“Skeletons in the closet” have the capacity to affect how people view an individual. The label “skeleton” usually implies a negative connotation and often does not depend upon whether or not that individual actually did the action in question. Political candidates seem to be the most susceptible to guilt by association, at least in an election year.
The recent news videos showing Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, making controversial comments has the pundits wondering about the impact to Obama’s campaign. Hillary Clinton has certainly been affected by former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferarro’s recent statements and by the never-ending references to comments or actions of her husband. And John McCain has his own alleged skeletons; I heard the term “Keating Five” just the other day and had to go look it up.
The one key element in all of these has to do with perceived truth. I say “perceived” because, as much as I believe in freedom of the press, I know I can’t expect to learn the truth by watching TV, reading the newspapers or even seeing a live video on YouTube. And being there in person doesn’t mean you will know or remember what actually happened. What’s the old adage about police rarely relying on eye witnesses — you’ll get ten different stories by ten different witnesses of the same incident. The real truth lies somewhere between what we saw and what we can or cannot know.
That’s why it’s really important to do as much investigation into the “truth” as possible. While I certainly can’t begin to offer any sort of proof or disproof for any of the above examples (thus no links to any sources), I can say there are other ways of finding out reality versus perception. Take a look at AAUW’s recent release of the Congressional Voting Record for the First Session of the 110th Congress — a great resource when trying to learn how legislators voted on an AAUW issue of importance to women and girls. What other resources have you found that help you make informed decisions?
