Remember when Newt still thought he was ordained to be president, but he had a mistress problem? So he went on tv with the Rev. James Dobson (or was it Pat Robertson?), confessed his sins, and received forgiveness.
And then there's the Comback Kid, himself: Bill Clinton. Anthony Wiener hopes it will work for him.
Mark Sanford just won an election in South Carolina to get his old seat in Congress back. That's what he did before he became governor and claimed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was really in Argentina with his mistress. But, oh, did he play the penitent card for all it was worth -- and then some. Most of us thought he over-did it by a good margin. But he won his election.
It's not just giving these penitent bad boys a second chance. There's something downright magnetic in these charming, wayward boys who repent and ask for forgiveness. The religious right seem especially drawn to them. They can feel good about forgiving the sinner, while at the same time getting a vicarious thrill out of their (usually sexual) sin.
It didn't work for Newt, so I suppose you've got to have some appeal and charm. Not just any repenting sinner will do.
Ralph
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