Carter, Recalling His Own ‘Lust,’ Won’t Judge Hart

Former President Jimmy Carter, joking about his “own experiences with lust,” steered clear Wednesday of passing judgment on the moral character of presidential candidate Gary Hart.

Carter appeared before the American Newspaper Publishers Assn. the day after Hart, a Colorado Democrat, conceded before the group that he made a mistake in spending time with a woman who was not his wife.

Hart maintained that he did nothing immoral, criticized the Miami Herald for its reporting of the story and vowed to press his 1988 presidential campaign.

The first question posed to Carter after his luncheon speech to the editors and publishers, in which he discussed life after the White House, concerned the controversy surrounding Hart.

‘Personally Painful’

“It’s personally painful and somewhat embarrassing to me, but I think I can bring a perspective that you hadn’t thought about before,” Carter replied when asked what advice he would give Hart.

“My own experiences with lust . . . “ Carter continued, smiling as his words disappeared in a sea of laughter from the audience. “I’m much more familiar with Playboy magazine than I am with the Miami Herald.”

During his 1976 presidential campaign, Carter drew questions about his character after he told Playboy magazine that he “looked on a lot of women with lust” and had “committed adultery in my heart many times.”

“Since I don’t know anything about the details of Gary Hart’s life,” he told the group, “if you have a follow-up question on my own relationship with Rosalynn (his wife) following my revelations about lust in my heart--I will be glad to take it.”