The word candidate comes from the Latin candidatus, referring to a person in early Roman times who wanted to be elected to a high office. The candidatus wore a white toga to signify his purity and integrity as he strolled through the community making public appearances. Indeed, the Latin term candidus meant “white,” and our word candid comes from Latin, meaning “glowing, white, pure, guileless.” The color of the toga was not just ordinary white, but was intensified by rubbing chalk onto the fabric to indicate that the candidate was a person above reproach, one who was pure and whose reputation, as it were, glowed.

Even in Roman times, the candidate’s appearance did not always reveal his character. A glowing appearance was always easier to achieve than a pure heart. So it has been throughout the ages. Recent headlines indicate we are still soiling the ethical standards we attempt to portray:

• Ohio Governor pleads no contest to ethics charges (8/18/05)
• Two Georgia lawmakers fined for violating campaign laws (8/18/05)

• Ethics is not governed by a set of rules or policies. Ethics is governed by the heart. It is directed not by statute, but by character.

  Idaho Governor under fire for spending campaign funds on personal expenses (8/7/05)
• California Congressman under investigation by FBI (7/17/05)
• House Ethics panel rebukes Tom DeLay for misbehavior (3/17/05)
• Idaho Senate Ethics Committee censures Sen. Jack Noble (3/5/05)

This last one involved the most difficult assignment of my legislative career: to chair a senate ethics committee to investigate the actions of a fellow senator. After our committee determined that the lawmaker had violated Idaho’s Ethics in Government rules, the senator resigned. I witnessed the devastating effects his behavior had on his family, his constituents, and on the image of the legislative body.

No one wins when a public servant breaches ethical standards. It is little wonder that people are crying out for reform of our ethics laws. Certainly, the coming legislative session will focus on improving our statutes dealing with ethical conduct, but no statutory verbiage can encompass every behavior. As Plato stated 2,500 years ago: “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

Ethics is not governed by a set of rules or policies. Ethics is governed by the heart. It is directed not by statute, but by character. The real measure of Idaho’s ethics is the measure of Idaho’s people.

To ensure the integrity of government, we must all become more involved in the political process—from exercising our right to vote to exercising our right to run for office; from expressing our views to defending our nation.

I was admittedly hurt when one of my neighbors asked me, “Is it possible to be a good person if you’re involved in politics?”

I responded that our lack of involvement would abandon government—the very institution responsible for our freedoms—to corrupt leaders.

The more important question is: “Is it possible to be a good person if you’re not involved in politics?”

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