Society's standards are in the toilet.

Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) behavior at a Denver theater production of Beetlejuice included vaping, jumping around, and engaging in some back-and-forth groping with her date. Susanna Gibson, a Democrat and candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, had her pornographic side hustle with her husband exposed in the run-up to the November elections, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has permission to dress like a stoner teenager on the Senate floor, thanks to a rule change by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

The chicken or the egg question comes to mind when contemplating whether the behavior of public officials or candidates reflects the broader culture, or the opposite. It’s difficult to say which. During the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, Democrats attempted to draw a line of demarcation between what a politician does in private versus what he or she does as an elected official. Impeaching a president over acts he committed to cover up an Oval Office fling with a White House intern didn’t compare at all to what former President Richard Nixon did.

Ironically, Al Gore didn’t cruise to a 2000 presidential election win due in part to “Clinton fatigue,” and George W. Bush might have lost the popular vote because of the late-breaking campaign news of an old drunk driving conviction on his record. Twenty years later, such things appear almost pedestrian, but people cared, and that was the difference.

Today, political tribalism and the supposed necessity to win and “fight” rise above all else. Democrats in Virginia are already saying the scandal involving Gibson is a “distraction” from the more important issue of making sure Glenn Youngkin doesn’t have a Republican majority in the statehouse for the final two years of his term. House Republicans have said little, if anything at all, about Boebert, although she engaged in unseemly behavior and initially lied about it.

As silly as it was for Schumer to change the dress code rules, it didn’t matter as Fetterman already flouted them, and that follows his promise after winning his election to wear a suit in the Senate chamber. Fetterman followed up the change in rules by using his personal X (formerly Twitter) account to troll Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and polling analyst Nate Silver. He also issued a statement about the budget battle and House Republicans, calling them “jagoffs.” He’s a United States senator, a 54-year-old man with a wife, children, and an MBA from UConn, and he’s behaving like a high school student on TikTok.

“But they’re constitutionally eligible for the office. What’s the big deal?”

The bigger “deal” is respect for the institution, whether one’s conduct comes within the walls or outside, whether elected or campaigning. Congress has declared war in the United States Capitol. It’s not out of bounds to demand a modicum of respect for its history and for the responsibility and privilege our representatives have for working there.

There is an attraction to politics by those who want to use it as a platform more than anything else. They have little interest in policymaking, working with colleagues, or going to committee hearings that won’t provide an opportunity to create a viral clip to use for fundraising. The weakness of political parties and their ability to recruit and keep candidates that appeal to a broad swath of the electorate pales compared to the primary voter who wants someone who will “fight” for “their side” and not “attack their own side.”

It’s only when the voting public demands more of politicians beyond “fighting” that we’ll see some real change.

Jay Caruso is a writer and editor residing in West Virginia.