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Anti-Marriage Equality Senator Admits to Affairby Kilian MelloyWednesday Jun 17, 2009 In 2004, Nevada Senator John Ensign, declaiming on the sanctity of marriage, urged his legislative colleagues to support an amendment to the United States Constitution that would have enshrined discrimination toward gay and lesbian families in the bedrock of the nation’s laws. In 2006, he voted for such an amendment.
During the Monica Lewinsky scandal that plagued the Clinton administration’s second term, Ensign--at the time still a candidate in a Senate race--called for Clinton’s resignation.
Two years ago, the Nevada senator called Republican senator from Idaho Larry Craig "embarrassing," and led an effort to force the now-former senator into resigning. (In the end, Craig did not seek re-election.)
The born-again Ensign belonged to The Promise Keepers, an evangelical group promoting fidelity and heterosexual marriage.
And by his appearances at events in Iowa, Sen. Ensign seemed to be lining up his ducks for a run at the White House in 2012.
But on June 16, Ensign publicly confessed to having cheated on his wife with a married woman--married, in fact, to a then-member of his own staff.
The admission was reportedly prompted by the woman’s husband seeking money from the senator.
How Ensign’s confession will affect his standing within the Republican party, which has viewed him as a promising possible candidate for a more prominent role in the party, or affect his chances in 2012 is, as yet, uncertain. With more than three years until the election, the memory of the scandal is bound to fade.
Also, voters may be growing jaded to the string of scandals that has plagued the so-called "values party."
But in any event, it seems that Ensign has failed to take his own advice regarding either "the sanctity of the institution" of marriage, or resignation as the proper response to bringing scandal to one’s party and one’s office.
A June 17 article in the Washington Post reported that Ensign missed a vote with potential vital impact on the tourist industry that drives the economy of his home city, Las Vegas, in order to return to Nevada and make the announcement in a June 16 press conference
The article noted that the admission comes as the latest in a series of body blows to a party that has been rocked by scandal, electoral defeat, and a the defection of high-profile, long-serving Sen. Arlen Specter in recent times.
Saying that he remained "committed to my service in the United States Senate," Sen. Ensign gave no indication that he would resign, despite having declared previously to the Associated Press that, were he in the position of Larry Craig, "...that’s what I would do."
Onlookers have grown accustomed to disgraced politicians offering their apologies with their wives standing at their sides, but ensign’s wife, Darlene, was not present at the Las Vegas press conference at which Ensign declared, "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions."
However, Darlene later issued a statement in which she asserted that the episode had only resulted in a more solid marriage.
Said Darlene, "I love my husband."
Ensign’s GOP colleagues remained silent about the admission, the Washington Post reported.
The article reported that the affair commenced in December of 2007, mere months after Sen. Ensign led the effort to force Sen. Craig into resigning following Craig’s guilty plea on charges of soliciting sex from a male undercover police officer in an airport restroom.
A statement from Ensign’s office described the affair as "consensual," and said that it involved that wife of "an official Senate staffer" who was no longer working for Ensign by May of last year.
Reactions from the GOP ranged from critical to dismissive to nil. A onetime senior adviser to former presidential candidate John McCain, John Weaver, called the episode "yet another reminder as to why the American people have chosen new management for the foreseeable future," referring to the stinging defeats that the GOP were dealt in the 2008 elections.
Added Weaver, "Nothing is shocking in Washington, of course, except the audacity of politicians who believe rules don’t apply to them," the Washington Post reported.
The senior adviser to another failed candidacy--that of Mitt Romney--took a somewhat different view, the article reported.
Said Kevin Madden, "This news is a personal issue affecting John Ensign, his family and their privacy.
"I’d argue that it’s an analytical reach for opponents to try and assign a negative political impact on the fortunes of the national party because of this revelation," Madden continued.
The article noted that the senator took a two-week leave in 2002, citing personal matters and offering as explanation only a request for "people to respect my privacy."
But the privacy of gay and lesbian families seemingly mattered far less to the senator than his own. A July 13 posting at Ensign’s Web site trumpeted the senator’s having urged his peers to support the Federal Marriage Amendment Act, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would have marked out gays and lesbians as legally excluded from ever having the right to marry their life partners.
In an address to the Senate, Ensign recited the now-rote list of talking points offered by anti-gay legislators and activists determined to see gay and lesbian families legislated out of existence.
"Marriage recognizes the ideal of a father and mother living together to raise their children," the senator told his colleagues, according to text at the Web site.
"Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded," added Sen. Ensign, going on to add, "For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation.
"Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America has relied," Ensign went on to claim.
In 2006, Ensign cast a vote in support of such an amendment, according to a June 7, 2006 posting at Ensign’s Web site, which quoted Ensign as lashing out at "activist judges" for "taking away the voice of the people" in deciding who may enjoy which civil rights.
But, reported a June 17 article at Politico Ensign, in his press conference, copped to having "violated the vows" of that sanctified institution.
The Politico story noted that the senator offered an explanation for the affair, saying that his "closeness" as a friend of the family to the woman and her husband "put me in situations which led to my inappropriate behavior."
Politico reported that, according to staffers, the woman in question was Cynthia Hampton, wife of Douglas Hampton, a former administrative assistant to the senator.
Cynthia Hamilton, too, worked for the senator, being part of committees PAC and his reelection campaign.
Politico quoted one unnamed source as saying, "It was known in [the senator’s] inner circle that they were involved."
Though the statement from Ensign’s office indicated that both Cynthia and Douglas Hampton had left the payroll by May of 2008, the Politico article reported that sources said the affair continued for months beyond that time, ending in August of last year.
Politico also reported that sources had indicated that Ensign’s admission had been prompted by a demand for money.
Senate Majority Leader and fellow Senator from Nevada Harry Reid, a Democrat, defended Ensign, telling Politico, "This is a private, family matter.
"I just hope that Darlene and he work things out."
The affair reportedly took place during a period of estrangement between Ensign and his wife.
Ensign serves as the GOP Policy Committee chairman, a highly-ranked position in the Senate.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
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