Giuliani's extracurricular activities could affect his admission status

I'm hardly the first to note that the Republican Party — alleged keeper of family values — has as its two presidential favorites men with checkered marital careers. Indeed, the leader in the polls, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, holds the most dismal domestic record of any human being who has ever seriously run for president. Yet he remains immensely popular among social conservatives.

Could it be that 95 percent of the culture war was just a pretense to impeach Bill Clinton and tar Democrats?

One chuckles at a 2005 column by conservative David Brooks that holds up Giuliani, John McCain and Robert Kennedy as examples of political courage. According to Brooks, such men often believe that "private peccadilloes don't corrupt the public performance of his duties."

Fair enough. But then the only one Brooks discusses in any detail is the Democrat who died nearly 40 years ago — not the two Republicans then likely to run for president. He frets about "the way RFK accepted his brother's lifestyle," by which he undoubtedly meant the late John Kennedy's gusto for adultery.

Does Brooks think readers are totally stupid?

And exactly what was "private" about Giuliani's peccadilloes? While mayor, Giuliani openly brought his girlfriend, Judy Nathan, to official events at Gracie Mansion. His wife, Donna Hanover, had to get a court order to stop him from bringing Nathan into the house where she and their children were still living. Furthermore, Hanover learned about Rudy's plans to divorce her through a televised news conference.

Actually, Hanover was the second wife. Giuliani's first marriage ended in an annulment after 15 years. The alleged reason was the discovery that his wife, Regina Peruggi, was a second cousin and that they had not obtained a Catholic Church dispensation for second cousins to marry. (Hey, it could happen to any of us.)

Today, Giuliani's kids are barely speaking to their father, so disturbed are they by his treatment of their mother. Now a sophomore at Duke University, Andrew Giuliani says that he isn't getting along well with his new stepmother and would not participate in his father's campaign. Daughter Caroline, a high-school senior, is also giving her dad a wide berth.

And for the record, Bobby Kennedy's biographers speak only of his "rumored infidelities." That means they either never happened or, if they did, he didn't flaunt them.

By the standards of Giuliani, McCain would seem maritally stable. All he did was pull off a conventional trading of the wife for something snazzier. At least he had the grace to apologize.

Giuliani is still revered for his brave performance on Sept. 11, when he kept his brutally attacked city in operation. Before that, he had pulled off a near miracle in reversing New York's decline, with plummeting crime rates his crowning achievement. And we of a liberal bent can admire his stances on abortion, gay rights and gun control. No one can take these things away from him.

But before 9/11, his home-life circus was wearing thin even on New Yorkers. It's hard to imagine social conservatives stomaching these facts for long.

Richard Land, who runs public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, finally put his foot down. "I mean, this is divorce on steroids," he said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough."

Land really has no choice. If the "family values" coalition can live with this behavior, then it's out of business.

At a certain point, shuffling women around leaves the category of indiscretion and enters the realm of reckless disregard. One does want a disciplined personality in the White House.

Providence Journal columnist Froma Harrop's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is fharrop@projo.com