Time reports:
Whenever a politician delivers an emotional speech announcing his withdrawal from the field of politics, and then cites as his reason a desire to spend more time with his family, it's a safe bet he's lying. Men who have spent years sacrificing family on the altar of ambition don't suddenly wake up one morning and decide they've had their priorities all wrong. The truth is usually elsewhere, and elsewhere is often a less than savory place....But the known evidence suggests he is being honest.
I've heard insinuations and arguments both ways on the Warner question, but him aside, it's really a shame the "more time with the family" excuse has fallen into such disrepute. While it's an easy and oft-used cover for those actually accused of wrongdoing, it's a perfectly acceptable excuse for most folks.
Many government or political jobs are high pressure, with long hours, much forced travel, and often little reward. There's no reason a campaign manager jetting across the country every third evening and putting in 16-hours at the office every day shouldn't step back, assess whether he wouldn't rather be reading, and seeing his wife, and occasionally cooking dinner, and bow out. Hell, I'm like nine-years-old, and I leave the house at eight or nine in the morning and rarely get back before 10 at night (not because of work, but still). It's great and fun and exciting, but time is flying by and I could see the argument for, in a couple years, slowing down a bit and taking a few more moments to enjoy its passing. And if that means, for many, shifting priorities and energy away from the workplace, well, it's a shame such excuses are considered admissions of wrongdoing rather than simple restatements of priorities.
