(Providence, Rhode Island) – Happy Father’s Day to all! George Washington was the “Father of our Country,” but apparently that was all he fathered. He had no children and - by most accounts - Washington served his country, was faithful to his wife, and left the scandals to his successors. The same can’t be said for a lot of other politicians since then. As promised, this week we are looking at political sex scandals, of all stripes!

“The Comeback Kid” – Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) shocked the political world in early May, when he won a seat in Congress. Sanford – who was famously caught in Argentina with his mistress while Governor – had told his staff and family he had gone hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Sanford and his mistress are now engaged. South Carolinians seemed in a forgiving mood. They are not alone.

“The Comeback Kid, Part II” – Former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is making his own comeback attempt, hoping to become the next Mayor of New York City. People laughed when Weiner entered the race - believing the Congressman, who sent “self-portraits” of his anatomy out on Twitter - was a political has-been. But, Weiner has been gaining in the polls and is now within five points of the frontrunner. Hopefully, no one will say it’s going to be a “photo finish!”

“Trending?” – So, Mark Sanford survives a sex scandal and is voted back into office. Wow!!! That must be a rare feat in an age when the public says, "Throw the bums out!" Anthony Weiner has no chance either.... Right? Wrong!!! In fact, more often than not, the public embraces and forgives its flawed candidates. Most politicians I’ve covered over three decades have, in fact, survived sex scandals. Here are some of the classics:

“The Tidal Basin Bombshell” - Congressman Wilbur Mills (D-AR). Mills had an affair with "Fanny Foxe," a Washington, DC, stripper. The two were drunk when he drove their car into the Washington Tidal Basin in 1974. He was reelected later that year, although he was stripped of his Chairmanship of the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.

“Scandal by the Bay!” – Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had an affair with the wife of a close friend, both of whom served on his staff. Still, he was reelected Mayor with 72 percent of the vote and is now Lt. Governor of California. At the age of 45, he is a likely candidate for Governor or U.S. Senate some day; and either job could be his launching pad to the White House.

“Bipartisan Scandal” – Last week when I wrote about Democratic Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, I received an email excoriating me for ignoring Republican sex scandals, which isn’t true. Just Google my columns, and you’ll find plenty of GOP fodder. My point is that neither side can claim the other is the sex scandal king. It’s fairly well distributed between both parties.

“Equal Opportunity Sex Scandals” - Gay or straight, politics is an equal opportunity offender. Congressman Barney Frank's (D-MA) onetime live-in boyfriend actually worked as a male prostitute during the day while Frank was tending to his Congressional duties. After that revelation, Frank was promptly reelected, and continued to be reelected for another 25 years. Another gay Congressman, Gerry Studds (D-MA) had an affair with a 17-year-old male page, but Studds (Yes, that's his real name.)continued to be reelected for another 15 years.

“Jail Bait” - At the same time as the Studds-page affair, Republican Congressman Phil Crane (R-IL) was also caught having sex with a 17-year-old Congressional page - in his case, a female page. Both Congressmen were censured on the day. Crane retained his seat for another 20 years; and, as mentioned, Studds enjoyed a long career, too.

“Madam Who?” - Current U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) was a client of the famed "D.C. Madam," a known prostitute. Vitter was reelected to another six-year term.

“The Cat with Nine Lives” - President Bill Clinton remains immensely popular despite his sex scandals and impeachment. In fact, polls indicated he could have won a third term in 2000 had it not been for term limits. The public seems to love to forgive and give second chances (and in some cases, such as Clinton's, third and fourth and fifth chances). In 1997, Clinton was testifying in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones. He was impeached for perjury when Jones’ lawyers asked him about Monica Lewinsky and when he lied under oath.

“Equal Rights Amendment” - With lots of women in politics now, they are tempted, too. The late Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth (R-ID) admitted to an affair which took place a few years before she was elected, but the man later served on her staff. My favorite case is that of Utah State Representative Katherine Bryson. Hoping to catch a burglar, her husband installed a secret video camera in a condominium they owned. Unfortunately, it videotaped Mrs. Bryson and her male lover instead! Oops!

“The Unforgiven” - Not everyone survives. Former Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), who was busted for soliciting in a Minneapolis airport restroom, and former Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada), who had a long affair with a key staffer’s wife, were both forced to resign. But, again, most politicians do survive the sex scandals. Former Senator and Presidential candidate John Edwards will probably never hold public office again. Why? A) He had an affair while his very popular wife was dying of cancer; and B) His mistress had a baby, that he first said was his campaign manager's child. DNA testing later did him in. There are just some things the public won’t ever forgive. But, Edwards just turned 60 last week and is a very persuasive speaker. Comeback Kid, Part III? Hey, it's American politics. Anything can happen!

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© 2013, Mark Curtis Media, LLC

(Providence, Rhode Island) – Happy Birthday! This column is two years old today! I get a lot of comments and feedback from around the country about my weekly offering of political nuggets and observations. So, thanks to my readers nationwide; and here’s to many more years of political brunch!

“Can You Hear Me Now?” – The White House has been besieged by all sorts of controversy the past few months, so it did not need the latest revelation that the National Security Agency (NSA) was culling through Verizon phone records (and, yes, I am a Verizon customer, so this affects me, too). I’ll take the explanation at face value that this is needed for national security and no one is actually tapping my phone. But here’s the problem. The President met with the leader of China Friday, and one central issue up for discussion was Chinese cyberspying on the U.S., especially the Pentagon. The Verizon revelations simply undercut President Obama’s moral authority to pressure the Chinese to stop. They were probably laughing all the way back to Beijing.

“Same Song; Different Verse” – Speaking of the NSA, Susan Rice will be the new National Security Advisor in the White House. The U.N. Ambassador, who came under fire for mishandling the explanation of the Benghazi attacks, was earlier blocked from becoming Secretary of State. That’s because she needed to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, but didn’t have the votes. The NSA job is a White House staff position, so she does not need Senate approval.

“Same Song; Different Verse, Part 2” – Republicans are outraged by the President’s promotion of Rice to NSA, but they may be suffering from short memories. In 2005 President George W. Bush made a recess appointment of John Bolton to become Ambassador to the United Nations. Presidents are allowed to make such appointments – and bypass a Senate vote – when the Senate is in recess. Most Presidents have done this – particularly with Federal Judgeships – as a way to get around Senate opposition. Yes, the Rice and Bolton situations have differences, but they have one important thing in common. Both were “in-your-face” political moves by an angry President at an angry Congress. Check and checkmate!

“Get with the Program!” – Last week in this column, I urged the two candidates for the U.S. Senate special election in Massachusetts to step up what has been a ho-hum campaign. This week, Democrat Ed Markey responded with attack ads against Republican Gabriel Gomez and his stances on gun control. Gomez did not respond locally with any TV ads of his own. There’s an old saying in politics: “Don’t let your opponent define you before you can define yourself!” Gomez really needs to ramp up his campaign and his media buys before he becomes an asterisk is Massachusetts political history. Gomez has a compelling story to tell. So, he should tell it!

“Hillary Watch 2016” – A new poll from Bloomberg News has a mixed bag of results for Hillary Clinton and her chances to become President in 2016. First the bad news. Since December, her favorability rating has dropped from 70 to 58 percent, mostly due to criticism of her handling of the Benghazi attacks. Now, the good news. Three-quarters of Democrats who responded to the poll are supporting Mrs. Clinton and, for now, so too are 33 percent of the independents. In truth, she’ll probably need 60 percent of the independents to win the White House, but it’s early and most people have not made up their minds. She’s off to a good start, but remember: She had a similar glide path around this time in 2007, but did not win the nomination in 2008.

“Weiner a Winner?” – People laughed a few weeks ago when disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) entered the race for Mayor of New York City. But guess what! Weiner is gaining slightly in the polls. His support has risen from 15 percent in mid-May, to 19 percent now. Frontrunner Christine Quinn has dropped from 26 to 24 percent. While Weiner still has ground to make up – and he has a lot of time from now until the September election – he is a viable candidate, jokes and all. By the way, next week I will run down a whole host of sex scandals, when the politicians in question survived and even thrived. You can’t make this stuff up, as I always say!!

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© 2013, Mark Curtis Media, LLC.