The Real Legacy of Newt Gingrich DO you think that after all is said and done, Newt Gingrich will just go down in history as the politician who conclusively proved that voters don't care about a candidate's sexual misbehavior? From top, Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Alan Mothner/Associated Press; Bud Skinner, Atlanta Journal Constitution, via Associated Press Newt Gingrich with, from top, his current wife, Callista; his second wife, Marianne; and his daughters, Jackie Sue (front) and Kathy (left), and his first wife, Jackie. Imagine the history students of 2112, reading about the early 21st century on their vaporphones, or whatever they have by then. They would get to this presidential campaign and there would be a little footnote saying that despite a totally outrageous marital history, Newt Gingrich won the presidential primary in one of the most socially conservative states in the country. Maybe there would be a clip of him making the how-dare-you-sir speech to CNN's John King. Probably not exactly what Newt has in mind. Perhaps things will go differently. Maybe, despite his blah debate performances in Florida, Newt will do well in this week's primary, and go on to win the nomination, become president and build lots of moon colonies while saving America from Shariah law and the corrosive effects of the writing of Saul Alinsky. But if not, he'll still be the guy who managed to become a credible presidential candidate despite the three wives, the serial adultery, etc. etc. etc. He had a lot of help from the voters. In South Carolina, only 31 percent of the people interviewed by Public Policy Polling said they believed the second Mrs. Gingrich when she told ABC that her husband had asked her to share his sexual favors with his longtime mistress, who is now the third Mrs. G. Presumably they believed Newt, who said that he had "witnesses" who were eager to go to ABC and denounce the story. Although the Gingrich campaign now says the proffered witnesses didn't really exist. Except for his daughters by his first marriage. Who truly would not seem to be the best possible experts on whether Newt wanted to have whoopee rights to both their stepmothers. If Gingrich loses the Florida primary, I hope it is for the crime of middle-aged-child abuse. But about that open-marriage poll question: I believe that what the voters were actually saying was that they didn't want to hear about it. The American public has a long history of ignoring the private lives of elected officials whenever possible. They gave up on politicians as role models somewhere around Richard Nixon. Perhaps the critical moment came when voters decided to elect Bill Clinton president despite what were very clear storm warnings about his tendency to wander off, sexually speaking. Which was followed by the public's very clear decision to keep Bill Clinton even after he was caught in behavior that, really, even the head of Hedonists Inc. could not possibly have thought was a good idea. And it all worked out! Now Clinton is Beloved Ex-President Clinton, and everybody keeps sighing over how great things were when the prince of bad behavior was in charge. That goes for the social right, too. They are going to go for the guy who they think will carry out their agenda. Even if he is, say, an anti-abortion crusader whose ex-wife swore that he took her to get an abortion. See: former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr. The far right seems to be particularly indifferent to bad-behavior issues. Maybe this is because their supporters know that sinning social conservatives operate at a disadvantage. It is way easier to avoid the hypocrisy label if you're a straying civil libertarian whose family values speeches mainly involve encouraging kids to donate money to feed impoverished people in Africa. You're not going to be charged with speaking out of both sides of your mouth when the first side is talking about supporting Doctors Without Borders. Conservative voters also like expressions of remorse and promises to reform. When all else fails, they have even been known to argue that everybody does it. "I'm just saying, they all have stinky feet," former Congressman J. C. Watts, a Baptist preacher, said while he was campaigning for Newt in South Carolina.