Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his wife Veronica Lario. Berlusconi has admitted to extra-marital affairs. (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

Adam Giambrone, Toronto Transit Commission chair and one-time mayoral hopeful, recently confessed to several intimate relationships with women other than his live-in partner of several years. The admission preceded Giambrone's decision to drop out of the mayoral race. Now Toronto mayoral candidate George Smitherman is calling on the embattled councillor to step down as chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Giambrone's fall from grace is well-worn territory in the world of politics. From Clinton's Oval Room indiscretion, to former U.S. presidential hopeful John Edwards' affair and love-child with a former campaign aide, to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's string of admitted extra-marital romps, politicians usually pay a price when their private flings become public knowledge.

Should these types of personal indiscretions affect professional standing? What do you think? Take our poll below.

(This poll is not scientific. It is based on readers' votes.)