A rising Republican star, Senator John Ensign of Nevada, dropped a bombshell on his party yesterday when he admitted to an extramarital affair, and today news and blog sites are claiming that the name of Mr. Ensign's paramour was Cindy Hampton. The Last Vegas Review Journal reports:
Ensign did not name the woman. Sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the couple in question are Cindy and Doug Hampton of Las Vegas. Senate and Federal Election Committee records show that they fit the description outlined by Ensign and his aides.
Calls made to the pair were not returned late Tuesday. They did not answer the door at their Summerlin home.
The gossip blogs are piling in on the action, posting photos of the aide in question.
But as MSNBC points out that a sex scandal from Ensign "who had participated in [evangelical group] Promise Keepers and defended the sanctity of marriage on the Senate floor" while a bitterly hypocritical blow, may find its real-world impact limited to Nevada's political landscape:
Republicans may find it harder to recruit a candidate to run against [Nevada Democrat and Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid next year, since Ensign won't be an asset for that candidate.
His official statement reads:
"I take full responsibility for my actions. I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and the people of Nevada who believed in me not just as a legislator but as a person. I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions.”
A bit of a shocker? Yes, you could say that. An attempt to clear the decks for his touted 2012 presidential run? Ben Smith at Politico thought maybe, but his colleagues "Manu Raju and Alex Burns have a less cynical explanation: extortion":
Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began the affair with the staffer several months after he separated from his wife, Darlene. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package, and the two parted ways.
Some time later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money — at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.
