Dimensions
129 x 198 x 12mm
In 1987, the dashing, reform-minded Democratic presidential front-runner Gary Hart seemed a lock for the party’s nomination and was leading George H. W. Bush by double digits in the polls. Then, in one tumultuous week, Hart was embroiled in a sex scandal and a media frenzy ensued.
THE FRONT RUNNER (originally titled All the Truth is Out) by Matt Bai, former chief political correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, examines how the Hart affair is more than one man’s tragedy. Before then, the sexual exploits of candidates had been mostly off-limits, as long as they were discreet. Rather, it explores how the media’s coverage of Hart’s downfall affected political reporting and marked a crucial turning point in the ethos of political media – and, by extension, of politics itself.
