Benchmarks Are Being Set Too Low

Europeans are said to be laughing at America because of the big deal we’ve made over President Clinton and his rampaging libido.

Being thus held up to foreign ridicule, we are urged to treat the president’s behavior as a minor indiscretion and get back to business. That attitude is especially popular with Clinton loyalists who also assert, by the way, that sexual adventurism is common among Americans - politicians included - and it’s hypocritical to single out this president for consequences.

For the record, the United States is no more likely to adapt Europeans’ casual attitude toward sex and politics than we are to give up football for soccer. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a lot of room for improvement in the way we articulate the so-called character issue.

Current discourse is dominated by an emphasis on least common denominators.

Thus, apologists for the president note indignantly that other presidents have been morally reckless without its leading to impeachment.

At the same time, the president’s detractors assail feminist interests for not treating Clinton as savagely as they did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas or former U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood.

Both sides, while scurrying to dig up dirt on each other, act as though the worst excesses of either political partisanship or personal conduct should determine what’s acceptable in the future. If that’s true, a president may some day explain away misbehavior by saying Clinton did it first.

Unearthing the tainted skeletons of political rivals and resurrecting historical scandals may create political advantage. But it undermines any aspirations the nation has for integrity in public officeholders.

Indeed, some of Clinton’s predecessors have behaved badly. But many others have consistently upheld high principles.

Some politicians do have secrets to hide. But some have profound accomplishments to their credit. And some have both.

Decency alone will not define the best leaders but it ought to be part of the mix.

Ex-Gov. Dan Evans of Washington is an example of decency. So was former Texas Rep. Barbara Jordan. And so was one-time Illinois Gov. and presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.

These and other esteemed leaders give American political figures standards to emulate, rather than standards to avoid.