Word: hartness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...political reporter for the Washington Post, Taylor earned a footnote in political lore when he asked Hart, "Have you ever committed adultery?" It was a question many believe transformed presidential politics, and for the worse. But Taylor argues in See How They Run that Hart, because of his reckless behavior and his challenge to reporters to "follow me," was a special case. Hart "took too literally the invitation in the old Beatles song: Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" Adds Taylor: "Do, if you like. Just don't expect the rest of us not to watch...
Given a choice between submitting to root-canal work and reading a book about the 1988 presidential campaign, many people might opt for the former. Who, after all, truly yearns to review the speeches of Jack Kemp? To trace once more the pitiful downfall of Gary Hart? To recall the days when George Bush acted more like Jack the Ripper than Mr. Kind-and-Gentle? Or to relive the moment when Michael Dukakis booted the question about a hypothetical rape of his wife Kitty and kissed his chances goodbye...
Taylor has written an unexpectedly personal book: he confesses to liking Hart, to overestimating the importance of Mario Cuomo in the Democratic sweepstakes and to being moved by Jesse Jackson. Taylor is so disturbed by the 50.16% turnout rate in the general election that he has given some thought to fixing the problem. His proposed solution -- giving each nominee five minutes of free television time on alternate nights during the campaign's final days -- is worth trying, but it may only prompt voters to reach for their VCRs...
...personification of "safe sex"; Jackson is "the Cat in the Hat." The / author is best at describing intractable topics, such as the complex origins of Bush's foreign policy. But when politics intrudes, he sometimes seems to miss the point. Blumenthal is still at pains to explain Hart's "philosophy" -- something that in the public mind boiled down to little more than unsafe sex -- and he makes no attempt to explain the self-destructive impulses involved in the Donna Rice affair. Similarly, Blumenthal accuses the Dukakis campaign of "intellectual" failures, though the Democratic nominee's mistakes mainly involved political, symbolic...
...have with a political book. A columnist for the Baltimore Sun, Simon zigged where other reporters zagged, going to places and shadowing sources others ignored. He has an obvious feel for people and a way of making them talk. Simon's biggest coup is a chat with a former Hart paramour, described as a moderately attractive, 47-year-old divorcee. A patient, ardent suitor, Hart planned intimate dinners and romantic field trips to such venues as the Lincoln Memorial. In romance as well as politics, Hart seems like an escapee from Twin Peaks: once, he headed for the shower...