The implicit argument is: “happy family, good candidate.”And that argument is fine, to an extent. I can understand that some voters might prefer a candidate who has a large chunk of their life in good order, and not just their political opinions. But if this is the view you’re going to adopt, then you have to stick with it.
Unfortunately, the “holistic” approach quickly gets dumped the moment it becomes apparent that a large chunk of a politician’s life is in less than good order. The second one of the kids is arrested for DUI or possession of a controlled substance, or the spouse (or the politician themselves) is found in an act of sexual improvisation outside wedlock, then the “holistic” approach is abandoned in favor of the “compartmental” one: a politician’s personal life.
