''I hope people are forgiving. He has apologized,'' said Jean Grapes, executive director of the Wood County Democratic Executive Committee. ''I hope people can be forgiving and judge him on the merits of him being a good governor.''
.... Grapes said the episode has to be difficult for the Wise family and she doesn't condone what the governor did.
''I don't think it's always good to base things on the personal lives of our leaders, which we seem to have a tendency to do,'' she said. ''If we judge our leaders on their private lives, we would have had a problem with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin Roosevelt,'' Grapes said. ''You can't let that be the final judge of who our leaders are.''
.... Out on the street, people willing to comment about Wise's peccadillo said they were disappointed. They didn't know what happened. ''I didn't know who the governor was until a minute ago,'' said a man who asked not to be identified. ... link
Well, we know there are at least two morons on Wood County.
Gov. Bob Wise has disgraced himself, dishonored his family and disappointed the people of West Virginia. full article
From the Wheeling Intelligencer editorial page:
Gov. Bob Wise has made a terrible mistake. That conclusion, painful as it is to the West Virginians Wise serves, is unavoidable. Wise on Monday admitted in a written statement that he "was not faithful to his family." He provided no details, but it has been reported that the estranged husband of a state employee is accusing the governor of having an affair with the woman.
In a brief statement released by his office, Wise addressed both the public and private aspects of his transgression. He noted that he had discussed it with his family several weeks ago, and he called that "the toughest thing I have ever done."
But the governor went on to "apologize deeply to the people of our state for my actions. ... I believe in accountability. I also hope one day for forgiveness, but I know that forgiveness must be earned."
Indeed. We're certain Wise recognizes that public and private behavior cannot be separated entirely. In admitting that he had not lived up to the trust and expectations his family placed in him, the governor also was conceding that West Virginians have a right to expect a certain level of ethical behavior from those they elect to high office. The question some Mountain State residents are asking themselves today is whether the governor's behavior on other matters, some directly involving the public trust, has lived up to expectations.
It is to Wise's credit that he appears to be making a full admission of his error in judgment. That is more than could be said in the past about several people in public life - at least one in a position much higher than Wise's and guilty of much worse wrongdoing. At least the governor is not attempting to talk his way out of this mess, or to cover up the scandal.
That leaves West Virginians lacking something of the trust they once placed in Wise. And it leaves the governor himself in the position of having to work hard - and, yes, conscientiously - to re-earn that trust. Wise himself put it best: " ... forgiveness must be earned."