Today at my brother’s weekly Mishna lesson we got to this: 

Mishnah 5:18.  Whoever causes the multitudes to be righteous, sin will not occur on his account; And whoever causes the multitudes to sin, they do not give him the ability to repent. Moses was righteous and caused the multitudes to be righteous, [therefore] the righteousness of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “He executed the Lord’s righteousness and His decisions with Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:21). Jeroboam, sinned and caused the multitudes to sin, [therefore] the sin of the multitudes is hung on him, as it is said, “For the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he caused Israel to sin thereby” (I Kings 15:30).

The responsibility of a leader is great.  I don’t know what I would do, how I would sleep at night.   The fact that our leader was supposed to come up for a criminal trial this week, but managed to get it postponed, seems to me to be a very bad example to set.  “It doesn’t matter what you do, but whether you get caught”  is not a good rule to follow.  

And to my mind, the responsibility of choosing a leader is no less great in a democracy.