In the long term the end of the reign of family values may be a blessing in disguise for the GOP.

From Newsweek:

The woes of Craig and Vitter won't hurt the GOP nationally in 2008. To cause widespread political harm, a scandal must occur within 90 days or so of an election, as Rep. Mark Foley's lewd e-mail messages to underage male staffers did last year.

In the long term, though, the end of the reign of family values may be a blessing in disguise for the GOP. It has tied its fortunes too closely to evangelical Christians, who make up less than one fifth of the American electorate. To expand the party in the new century, Republicans will eventually have to lift their suffocating veil of sanctimony. "First and foremost" for politicians of every stripe are vision, competence and commitment to a particular set of social and economic ideas, not some claim of moral superiority every bit as noxious as garden-variety hypocrisy.