Sex and Politics

What went wrong, Eliot? The former governor from New York is the most recent contributor to a potent list of governors, mayors, members of Congress, and presidents, or at least our good friend Bill Clinton, who have complimented an ambitious political career with sex, scandal, and more sex. Why? Why are our nation’s finest subsequently given to such rapacious habits?

Sex and power. Sex, the deep ceded desire to reproduce and endow the human race, and power, the natural drive for social ascension. Sex and power.

Perhaps your typical neo-Freudian would call it the id. Sex and power epitomize what is left after man is stripped of the conscious effort to keep himself and his guilty desires in check. Without a conscience, we are left with the basic human drives, or instincts, that we were born with. These drives are the subconscious motivation behind all of our actions.

Consider MacBeth. Shakespeare was a master of psychology and well aware of these subconscious drives. This is effectively portrayed in Act I, scene vii immediately before MacBeth murders Duncan. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the play, MacBeth is a Scottish general who is enticed by the prophecy of three witches who tell MacBeth that he will one day become king. MacBeth acts on the prophecy and plots to kill Duncan, the standing king of Scotland.

MacBeth becomes unsure of himself and has second thoughts about murdering the king. Aware of this, Lady MacBeth begins questioning his masculinity:

“What best was’t, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;
And to be more than what you were, you would
Be so much more the man.”

Confused? Basically, Lady MacBeth tapped those basic drives in MacBeth, questioning both his sexuality and desire for power. In doing so, she unleashed the beast in MacBeth, who went on to murder several others in his quest for power.

Consider also the famed BTK strangler Dennis Rader. Rader terrorized Kansas by binding his victims before performing sexual acts on them and eventually killing them. Perhaps most notable about Rader were his rabid sexual drives. Said of one victim in court: “I had some sexual fantasies. But that was after she was hung.” Rader also admitted to being sexually turned on by the act of murder.

How does this all tie in? Rader couldn’t have made his subconscious, instinctual drives more distinct from his conscious state of mind. He has said that during and after the murders took place, he felt “…possessed with demons.” Rader has made clear that he is a different person when he commits these acts, and “once this character takes over… it drives me.” Rader was possessed by his natural drive for sex and power.

Perhaps politicians are possessed by these same drives. Perhaps these drives are more apparent in men of authority. Regardless, it is undeniable that those who hold public office are more likely to be involved in such scandals. From Eliot Spitzer to Kwame Kilpatrick to Bill Clinton, it is not uncommon in politics. The real question is who’s next.