Why America Stopped Judging Politicians by Character

13 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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1:06

TJ Walker explores how Americans stopped evaluating politicians based on personal character and moral conduct. He uses humor about labeling himself to irritate his daughter and a provocative metaphor about how voters once judged politicians by their sexual history, illustrating a fundamental shift in what the public demands from its leaders.

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I'll let people label themselves whatever they want. I sometimes, just to annoy my daughter, label myself as a young, handsome man with a thick, full head of hair. So people can give all sorts of labels to themselves. Who are we to disagree? But for many, many years, until about 10 years ago, there was this principle that morality was defined by one thing. And if you're judging a politician, you should essentially do the following. Find a politician running for office, get all the politicians running for a particular office on stage, then get every person they ever had sex with lined up behind them. Now, here's where you make the, the big moral calculus that saves time and helps everybody decide who to vote for. Whoever has the shortest line wins. That's how morality was defined. Ultimize.