When you see pictures like this at Kerry / Edwards rallies, you have to think that 60,000 people gathering for rallies is a good omen.

Today’s news about Governor McGreevey really saddened me. Here’s
the NY Times lead on the story:

TRENTON, Aug. 12 – Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey disclosed on Thursday that he was gay and had had an affair with another man, and announced that he would resign on Nov. 15, more than a year before his term would have expired.

In a somber and unexpected announcement, while his wife and parents stood with him, the governor said his decision to step down from office was prompted by the conclusion that the circumstances surrounding the affair would impair his ability to govern.

Aides to the governor, a Democrat, said the affair was with a former aide, Golan Cipel, who was hired by the governor in 2002 as an adviser to the state Office of Homeland Security. He resigned eight months later as a special adviser to the governor, at a salary of $110,000. The aides said Mr. Cipel had threatened to file a lawsuit accusing the governor of sexual harassment.

A federal law enforcement official said Mr. McGreevey’s office had called the F.B.I. on Thursday and complained that Mr. Cipel had requested $5 million to quash the suit, which assistants to the governor saw as extortion.

This makes me sad for a lot of reasons. First — and I want to make this clear — I wanted to hear McGreevey come out of the closet proudly and keep doing his job. His sexuality has been an open secret for a long time. He’s made it difficult because of his marriage, but had this just been about his sexuality, I think he could have weathered this storm.

But this wasn’t about his sexuality — not really. This was about an impending sexual harrassment suit. I’ve heard from folks in the "New Jersey know" say that the suit was without merit, but it would have dragged McGreevey through the mud. The problem wasn’t McGreevey’s sexuality, it was about the corruption in the administration. Cipel’s job was only one of several scandals in McGreevey’s time as governor.

And that’s the problem. McGreevey’s resignation speech references the "circumstances" around why he has chosen to come out of the closet, but it also focuses on his sexuality. That’s not why he’s resigning. He’s resigning because he put himself in a position to get sued. He got his lover a sweet job on the government payroll, and then when he fired him, his lover turned on him. It’s not the first time we’ve heard a story like this — regardless of the genders of the people involved. That’s bad government and bad judgement.

I wish McGreevey had found another reason to come out of the closet. I hope he finds a way to live with himself after this. I also worry that he’s set the gay rights movement back by resigning and then claiming it was about his sexuality when that was really only the tip of a pretty big iceberg.

Jon Stewart is the best political commentator on television.

Is it sad that our best political commentary is comedy? Does this tell us something?