Hart Says Public Doesn’t Have the Right to ‘Know Everything’ : But Tells Students Politicians Should Not Mislead People

Gary Hart, his reborn candidacy less than a day old, said today the “public does not have a right to know everything” about the private lives of those who seek to lead the nation.

Almost at once, the new Democratic presidential candidate was confronted with the issue that drove him from the race in May: his relationship with Miami model Donna Rice and questions about his character.

At a high school here, a student asked Hart if he thought politicians had the right to deliberately mislead the public, and asked him to relate the question to his aborted campaign.

“No, I don’t think they do have a right to mislead the public,” Hart said. “But on the other hand, the public does not have a right to know everything about everybody’s personal and private life.”

Cheered by Students

The response brought the loudest and longest cheer from the audience of several hundred students. The question followed another in which a student asked the Colorado Democrat how the situation has changed since he dropped out of the race.

“There is not the rather intense and heated environment of last May,” Hart said, adding, “It’s kind of an act of faith on our part.”

He told a questioner that the media and political power brokers should not call the shots in the race for the White House.

“I should not decide, the press should not decide, the politicians in Washington should not decide; you ought to decide. Let the people decide,” he said.

‘A Different Candidacy’

Earlier today, Hart shook hands at a factory gate in Nashua, saying he was not surprised by his showing in overnight polls but ready to concede he may be pursuing a foolhardy quest.

Hart trekked through the snow to the gates of a defense contractor’s factory--a standard campaign ritual in this leadoff primary state--and said, “I think a lot of people have been looking for a different candidacy and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Voter surveys taken Tuesday after Hart’s startling re-entry to the race put the former Colorado senator at the head of the Democratic presidential pack but also indicated high negative feelings toward him.

“I’m not surprised by that,” he said of the polls taken in the hours after he shook up the political world by reviving a candidacy he had ended in May in the controversy over his relationship with the Miami model.