High (In)Fidelity

Another day, another cheating scandal. With the Sperminator's recent admission of fathering a child with a member of his household staff, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joins the ranks of the ever-growing club of Beltway politicians that can't quite keep their belts buckled.

It seems as if with great power comes great -- inability to remain monogamous. Regardless of party affiliation, geographical location, or level of constituent approval, politicians everywhere seemingly have become ensnared in romantic imbroglios every other month. Here are some infamous members of the Serial Womanizer Society:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), former California Governor. It wasn't enough to lead the Golden State, be married to a member of the Kennedy Dynasty, and have four healthy children of his own. Just like the oh-so-prescient title of one of Schwarzenegger's movies, this politician was a Predator who had to rendezvous with his housekeeper.

2. Bill Clinton (D), former President of the United States. There were rumors of adultery even before Clinton took office as the 42^nd President, but it was a lowly intern and an infamous navy blue GAP dress that got the nation hyperventilating and turned the Prez's White House into his very own dog house.

3. John F. Kennedy (D), former President of the United States. Here is the Grand-daddy of all Dalliances. Marilyn Monroe's breathy rendition of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" all but confirmed to the American public in the days prior to TMZ and US Weekly that Kennedy's rumored affair with the superstar was more real than her platinum blonde hair.

4. Rudy Giuliani (R), former mayor of New York City. Just prior to the September 11 terror attacks, Giuliani dropped a bomb on his wife of 16 years, television personality Donna Hanover, by temporarily moving out of Gracie Mansion and moving in with his mistress Judy Nathan.

5. Eliot Spitzer (D) former New York Governor. Really, there must be something in the water in New York that makes their pizza dough taste so much better and their politicians act so much worse. Linked in The New York Times to a high-price escort service, Spitzer resigned from office in 2008 and now hosts a CNN talk show.

6. John Edwards (D), former North Carolina senator. In the annals of political philandering, it doesn't get more reprehensible than this former political golden boy. Standing by wife Elizabeth through the death of their son and her health struggles, Edwards fathered a daughter with a videographer during his 2008 presidential campaign while his wife cancer was incurable, which pretty much made his future political career terminal as well.

7. Mark Sanford (R), former South Carolina Governor. Why let his political brethren to the north have all the fun? During Sanford's term in office, he mysteriously took off to "walk the Appalachian trail", which as any political pundit knows is code for "hook up with my fiery mistress in Argentina."

8. John Ensign (R), former Nevada senator. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, except if you're an elected official and you hook up with your political treasurer who happens to be married to your administrative assistant. The real Real World Vegas is so much more salacious than MTV's version, isn't it?

9. Newt Gingrich (R), former Speaker of the House of Representatives. His 1994 "Contract with America" obviously included a rider stipulating the thrice-married potential 2012 presidential candidate could have multiple affairs and still consider himself the face of Conservative America.

10. Gavin Newsom (D), current Lieutenant Governor of California. Saving the most camera-ready of the political cheaters for last, this former mayor of San Francisco, with his sparkling personality, affair with the wife of his then-chief of staff and telegenic looks, could portray any one of the aforementioned cheaters on a made-for-TV movie about the rise and fall of politicians -- and their zippers.


Sources:
www.people.com
www.msnbc.com
www.cnn.com