Ah, the cheating politician, the staple of the tabloids.
Except when it's true.
This happens so often these days that journalism schools ought to have a course called "Covering the sleazeballs in an election."
About twenty years I was working as a feature reporter, and there were allegations of an affair about a politician running for a high office in the state. He was the prohibitive favorite at the time. The rumors broke just as the candidate happened to be in town for a luncheon. During the morning newsroom meeting his alleged affair was the main topic of discussion, and the Assignment Editor knew that whatever reporter asked "the question" would be shut out of the loop forever if the guy got elected. So he elected to "burn me" since I never covered politics anyway. Brilliant.
We arrived at the luncheon and I grabbed the candidate on his way out. I started out with some totally lame questions about the topics discussed at the luncheon, and then, when the crowd had surrounded him and he couldn't get away, I hit him with the question. "So, what's the deal about this alleged affair?" The guy turned white, gave me the death stare, and said, "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." This of course was followed by the now traditional "stand by your man" news conference in which the wife dutifully stood by her husband's side (while every reporter knew she had a divorce attorney on speed dial.) And of course, after the election (which he lost) the wife dumped him.
Chances are pretty good these days that you'll eventually be assigned to cover a political affair. This has its stages, just like the five stages of grief. There's the denial period, in which the politician flat out looks into the camera and says the rumors aren't true.... in fact, they're outrageous, and how dare you even accuse me of that! Then there's the Tammy Wynette stage, during which the politician realizes the media has found the smoking gun, admits he "made a mistake" while wifey offers "support." (Just once I'd like to hear a question like, "So, Mrs. Spitzer, why don't you just haul off and slap him?") And finally, once the current election cycle is over, the quiet news that the politician and his wife are going their separate ways. (After that there are the books and the Lifetime movies, the exclusive interviews with the "other woman" and the tell-all articles, but that doesn't concern reporters.)
So how do you ask someone if he's cheated on his wife and get an honest response? It's not a typical question that you'd ask of anyone. If you want the good reaction, the great body language that is more telling than any sound bite, the color draining out of the guy's face so fast that he looks like a vampire, you've got to get the guy to let his guard down. In my case, getting the politician to think I wasn't going anywhere near the topic gave us a great piece of video. If that's not possible, simply acting friendly and casual can do the trick. The one thing that often doesn't work is ambush journalism. The politician sees it coming, is braced for it, and has a stock answer ready. What you want, since you work in a visual medium, is to see the reaction as you ask the question. That can often tell viewers more than any sound bite, or lack thereof.
When interviewing politicians, you have to keep one thing in mind: many of these people truly believe they are bulletproof and will never get caught, that the rules do not apply to them, that they are somehow entitled to things the rest of us aren't, that they are invincible. That arrogance has gotten many a politician in trouble. So make them let down their guard. Be friendly and ask the easy questions first. Lob a few softballs. Don't fire the big guns until they actually think you're on their side. Then when they least expect it, ask the question that will give you the money shot.
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