Is Portland Major Sam Adams a Crook, Slimeball, or Dumbshit?

Big news in Portland the last week has been over our newly elected gay major. He lied about a sexual relationship he had with an 18-year old political apprentice a while back. The issue has really divided the city. You can see the very worst in the city's citizens from blogs and news comments. It is both amusing and deeply saddening.

The general line of reason people have is this:
"Sam Adams lied. This is bad judgment and he is unethical. Therefore he is unfit to be major."

There are two underlying assumptions in this line of thought. The first is that poor judgment necessarily reflects poor moral character (it does not). The second is that poor judgment reflects poor ability to act as a public official (possibly, but his is dependent on the nature of the judgment).

Is all lying equally relevant or important?
Nobody would care if Adams had lied about what kind of coffee he drinks in the morning. Everyone would care if he had lied about raping someone. So where does this scandal fit into that spectrum? It was not illegal (as far as we know), but certainly a matter of poor judgment by conventional wisdom. If you think the Major should resign ask yourself if you are upset because he lied or because of what he lied about. If the answer is the latter, then read below.

Is private sexual conduct relevant to effectively and ethically performing the duties of a public official?
I think this really depends on your general attitude towards sex, which is generally much more important to religious people. However, I am not sure there is a strong, meaningful relationship between sexual conduct in private and ability to govern in public. In fact, I doubt it because I know history has been littered with great leaders who by our prudish modern American standard led questionable lives in the bedroom. And if you think it does, she we not also apply the same standards to anyone in a position of responsibility (CEOs, professionals, educators, and so forth?) Why just stop with elected officials? But then, where do you stop - and this gets a little close to a sexual gulag.