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Thursday, October 19, 2006

Bush and the Sherwoods

By Ken Herman | Thursday, October 19, 2006, 04:31 PM

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Here’s how President Bush opted to address GOP Rep. Don Sherwood’s marital infidelity. The comments came today during a fund-raising event today for the Pennsylvania incumbent:

“And I’m glad Carol’s here with us today. I read Carol Sherwood’s letter to the citizens of this congressional district. I was deeply moved by her words. Carol’s letter shows what a caring and courageous woman she is. I’m delighted to be here with Carol and their daughter Maria. Thanks for coming.”

And here’s Mrs. Sherwood’s letter, sent earlier this month:

Dear Friends,

After watching the debate last Wednesday night between my husband and Chris Carney, I decided to write this letter. This is not an easy thing for me to do because I am basically a private person. But as I sat in the auditorium listening to the debate, I realized that I would never want a person like Chris Carney to represent me anywhere, especially in Congress.

Chris Carney talks a lot about family values - but the “substance” of his campaign is to attack my family. He says his campaign is justified in publicizing over and over my husband’s infidelity under the guise of “factual information.”

He won’t admit that it is negative campaigning or a personal attack. I think we all know the facts by now, as the media has not let us forget. Chris Carney might be trying to make himself look squeaky clean, but we have all made mistakes we regret over the years… nobody is perfect. I am certainly not condoning the mistake Don made, but I am not going to dwell on it either.

We are a strong and loving family and have been put to the test… WE ARE NOT RUNNING AWAY FROM OUR PROBLEMS! On the contrary, we have gained strength from each other and, as a family, continue to pull together. It seems like a long process, but we are slowly and surely rebuilding our family.

As with most couples, Don and I have worked through our differences during our 34 year marriage and, although this is hard, we’re not about to give up. Don is a good person and has always been a hero to our daughters and, without a doubt, will be again. We do not believe in flogging dead horses or living in the past. It is time to move on and that is exactly what we are trying to do.

The negative ads approved by Chris Carney seem to be needlessly cruel. Private humiliation is one thing to endure, but to be repeatedly, publicly humiliated is quite another. When somebody hurts one of us, he hurts everyone in the family. Perhaps Carney gets some pleasure out of hurting our family, or maybe that’s what he thinks will make him a winner. He seems to be self-appointed judge and jury. “I will make you proud” he so frequently likes to say… but I find nothing in his actions during this campaign that would make anybody proud.

We have all done a lot of soul searching and put many hours into restoring our family unity. Without Don, we are not a whole family. It is a fact that good people can and do make mistakes. Don is a good person. I took a break from politics and campaigning for a while, now I am back and willing to work as hard as you to keep a good man doing a good job for all of us.

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