Comments on: A Candidate’s Personal Life

By: Gionata

Gionata — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:16:16 +0000

Hi Lucy,
thanks for your interesting question. I think that personal behaviour of a candidate is a thing that matter. I mean, i want to know everything about a person who wants to be representative of citizens. Too many times here in Italy we see politicians who gain votes on a particular program or who try to convince us about the goodness of their ideas and then you discover that they live without respecting the principle by which they win the competition. Too many politicians against divorce who has been married three times!!!
Gionata

By: nguyenlam

nguyenlam — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:57:19 +0000

I thinks that voters will be affected by these things. Nowadays, the media can make a very very small information become very very big one. So, if one candidate makes any mistake, his rival and the media will attack him very violently. And it’s nearly that some of his voters will be affected. It’s seemly that the candidates must be perfect.

By: meshal

meshal — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:49:07 +0000

My answer is NO, Let’s take an example if you have a company and you want to employee a person in high position. You will employee a one who will achieve your company goals. not the one who visit the church. It’s about what you able to do in the company not in your backyard.

By: Julian Mack

Julian Mack — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:23:03 +0000

IMHO, If someone cannot take care of his home, how will he do it with a nation like the USA?

By: Victor

Victor — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:52:36 +0000

And I think that’s rather tough (and that’s why very intersting) question. I believe that most of those who has a chance to vote in different countries aren’t really into politics. So should the personal life of the candidate affect on our decision or not is D.O.A question. We always look at the “face” of a future president and if we like it, we’ll vote for him\her. It seems clear to me, that if a candidate doesn’t have his\her own family or the members of the family ‘don’t behave well’, it means that he\she has got some peorsonal problems and why will we talk about direction of the whole country while he\she can’t manage with their own life? And in addition, I’d like to say that everyone has a right to know all the information about the candidate, who is a public (!) person, and only after that one may takes it’s own decision whom he\she is going to vote for.

By: manuel

manuel — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:02:39 +0000

For my personal opinion and in my country , all politics are corruptor ( bad person ). For me, all the candidate a any work are bad person. For that we are like are. I never vote. Please excuseme for my English.

By: emiliano

emiliano — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:58:17 +0000

I have been two or three days thinking about this matter, also talking with my wife about her opinion, and may be she is right about some other questions she told me.
It is important that these public people have ethic in their private life, of course, and just do and live in the way they talk about and preach other’s life.
In few words “I do in life just what I say” and if this isn’t so, it is necessary that electors may know about it.
So private life may be very important (in some aspects) to know and check if this person who wants to be elected is doing in his/her life the same that is talking about.
I remember some anecdote that Jeff told me about California’s Governor that has changed his car (a big allground car) very pollute to the environment by a quite small one much more ecological.
This may be an example of doing what he was asking for, and we have all rights to demand at our politicians that they do in their lifes the same they ask for to the citizens.
But gossip, rubbish, mud up to the face of the other, no please.

By: Ghasem

Ghasem — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:45:17 +0000

Dear Den from Russia,
If you have a look at the results of this poll, you could see that the most (61%) of the readers do agree that the private life is a subject of public discuusion. I, again, disagree with them. Also, Sarah’s talk about support of family values is not in contrast with her doughter pregnancy. Her dogther hasn’t done anything illegal and his child won’t be a illegitimate child, because they will get married and her child’s father is determined !

By: DEN (from Russia)

DEN (from Russia) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:52:10 +0000

It is a very interesting to read the opinions wrote above. Most of the readers, as I see, think that private life is not a subject for public discussion. I agree with this but only partly. We call private life so because it is our personal life and the facts of this life can be the subject matter only if we want to discuss this publicly. So people have the right to live their own life avoiding public discussion.
But public person, especially the presidential candidate, is the other thing. Let’s see occasion with the pregnancy of Sara Palin’s daughter. She talks about family values publicly and that she will support them as a Vice-president of the USA. In the case of being citizen of the USA, I would like to ask about these values. Are American family values illegitimate children and adolescent pregnancies? If not (I am sure that not), Sara Palin is a hypocrite. And it is good to know about this when she is only running for a Vise –presidency.

By: elcomandant

elcomandant — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:25:25 +0000

I think in your survey, would be another possibility. “It depends”.

In my view, the voters have to distinguish between personal life’s acts that they can influence in the political behavior, or not.

For instance, if a candidate has been caught with a woman who isn’t his wife, or his father is alcoholic, or his son is a bad student, or he is divorced, this candidate would be able be a good President of some country, if the rest her behavior is enough honest, of course. I think, this can happen to anyone, either male or female.

However, If the candidate in your previous personal life he evaded his taxes, or he made a contract of employment illegal, or he cooked the books, or he embezzled money, it is clear that this candidate won’t be surely a good President of any country.

Worst of all this are the people think that whole of politicians are corrupt, I think so, then they vote always the same political party. Besides they usually hate the other people they vote the opposition. I don’t do this.

Greetings.