Tom Coburn, The Anti-Wingman of the U.S. Senate

One senator tries to keep a colleague straight

By ROBERT A. GEORGE

Updated 10:55 PM CST, Thu, Jul 9, 2009

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Meet Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the U.S. Senate's true Renaissance man. He's a strong conservative, happily working hard to block government spending, but managed to collaborate on an ethics reform bill with then-Sen. Barack Obama. Like Rep. Ron Paul, he's also an obstetrician who continues to deliver babies -- forcing a change in Senate ethics rules when he declared that he would continue his practice after his 2004 election. And, finally, in a time of wandering-eye politicians (when is it never such a time?), Coburn is apparently the "anti-wingman."

What does that mean? Well, unlike the trusty drinking buddy that might help his pal "seal the deal" with a prospective "date," Sen. Coburn tried to get a colleague on the straight and narrow. He discovered that Sen. John Ensign of Nevada was not only stepping out on his wife, but was doing so with an employee -- who was married to another Ensign staffer. This information comes from the proverbial horse's mouth -- Doug Hampton, the poor cuckolded husband -- who revealed that Coburn was part of a DC group that tried to reign in Ensign's passions:

In an effort to try to end the affair, Hampton told Ralston he reached out to a group of “intermediaries involved in a Christian fellowship home in Washington, D.C.,” the Sun reported. The group “confronted Ensign and suggested that the Hamptons needed to be given financial assistance – in the millions of dollars – to pay off their $1 million-plus mortgage and move them to a new life away from Ensign,” according to the Sun’s report.

In a statement given to CNN and the Sun, Coburn spokesman Jon Hart said the Oklahoma Republican tried to intercede to put an end to the affair.
“Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage,” Hart said in the statement. “Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago.”

The involvement of Coburn and the other "intermediaries" is interesting because it clarifies whether Hampton was trying to "extort" money out of Ensign -- or whether the idea to give the Hamptons money came from outside. But as the Las Vegas Sun notes, Ensign may have broken campaign finance rules by failing to report the severance package he paid his lover after she stopped working for him.

But, that's a future headache for Sen. Ensign. For now, however, political observers can actually take comfort that not all politicians are betraying their marriage vows -- or enticing others to do so. In a world filled with Ensigns and Mark Sanfords, there are still public servants who strive to do the right thing. That's not the "Republican" thing or the "Democratic" thing, but just do what is objectively right. Aside from just talking the talk of moral values, Coburn tried to walk the walk too -- and help his friend and colleague live them.

New York writer Robert A. George blogs at Ragged Thots. Follow him on Twitter.