and drug possession.
• Former Rep. Wayne Hays of Ohio resigned from Congress in 1976 amid news that he hired a secretary who admitted to the Washington Post, "I can't type. I can't file. I can't even answer the phone." Her taxpayer funded job was to be the congressman's mistress.
• Former Rep. Gerry Studds was censured by the House in 1983 for a sexual relationship with an underage male page a decade earlier.
• Former Rep. Mel Reynolds of Illinois was convicted in 1995 of sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl. President Bill Clinton pardoned him before leaving office.
• Former Rep. Gary Condit of California denied an affair with congressional intern Chandra Levy after he was suspected of her disappearance and murder.
• Jesse Jackson admitted in 2001 to having an extramarital affair and fathering a child out of wedlock.

And then, of course, there's Bill Clinton.

The Los Angeles Times compiled excerpts of more than a century's worth of editorials on political sex scandals. And U.S. News and World Report has a timeline of politicians and prostitutes that turns up a wide variety of cases from both sides of the aisle . What do these scandals have in common? They all involve politicians. Political party is secondary when it comes to human weakness and depravity.

So ... Democrats are more prone to sex scandals than Republicans, Truth or Not?