What does former President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky have to do with the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign?
Plenty, according to political science professor Robert Kraynak.
Clinton’s infidelity changed the political landscape and even today is having an impact, Kraynak told the Dallas Morning News and Newsday for recent articles.
He believes traits like infidelity — once campaign killers — are more tolerated by voters.
“There’s a way that Mr. Clinton softened up public opinion in a way that makes Rudy Giuliani possible,” said Kraynak. “People are genuinely not sure if the office of the presidency is supposed to be a results-oriented job or a moral authority.”
U.S. News & World Report also cited Kraynak in an article about Hillary Clinton’s win in the New Hampshire primary.
As the presidential hopefuls hit the campaign trail hard, news outlets from across the country are turning to Colgate University professors for their insight and perspective.
Faculty are providing expert analysis on topics ranging from candidates’ character and religious beliefs to campaign finance reform and spending limits.
Last week, Michael Johnston, Charles A. Dana Professor of political science, spoke on Minnesota Public Radio about corruption and special interests: presidential candidates vow to fight them, but is it all just rhetoric?
Corruption can lead to an erosion of democratic values and have a real affect on citizenship, said Johnston, author of Syndromes of Corruption.
With attention turning to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 — when two dozen states including New York will hold primaries or caucuses — expect to see more Colgate faculty quoted by local and national media.
Associate professor of psychology Rebecca Shiner also was in the media spotlight this week. Shiner weighed-in on new research that shows, in most cases, the personalities displayed very early in life will stay with us into adulthood.
In contrast to the findings, Shiner told msnbc.com that personality may actually change depending on types of experiences people have as they grow up.
“There may be genuine changes at the biological level,” said Shiner.
“The research out there suggests that there’s moderate stability to personality by the time we reach age 3, but also that tremendous change occurs even up until the you’re 50.”
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