Ah, Gary Hart – another trip down scandal’s memory lane. In 1988, the former senator from Colorado was arguably the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president. However, he was dogged by rumors that he was a womanizer. “Follow me around, I don’t care,” he challenged reporters. So of course, they did. At least, a Miami Herald reporter did. He staked out Senator Hart’s D.C. townhouse in May 1987, and saw a young woman, later identified as Donna Rice, entering and leaving at odd hours.
The Herald published a story. Hart, perturbed, parried, saying the reporter couldn’t have seen all the doors to his house. His then-wife, Lee, supported his assertion that the relationship was innocent. But Hart's support in the crucial early-voting state of New Hampshire quickly halved, and he dropped out of the race a week after the Herald’s first story.
Few now remember that Hart reentered the race in December 1987. He received about 4 percent of the New Hampshire vote, and withdrew from the race for good a few weeks later.
