"A stakeout of a candidate's townhome. A rude question about his sex life at a press conference. A damning photo of an attractive young woman on his lap. It all went down in a single month in the spring of 1987 in a scandal that ended the presidential run of Sen. Gary Hart, who at that early stage of his presidential campaign was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination by a wide margin."
"Paul Taylor, the Washington Post reporter who first asked Hart if he had ever committed adultery, argued in a book he wrote about the 1988 campaign that broad guidelines were already informally in place and simply came to the surface. Hart, a two-term senator from Colorado, had self-righteously denied having an affair and brazenly dared exposure, influencing Taylor and his editors to put the topic of his sex life in play."
A 1987 scandal involving a stakeout, an intrusive question about a candidate's sex life, and a photograph of a woman on his lap ended Sen. Gary Hart's presidential campaign while he led the Democratic field. The episode provoked split commentary, with some journalists criticized for tabloid-style coverage. The scandal dismantled a previous gentleman's agreement to keep politicians' sexual conduct private and signaled the press's willingness to scrutinize private lives. Paul Taylor, who raised the adultery question, argued that informal guidelines existed but were exposed by Hart's denials and dare. No clear rules emerged; subsequent reporting on candidates' sexual behavior remained case-specific.
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