Standing By Your Man: Factors in Media Coverage of Political Sex Scandals Sarah N. Mahmood Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Prerequisite for Honors in Political Science April 25, 2014 © 2014 Sarah N. Mahmood Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Marion Just. Four years ago, Professor Just was assigned as my first-year advisor, and she has mentored me throughout my Wellesley career since. Professor Just, thank you not only for your guidance on this thesis, but also for your support and encouragement throughout my four years at Wellesley. I would also like to thank Professor Tom Burke for his feedback on the thesis, as well as my other readers, Professor Miya Woolfalk and Provost Andrew Shennan. I truly appreciate the time you have taken out of your busy schedules to read my work. I would also like to thank my wonderful parents for their unconditional love and support. I am so humbled by all the sacrifices you have made for me, and I only hope that I can continue to make you proud. Thank you for teaching me the value of hard work, intelligence, and most importantly, a good heart. A huge “thank you” to my friends, who let me talk their ears off about my thesis. Raeesah Kabir, thank you for always being ready with a cup of tea to help me stay awake late at night. Anna Tupper-Bridges and Brendan Caldwell, thank you for commiserating with me as you wrote your own theses. Nathan Reynolds, thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I am truly fortunate to have such great friends. Finally, thank you to the Wellesley community for an incredible four years. 1 Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................. 5 What is a Political Scandal? .................................................................................................................................... 6 Do Political Sex Scandals Occur More Frequently Today? ....................................................................... 7 Changing Media Ethics in Reporting on Sex Scandals ................................................................................ 8 Changing Social Codes .............................................................................................................................................. 9 Increased Visibility of Politicians ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. It’s the Character, Stupid ...................................................................................................................................... 10 How the Media Cover Sex Scandals ................................................................................................................. 12 Does the Public Use Sex Scandals to Evaluate Politicians? ................................................................... 14 Increased Visibility of the Political Family ................................................................................................... 16 Why Study Political Sex Scandals? ................................................................................................................... 18 Methods .................................................................................................................... 20 How Does fsQCA Work? ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner ................................................................................ 30 Bill Clinton .................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Anthony Weiner ....................................................................................................................................................... 52 Clinton and Weiner ................................................................................................................................................. 74 Eliot Spitzer and David Vitter ..................................................................................... 81 Eliot SpitZer ............................................................................................................................................................... 81 David Vitter ................................................................................................................................................................ 92 Vitter and SpitZer ................................................................................................................................................. 101 John Edwards and Mark Sanford .............................................................................. 106 John Edwards ......................................................................................................................................................... 106 Mark Sanford .......................................................................................................................................................... 119 Edwards and Sanford ......................................................................................................................................... 138 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 142 Stand By Your Man, If You Want the Press to Stand By Him, Too ................................................... 144 He’s Not Worth It .................................................................................................................................................. 147 Egregiousness ........................................................................................................................................................ 148 Impact on Job Performance ............................................................................................................................. 149 Salaciousness ......................................................................................................................................................... 149 Does Media Support Actually Help? ............................................................................................................. 151 The Importance of the Political Context ..................................................................................................... 151 Future Studies ........................................................................................................................................................ 153 Appendix ................................................................................................................. 155 Works Cited ............................................................................................................. 157 2 Index of Tables and Figures Table 1: The parsimonious solutions from fsQCA analysis for each case study. 145 Table 2: The intermediate solutions from fsQCA for each case study. 145 Table 3: Characterization of wives (percentage of the number of articles that mention 146 the wife) Table 4: Negative News Coverage (percentage) 152 Figure 1: Coding sheet for sampled articles 27 Figure 2: Sample truth table constructed to explain fsQCA methodology 28 Figure 3: Sample complex solution constructed to explain fsQCA methodology 29 Figure 4: Sample parsimonious solution constructed to explain fsQCA methodology 29 Figure 5: Sample intermediate solution constructed to explain fsQCA methodology 30 Figure 6: Rodham Clinton watches supportively as Clinton tells a national audience 34 that he did “not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” Figure 7: The Clintons leave for Martha's Vineyard together, symbolizing their unity 36 the day after Clinton admits to an extramarital affair Figure 8: fsQCA truth table for coverage of the Clinton scandal 44 Figure 9: fsQCA complex solution for coverage of the Clinton scandal 45 Figure 10: fsQCA parsimonious solution for coverage of the Clinton scandal 45 Figure 11: fsQCA intermediate solution for coverage of the Clinton scandal 46 Figure 12: Weiner and Abedin are featured in People Magazine 56 Figure 13: Abedin and Weiner are featured in New York Times Magazine 57 Figure 14: fsQCA truth table for coverage of the Weiner scandal 64 Figure 15: fsQCA complex solution for coverage of the Weiner scandal 65 Figure 16: fsQCA parsimonious solution for coverage of the Weiner scandal 65 Figure 17: fsQCA intermediate solution for coverage of the Weiner scandal 66 Figure 18: The New York Post puts Abedin on the front page after she defends Weiner 69 at a press conference Figure 19: Silda Wall Spitzer and Eliot Spitzer face journalists at a press conference, 84 where Spitzer apologizes to his family and the public, on March 10 Figure 20: fsQCA truth table for coverage of the Spitzer scandal 88 Figure 21: fsQCA complex solution for coverage of the Spitzer scandal 88 Figure 22: fsQCA parsimonious solution for coverage of the Spitzer scandal 89 Figure 23: fsQCA intermediate solution for coverage of the Spitzer scandal 89 Figure 24: Wendy Vitter declared that she was “proud to be Wendy Vitter” at the press 96 conference Figure 25: fsQCA truth table for coverage of the Vitter scandal. 97 Figure 26: fsQCA complex solution for coverage of the Vitter scandal 98 Figure 27: fsQCA parsimonious solution