Here we go … again, with political candidates bragging to voters that they are faithful to the sacred vows they took when they married their wives.

We’re going to the polls soon in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area and one of the candidates for a Texas Senate seat is offering that boast on his TV ads across the market. Former Southlake Mayor John Huffman talks about his budget-balancing record, his ability to keep taxes low … and, yes, that he’s faithful to his wife and devoted to their children.

It’s the last item that draws my attention with this brief rejoinder.

Since when does a man’s faithfulness to his family become grist for selling a political candidate? Look, I know what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to hold up his moral example as a selling point, which he sees as important given the propensity for men in public life to stray away from their vow to honor their spouse “for as long as they both shall live.” To my ears, it is an empty form of bravado. Do you recall how former Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards professed his love for his late wife, only to be revealed that he was having an affair that produced a baby? The sleaze bag …

I won’t cast a vote in that Texas Senate race. For all I know, John Huffman is a good guy. He won the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News this past Sunday. It’s interesting that the DMN never mentioned his fidelity to his wife as a reason the paper is backing his candidacy.

Hmmm. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because the Morning News realizes what I have believed all along. Which is that candidates who brag about such matters are wasting their time on an issue that is far from being a big … deal.