Why so many woman support their husbands when scandal hits

Govenor Spitzer was not alone at the podium, he was joined by his wife of more than 20 years, Silda Wall Spitzer. Why do these spouses of high-profile men remain by their side in the midst of a scandal? Here’s ABC’s Jeremy Hubbard.

I apologize first and most importantly to my family

It has become a familiar scene, a politician caught up in a sex scandal addressing the media, his supportive humiliated wife by his side. Yesterday was New York governor Eliot Spitzer. A few weeks ago, the mayor of Detroit. A few months ago, Idaho senator Larry Craig.

Let me be clear. I’m not gay, I never have been gay.

Well psychologists understand why high profile men sometimes do the things they do.

After you have accomplished so much, it’s just like what’s next. They need that next jolt, that next excitement.

What some people can’t understand is why do the wives stand by their men.

My heart just aches for her, because I know the pain that you know she was just enduring right now.

Dina Matos understands better than most. You'll remember back in 2004 when she stood alongside her husband then New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey as he came out of the closet.

For me, I was there because I loved him.

She said she stayed with McGreevey for the sake of her daughter. The couple later went through a high-profile nasty divorce. From the days of Gary Hart’s dalliances to Bill Clinton’s denials the wives are often the ones who were criticized and scrutinized for sticking with their spouse and as this latest scandal unfolds, an unwilling expert has a piece of advice for the wife of New York's embattled governor.

Just do what you think is right, not what’s politically expedient, not what people want you to do.

Jeremy Hubbard, ABC news.

And here’s one indication of the enormous interest in the story, the website of the New York Times which broke the Spitzer story crashed yesterday for only the third time because there was too much traffic. The last time this happened was on 9/11th and two months later when an airplane crashed in Queens. The site has ten times more bandwidth today than it did then