It is hardly a school for spirituality. And politicians are as suspect regarding family as they are regarding values. An even more common practice is the neglect of one's family. But the problem with moral lectures by politicians is not just the clang effect. Once politicians cross the threshold and begin to preach, it becomes natural for the flock to demand of the preachers an accounting of their private lives, if only to see how the pulpit pounders live up to their own proclaimed standards.
Campaigns turn into spectacles of dueling peccadilloes and mutual muckraking.
The end result of this orgy of accusation and intimate revelation is a debased political discourse and a disgusted public. No use blaming this on adversarial media or a general distrust of governmnet. With their preening about fmaily values and spiritual emptiness, the politicians have brought this on themselves. Cut out the preaching about how individuals are to reform themselves, and tell us instead how government is to be reformed. Gvoernment has profound effect on the American family, from a tax code that penalizes marriage to a welfare system that subsidizes illegitimacy.