39 years ago, this picture is all it took for a frontrunner to lose the race for the presidency.

    by TwixSnickers

    39 Comments

    1. Inoffensive_Account on

      Hart sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984, narrowly losing the race to former Vice President Walter Mondale. Hart declined to seek re-election to the Senate in 1986 and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988. He was widely viewed as the front-runner until reports surfaced of an extramarital affair, and Hart withdrew from the race in May 1987. He re-entered the race in December 1987 but withdrew from the race again after faring poorly in the early primaries. The nomination ultimately went to Michael Dukakis.

    2. Only one voting groups’ morals have devolved exponentially over the years. The others have been fairly consistent.

    3. Serendipity_Visayas on

      What was the name of the boat? Hanky Panky? Risky Busines? I used to run a charter fishing boat, there was some questionable stuff going on.

    4. TheSpiritsGotMe on

      For context, the picture came out weeks after he dropped out. Reporting of Gary Hart spending the night with her by the Miami Herald was why he dropped out.

    5. Spelling Potato wrong would knock you out as well! The biggest din I remember though was being a dang ol’ “Flip Flopper!” God forbid we change our minds after becoming more well informed!

    6. Not really accurate. She was caught on his yacht ‘Monkey Business’ after having obviously spent the night. The proof that he cheated on his wife was what sunk him, not just one photo with a blond on his lap.

    7. Yup. I wrote a paper about political scandals and their impact on careers. Started with the “Checkers Speech”, ran thru Hart, Dukakis, Biden’s Syracuse issues, etc.. it’s crazy to think how it’s all changed in (historically) such a short period of time.

    8. Extra_Crispy_Critter on

      I remember all the shock and awe over this–hell, Trump turned it into child’s play.

    9. You guys don’t know the full story.

      Gary Hart was a critic of the Warren Report and promised to re-open the JFK investigation if he was elected president.

      He was taken down by the CIA to ensure this never would happen

    10. Yeah but 39 years ago immigrants weren’t stealing all the jobs (that nobody wants).

      Who cares if the entire government is filled with pedos, as long as they get rid of those darn Mexicans.

    11. Ageofaquarius68 on

      I remember it well. I also remember when the President had an affair with a staffer and got impeached.

    12. No matter how carefully crafted the constitution is it can’t account for every folly of man. Someone was bound to tear through it like tissue paper in the pursuit of their own greed. Can’t believe the criminal in charge of the White House and how he is getting away with it all. I don’t know whether this current period is more akin to the fall of Rome or the biblical fall of Babylon. Find your soul America, we used to believe you had decency.

    13. Ah, the good ol’ days.

      I know plenty of people who think that cheating on a spouse doesn’t mean you can’t do the job. I say it means you can’t be trusted. About ANYTHING. I mean, most of these politicians stood in a church or other religious place and vowed, in front of their God and to the person they supposedly live more than anyone else, to be faithful.
      And they expect the rest of us to believe campaign promises, reports of their accomplishments and plans? I don’t think so!

    14. Remember when Dean lost his position as frontrunner because he yelled in excitement? It was seen as unpresidential…

    15. And Jimmy Carter put his family farm into the control of a blind trust because he wanted to make sure there could be no conflucts of financial interest between his job as President and the family farm. It lost money and he was $1m in debt when his term in office was over.

    16. YellowBreakfast on

      Guy was really smart.

      I heard an interview where he talked about the future rise and danger of non-state actors (e.g. ISIS, Al-Qaeda etc.).

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