CAMPAIGN ’88 : Editorials Full of Hart

Here are excerpts of some newspaper editorials about Gary Hart’s re-entry into the presidential race:

--Washington Post: “Gary Hart got back into the Democratic race on Tuesday seeming neither to remember nor to be especially interested in the reasons that he had got out . . . . We expect that--if he can--he still has to address directly and plausibly those questions having to do with his behavior and his candor with the public before he can hope to get anywhere.”

--New York Times: “What did people do yesterday when they heard that Gary Hart had re-entered the Democratic presidential race? Again and again, they laughed . . . . His quixotic re-entry revives questions about steadiness.”

--Chicago Sun-Times: “Still tougher will it be for him and his family to endure the Johnny Carson one-liners and barroom humor certain to make him a national joke for days or weeks . . . . Let’s say up front that we don’t buy the idea that the national interest, rather than self-interest, prompted his return.”

--Baltimore Sun: “We would like to explain to you why Gary Hart got back in the presidential race, but we can’t. We don’t know. Some people you can never figure out . . . . Maybe he just thinks the campaign trail is a good place to meet some girls.”