Scandal Dogs Family Values Republicans

Apart from the sex scandals, what do John Ensign and Mark Sanford have in common? They’re both members of the much-hyped GOP House class of 1994, Politico observes. Those Republican revolutionaries swept into Washington promising a focus on family values, but 14 years later, no fewer than a dozen of them have been embroiled in sex scandals, affairs, messy divorces, or some combination thereof.

Despite Newt Gingrich’s promise to ensure Congressmen could spend time with their families, four of the 71 GOP freshman saw their marriages collapse in the first year. There was the famous Mark Foley scandal. Even Gingrich got a divorce. “They all came to town on this great family values train,” said then-congresswoman Pat Schroeder, a Democrat. “Then it all started crumbling.” (More Republicans stories.)