Why have conservatives so latched themselves onto this family, and so much so after one of them was revealed to be a child molester? This whole saga is so strange to me.
Right-leaning people generally have such a pessimistic view of human nature that they are willing to tolerate the worst so long as it serves their ends. Left-leaning people are willing to abandon a political figure who has gone wrong. Just think of how quickly liberals abandoned such pols as Dan Rostenkowski, Kwame "Crook'patrick", and William Jefferson when they went bad even if such gave a temporary advantage to the other side. Liberals gave up on John Edwards when he was found to have cheated on his dying wife. Contrast how long the Right stood by Newt Gingrich. I can't see yet how John Edwards was worse than Newt Gingrich. Of course I was never going to vote for Newt Gingrich anyway.
I did vote for John Edwards in the Democratic primary in 2008 because I remembered him as a fiery populist. That was before I found out.
Right-leaning people are more vulnerable to political opportunists who tell them exactly what they want to hear -- no matter how roguish the person had been. Liberals are more likely to ask why someone who at first sight seems like an opportunist has decided to seek a leadership role in their cause.
The extreme? The German Establishment of the 1930s thought that they had found a "nice young man" who had told them exactly what they wanted to hear. Never mind that he had staged a violent rebellion against a State government only a few years earlier and never apologized for such. The right side of the German political spectrum of the time got snookered by that 'nice young man'. The left side of the German political spectrum was not fooled.
It's a long story, but it makes some interesting reading if you are willing to put in the time.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/ 
