Something I've long wondered. Why do people with nefarious secrets in their past allow their (or their spouse's) names to be put up for public positions? The opposition research is almost sure to ferret it out and make it public.
I have three current examples in mind. The first is Tim Walz's various exaggerations about his military service and his trips to China. The second is Doug Emhoff, husband of Kamala Harris, who is said to have slapped a girlfriend perhaps 10 years ago paying hush money to cover it up, and did impregnate a baby sitter while married to his first wife. His current wife can't be loving having her name forever associated with the smirking Willie Brown.
I bet we could come up with dozens more. What would be even more interesting, if hard to learn, is how many people with something shady in their past have consciously avoided public roles where the press might take an interest in them? It's a rare person who doesn't have something in their past about which they are embarrassed, about which they don't wish to be questioned or hectored.
J. D.Vance wrote a book about his marginal childhood, his addicted mother, absentee father, foulmouthed granny, etc. Even sold the movie rights. It strikes me he did the smart thing and left little for the diggers to find. Now he gets credit for overcoming all that and becoming a success. I bet Walz wishes he'd written his own tell-all autobiography.
