By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 7, 2010; A04

The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers. In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California, Democratic operatives are seizing on evidence of GOP candidates' unpaid income taxes, property tax breaks and ties to financial firms that received taxpayer bailout money.

In recent weeks, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has circulated information to local reporters about Republican candidates in close races. Among the claims:

-- That Jim Renacci of Ohio once owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes.

-- That David Harmer of California received $160,000 in bonus and severance pay from a firm that got a federal bailout.

-- That Jon Runyan of New Jersey got a legal break in property taxes for his 25-acre homestead by qualifying for a farmland assessment thanks to his four donkeys.

Renacci's campaign said the candidate did not believe he had tax liabilities for a trust fund and eventually paid all that he owed. A spokesman for Harmer said criticizing him for the money he lawfully earned is a "severe twist of the facts." Runyan's campaign said his actions were legal.

Jon Vogel, executive director of the DCCC, said Democrats are merely pointing out that some Republican recruits in competitive House races are "flawed candidates."

He added, "We have made this election a choice. . . . They're trying to run this national message in part about fiscal discipline, but they've recruited a number of candidates not credible to carry that message."

Opposition research has been a part of political campaigns for decades, but the 2010 cycle is different. In many states, Republicans have steered clear of candidates with long political track records -- eschewing state representatives and veteran city council members who have cast thousands of votes ripe for scrutiny -- in favor of political outsiders. The top GOP recruits include several former professional sports stars, as well as doctors and businessmen.

Democratic leaders are trying to frame the November midterm elections not as a national referendum on the party in power but as local choices between two candidates.

"We can win the contrast, but not the referendum," Democratic strategist Steve Murphy said. "What is critical in this election cycle is for Democratic candidates to hold Republican candidates accountable for their views."

Republicans see the Democrats' strategy as a sign of weakness.

"When the issues are cutting against you, it is typical for a party in trouble to resort to other means," said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "With the unemployment rate unacceptably high and President Obama's approval rating falling, they have nothing left to run on other than character assassination."

Democratic officials are advising campaigns to hire trackers to follow their Republican opponents to public events with video cameras, ready to catch any gaffe or misstatement. And the Democratic National Committee last week issued a call to the public to submit any embarrassing audio or video of Republicans, as well as copies of their direct-mail advertisements.

Party officials would not say how many staffers are working on opposition research. Such work used to be farmed out to campaign consultants, but the DCCC brought research operations in-house in 2008 to be more nimble. "It may appear to be more aggressive this cycle because what we're finding on Republicans is so rich," Vogel said.

In Ohio, Democrats are trying to exploit Renacci's business record in his race against Rep. John Boccieri (D). Renacci, who owns a Chevrolet dealership, nursing homes, real estate investments and sports teams, among other interests, has faced a string of lawsuits related to his businesses.

Democratic operatives circulated a report in April that Renacci owed nearly $1.4 million in unpaid state taxes, interest and penalties. Renacci fought the assessment, believing the money he was holding in a trust was free of state tax liabilities. But after losing a dispute over his liability, Renacci paid everything he owed, said his campaign manager, James Slepian.

"This is a story that the DCCC was pushing pretty hard," Slepian said. "It's unfortunate that John Boccieri has chosen to conduct his campaign by slinging mud from behind Nancy Pelosi's desk rather than talking about the issues that really matter."

But Democrats say the strategy paid dividends in the May special election for the Pennsylvania House seat of the late Democrat John P. Murtha. Republican Tim Burns framed the race as a referendum on Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), both unpopular in a district that Obama lost to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008. But Democrat Mark Critz won handily after tailoring his message to local concerns and attacking Burns for saying he would protect tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

"Some years you ride the wave, and other years you paddle your canoe," Democratic strategist Paul Begala said. "Democrats, they've got to paddle like hell. So what you do when you're paddling is, as the Republicans seek to nationalize, you localize and personalize."

Shelby/AP/AP

Al Gore (3rd from r.) and his wife, Tipper (2nd from r.), in 2000 family photo, far removed from the current scandal allegations screaming across covers of tabloids (b.).

To many, including one licensed massage therapist in Oregon, Nobel Prize winner Al Gore was "Mr. Smiley Global Warming Concern" - a pure-of-heart environmental hero.

Now the globe-trotting, do-gooding Gore is catching a lot of heat - with none of it related to global warming.

Gore is dealing with some inconvenient truths - and a few ugly rumors - since the end of his marriage was followed by suggestions of sexual scandal.

The high-profile activist typically profiled in magazines like The New Yorker was suddenly splashed across the front page of The National Enquirer.

"AL GORE SEX ATTACK!" howled the Enquirer's front page, referring to a purported 2006 incident with the masseuse in an Oregon hotel suite.

But first came the end of his personal "Love Story," a 40-year union with high school sweetheart Tipper.

The demise of their marriage sent shock waves through the couple's friends and supporters early this month - and provided fodder for late-night comedians.

"Everybody is talking about it; everyone's blogging about this," joked NBC's Jimmy Fallon. "I bet this is the one week where Al Gore wishes he didn't invent the Internet."

The bombshell was followed by word that daughter Karenna's 13-year marriage was on the rocks. Her sister, Kristin, had filed for divorce 13 months earlier, ending her four-year marriage.

Adding to the connubial carnage, word leaked last week of a Portland, Ore., masseuse's rambling complaint accusing Gore of "unwanted sexual contact" nearly four years ago.

The red-headed masseuse - who said she voted for Gore in the 2000 presidential race - detailed his alleged transformation from statesman to "crazed sex poodle" during a late-night massage in his hotel suite.

"He had a dramatic display of violent temper as well as extreme dictatorial commanding attitude besides his Mr. Smiley Global Warming Concern persona," the woman says in a 67-page transcript of her interview with police.

Gore recalls getting the massage, a pal told The Washington Post, but he doesn't remember any incident. In fact, the ex-veep believes he left on good terms with the masseuse.

Cops found a lack of evidence to back up her account. But the timing of the complaint's release, coming on the heels of the Gores' marital meltdown, was brutal.

The couple's "mutual and mutually supportive" split had already prompted a spate of reports linking the ex-vice president to Laurie David, the former wife of "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David.

Laurie David, who co-produced the Oscar-winning Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," quickly denied the rumors. "It's a total fabrication," she told The Huffington Post. "I adore both Al and Tipper."

Gore, as he has through much of the messy stretch, declined to comment and kept a low public profile.

The massage episode indirectly illustrated the twists in Gore's personal life.

When the Portland Tribune considered running a story in 2007 about the allegation, Gore's lawyers fired off a letter declaring the one-time Tennessee senator's marital credentials were impeccable. "You ... are aware that everyone who knows Al and Tipper Gore well can and does attest to the integrity of their 37-year marriage and to his honorable character," the letter said.

Not as much lately.

lmcshane@nydailynews.com

Portland woman says Al Gore groped her in hotel room

Published: Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:45 PM     Updated: Thursday, June 24, 2010, 8:55 AM

Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian

Associated PressFormer Vice President Al Gore speaks at the Millennium Summit on Thursday, April 22, 2010 in Montreal.

Exclusive: Al Gore Cheats with Larry David's Ex

In the June 28 issue of Star, on sale Wednesday, we report that Al and Tipper's breakup didn't come as much of a surprise to one Hollywood player — Laurie David. Star has learned that Al has been having an affair with Laurie, who divorced Seinfeld creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David in 2007 amidst reports she was cheating with the caretaker of their Martha's Vineyard summer home.

“Al and Laurie went from friends to lovers," an insider tells Star. "It couldn’t be avoided."

Obama is hit by 'affair' smears following claims that attractive aide was banned by his wife

By Sharon Churcher
Last updated at 11:38 PM on 11th October 2008

Target: Barack Obama faces rumours about his private life

Barack Obama is the target of a shadowy smear campaign designed to derail his bid for the US Presidency by falsely claiming he had a close friendship with an attractive African-American female employee.

The whispers focus on a young woman who in 2004 was hired to work on his team for his bid to become a senator.

The woman was purportedly sidelined from her duties after Senator Obama’s wife, Michelle, became convinced that he had developed a personal friendship with her.

The allegations were initially circulated in August, just two weeks before the convention at which Obama finally beat his opponent for the Democratic Party nomination, Hillary Clinton.

The woman, now 33, vigorously denies the vicious and unsubstantiated gossip.

And some Washington insiders suggested that she was the victim of an 11th-hour attempt to smear Obama by die-hard Hillary supporters.

But now the rumours have resurfaced, suggesting that they may be coming from elements in the Republican Party.

According to sources interviewed by The Mail on Sunday, the respected Los Angeles Times, the tabloid National Enquirer and the huge ABC television network have been provided with the woman’s name.

In the most commonly-purveyed version of the rumour, she was ‘exiled’ to a Caribbean island because Michelle Obama objected to her job on the 2004 campaign.

A lawyer representing the woman said: ‘Although her duties on the [2004] campaign changed over time, there was never any hint that Mrs Obama had any concerns about her relationship with the Senator or played any role in recommending a change in her duties.’

According to our investigation into the rumours, they originated with political veterans who claim to be loyal Democrats.

They have tried to persuade reporters that they have the woman’s interests at heart.

One of the sources who has been circulating the rumours admitted never meeting the woman but claimed he has spoken to ‘a group of African American’ women who are
her friends and believe she was mistreated.

Denial: The woman, whose identity we have protected, rejected the claims

‘They said she was removed from her position and the political scene because Michelle got wind of the fact that she had a close friendship with her husband,’ the source said. ‘She disappeared, then she reappeared in the Caribbean.’

The Mail on Sunday located the woman in the Caribbean, where she now works. She denied that Mrs Obama had raised any objections to her job on the 2004 campaign.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Nothing happened. I just left ... at the end of the campaign.’

Asked about the claim that Mrs Obama accused her of having a close friendship with the Senator, she said: ‘I have no comment on anything.

‘I switched careers. That’s it. I’m a Democrat and I support Senator Obama ... I don’t have anything to say.’

She added that she emigrated to the Caribbean from the US after falling in love with the man with whom she now lives.

Senator Obama’s team did not respond to our request for comment.

But one day after we contacted Obama’s team, a London law firm informed The Mail
on Sunday that it had been retained by the woman to help her to counter the whispering campaign, which they said was ‘absolutely false’.

In the Presidential race, polls showed that with just over three weeks to go until the November 4 election, Mr Obama is leading his Republican rival John McCain.

A Newsweek poll published on Friday showed Illinois senator Mr Obama ahead of the 72-year-old Arizona senator by 52 per cent to 41 per cent.

A month ago, that poll had the two candidates tied at 46 per cent. Other polls in the most contested states have also shown a swing toward Mr Obama. He seems to have benefited as voters anxious about turmoil on Wall Street and across the globe give him higher marks for economic leadership.

Addressing a public meeting in Ohio, Mr Obama called for a plan to help small American businesses hampered by the credit crunch to get loans for operating expenses and payrolls. He urged the world’s finance ministers to take co-ordinated action to tackle the crisis.

‘In this global economy, financial markets have no boundaries. So the current crisis demands a global response,’ he said. Pushing a line of attack that seems to have helped him build an advantage, he said Mr McCain ‘doesn’t really seem to get what’s going on’ with the financial crisis.

Mr Obama mocked a McCain adviser for telling reporters amid a week of panic-selling on Wall Street that he didn’t think it made sense for the campaign to speak daily on
the markets.

‘Senator McCain’s campaign manager actually said that Senator McCain wasn’t talking about the market because there’s just not much a candidate for president can say – and they aren’t sure what he’d say each day even if he did talk about it,’ Mr Obama said.

John Edwards' Other Women

by Diane Dimond

 

Ethan Miller / Getty Images Before Rielle Hunter, there were “several women,” Andrew Young tells Diane Dimond. The ex-Edwards aide details 2 a.m. jogs, towel-stuffed hotel doors, and other clues to a Tiger Woods problem.

Buried in the middle of Lisa DePaulo’s extensive GQ interview with John Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter was an interesting tidbit: Edwards invited Hunter to his hotel room, and apparently had her in bed within an hour of meeting her on a Manhattan street corner. Hardly the behavior pattern of someone who had been faithful to his wife for 30 years. So the next logical questions: Does John Edwards have a Tiger Woods problem? Are there more mistresses out there?

Andrew Young now thinks so. The former aide, who authored the bestselling book The Politician, sat down this morning and detailed for me the evidence of prior flings. “I was one of those ones that turned a blind eye, I didn’t want to see some of the things that I saw,” says Young. “But after I became his absolute confidant, he told me about a lot of things.”

“He would use my cellphone and the callback number would be some woman that I’d never heard of before.”

“A lot of women?” I asked.

“ A lot of women,” he responded. “Well, I don’t know that there were a lot of women. There were several women that he told me about. It’s something looking back that I should have been suspicious of and like when were staying in hotels together he would go out for a ‘jog’ at two o’clock in the morning, and I would run into that more and more.”

“I’d go to knock on his door in the morning, there’d be towels stuffed underneath the door and I would hear muffled voices, or he would use my cellphone and the callback number would be some woman that I’d never heard of before,” Young continues. “There were signs there I just never paid attention to them because you know … in nine years, three times, we were running for vice president or president, and it was so chaotic, it was easy to overlook these things.”

• Ann Louise Bardach: My Tenant, Rielle Hunter

• Diane Dimond: Edwards Sex Tape DetailsYoung told me that he has now spent more than $100,000 defending himself against Hunter’s invasion of privacy suit, and remains convinced that Edwards is bankrolling the action in a vengeful effort to drain him of cash. Young says that he looks forward to facing Hunter, who is scheduled to be under oath for a deposition, next Wednesday. "That's where I go on the offensive,” he says. “Unless she drops the suit, she's compelled to be there March 24."

In our far-reaching talk, Young also said that he believes there are other copies of the sex tape he discovered (whose details I revealed for the first time yesterday in The Daily Beast), that Elizabeth Edwards may have exaggerated her illness to help her husband’s campaign, and that he has some issues with the writer who conducted GQ’s Rielle Hunter interview. Here are some of the other details from my sit-down with him this morning:

You spent a lot of time in the car with him driving around the state of North Carolina as candidate, and he has a very magnetic personality, and I can imagine that women would throw themselves all over him. Did he respond to other women?

In public, absolutely not. The first time that I ever caught wind of anything was just when I’d be in the car with him, he was talking to Elizabeth six or seven hours a day… over time I realized that this was more of a mother-son relationship. She was the mastermind behind the campaign. She was the brains behind the operation. And she openly made fun of him for not being as smart… She would ride around listening to books on Einstein’s theory of relativity for fun.

And she did not like the fact that his birth name is Johnny Reid [Edwards], she never called him Johnny Reid like Rielle did.

She didn’t like the name, she didn’t like that he grew up in South Carolina, she didn’t like his parents… it didn’t fit in to her image of her perfect cosmopolitan husband. What was perfect for her was living in Georgetown in one of the mansions just down from where the Kennedys used to live…. That was her perfect world.

Back to John Edwards on the road. John Edwards traveled a lot. We now know that the very first night he laid eyes on Rielle Hunter he was in bed with Rielle Hunter. That tells me this is a man that might be used to doing things like this while he’s on the road. Are there other Rielles out there?

Obviously, yes. I was one of those ones that turned a blind eye, I didn’t want to see some of the things that I saw. But after I became his absolute confidant, he told me about a lot of things.

A lot of women?

A lot of women. Well, I don’t know that there a lot of women, there were several women that he told me about. It’s something looking back that I should have been suspicious of, and like when were staying in hotels together he would go out for a “jog” at two o’clock in the morning, and I would run into that more and more. I’d go to knock on his door in the morning, there’d be towels stuffed underneath the door and I would hear muffled voices, or he would use my cellphone and the callback number would be some woman that I’d never heard of before… There were signs there I just never paid attention to them because you know … in nine years, three times, we were running for vice president or president, and it was so chaotic, it was easy to overlook these things.

If John Edwards has the bad decision-making to make one sex tape, do you think he’s made others?

Yes.

You do?

The one I had looks like a double… there’s no voice, there’s no audio, and it looks like a double. You have to go with one of two theories: Either Rielle left that tape behind intentionally—we had four days to pack before we left—you would think that if you had a tape of a presidential candidate having sex that that would be one of the first things that you’d pack. You know, toothbrush, hairbrush, tape of presidential candidate having sex… She had four days to pack and she left that there for over a year, and then had opportunities when I went back or others went back to get that thing out of there.

She asked for her passport back at one point.

She asked for her passport, she asked for several other items… and it goes to the arrogance of people that run for presidential office, think they’re bulletproof. They that people like us aren’t supposed to know.

I want to clarify something. Do you think he’s made other sex tapes with other women?

I wouldn’t know that. I think that there are other sex tapes. The way that this thing was made and the way that it comes across and the way that it was casually left behind lead you to one of two conclusions: One, that she intentionally left it to be found, or two, that there were other sex tapes and she just forgot about this one.

I’m looking at this [GQ] spread of Rielle Hunter. What if Playboy came calling? She was pretty close to having no clothes on, do you think she’d pose for Playboy?

I don’t think Playboy would ask her.

But what if they did?

Well, Playgirl could ask me. I have no idea. I will say that this article is very bizarre and… and I would point out that she’s suing me for invasion of privacy and all of this kind of stuff like this and then she does these semi-nude pictures in a national magazine? To me, it takes a lot of merit out of her case.

The woman who wrote this article for GQ magazine. You know her. How?

The gentleman who… dropped the bombshell report, who dropped an affidavit claiming that I showed him the sex tape, his name’s Rob Draper… he claimed that I showed him the sex tape and I don’t think I did. He had recommended to me that I hire Lisa DePaulo as a writer, to write my book. And so I signed a confidentiality agreement and we were on the verge of signing a contract, pending her writing a good proposal that landed a good contract. We spent a month and a half or more with her and she had complete access to all of my information.

You showed Lisa DePaulo all of your research, all of your evidence?

Yes, she had complete access to all of my information. And when she wrote this article, she did not contact us to say I’m writing this article, she did not expose that in the article. I don’t know much about the ethics of journalism, but it seems to me that that should have been exposed to one of the three principals in this bizarre story, if she’s going to write a story about one of the other two, that she should expose that in the article or at least contact us to see if that’s OK.

Do you believe John Edwards is going to be indicted soon?

I think the grand jury… the grand jury doesn’t tell you anything, but I think the grand jury has put a lot of time, energy, and taxpayer money into it, and they’ve been at this for a year and a half, two years, and I think they’re going to do something, I don’t know what.

Looking at his campaign finances and the way he spent money, specifically on Rielle Hunter, do you think he’s guilty of something?

I’d be the wrong one to ask that. I think that they’ve got something they’ve worked very hard on.

A presidential candidate being indicted for the way he spends federal money, that [would be] amazing.

I think the problem facing the grand jury is that when they wrote campaign-finance law, there’s no way they could have anticipated something like this. This would never be a case on first impressions. But hopefully last impression.

Investigative journalist and syndicated columnist Diane Dimond has covered the Michael Jackson story since 1993 when she first broke the news that the King of Pop was under investigation for child molestation. She is author of the book, Be Careful Who You Love—Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She lives in New York with her husband, broadcast journalist Michael Schoen.

For more of The Daily Beast, become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

Edwards to Testify About Sex Tape

by Diane Dimond

John Edwards (Michael Dwyer / AP Photo) John Edwards will testify under oath about his relationship with mistress Rielle Hunter, facing questions about the infamous sex tape and whether he spent campaign funds to hide the relationship. By Diane Dimond.

Former presidential candidate John Edwards has a date with destiny: The Daily Beast has learned Edwards has been called to submit to a sworn deposition on May 13 in the case of Rielle Hunter v. Andrew Young.

Like that other famously philandering Democrat, Bill Clinton, Edwards is forced to testify under oath about his extramarital sex life—specifically that much-talked-about sex tape he made with mistress Rielle Hunter—and whether he might have spent federal campaign funds to keep Hunter lavishly hidden away from the media and under the watchful eye of trusted aide Andrew Young.

A federal grand jury has reportedly been looking into Edwards’ campaign spending habits for some time, though the former North Carolina senator has denied any impropriety. "I am confident that no funds from my campaign were used improperly," Edwards said in the statement last May. "However, I know that it is the role of government to ensure that this is true. We have made available to the United States both the people and the information necessary to help them get the issue resolved efficiently and in a timely matter." Calls to attorneys for Hunter and Edwards were not immediately returned.

The unemployed Hunter, mother of Edwards' 2-year-old love child, got this embarrassing deposition ball rolling back in January and can’t seem to let it go. A team of high-profile North Carolina attorneys were brought in, widely believed to be paid for by John Edwards, to file an invasion of privacy suit on Hunter’s behalf. They demanded Young return the sex tape and other personal photographs she'd left behind during the cross-country odyssey to hide her pregnancy. Young described the tape in great detail in his bestselling book, The Politician, which outlines the senator's self-destructive fall from grace.

Young appeared at all five hearings held in Superior Court in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He testified at three of them. Rielle Hunter never once appeared in court. Finally, Judge Abraham Penn Jones became satisfied that all her property (and all copies of the videotape) had been returned by Young. But for some reason Hunter continues to pursue the matter. Calls placed to her lead attorney, Wade Barber, have gone unanswered.

It’s difficult to say how Hunter can continue to claim her privacy has been invaded after she has appeared half-clothed in the pages of GQ magazine along with a lengthy interview and on national television answering questions from Oprah, a program that airs April 29, the first day of the all-important television sweeps period.

Since the suit lingers, Young’s defense team has employed an aggressive tactical stance: They’ve set no fewer than five dates for Hunter to appear to give her deposition. She’s failed to show every time, even after Judge Jones ordered her appearance on April 21. Young’s lawyers then filed a motion to dismiss the entire case based on Hunter’s “refusal to appear for deposition in this action.” Another court hearing is forthcoming on that motion, as well as one by Hunter’s team requesting all deposition testimony she gives be sealed from the public.

So now the screws are being slowly tightened, according to court documents seen by The Daily Beast. Former senator and presidential hopeful Johnny Reid Edwards has been notified his deposition is set for “May 13, 2010, and the deposition of another witness on May 24, 2010.”

No one will confirm who that other witness might be. Some speculate it is Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged and very angry wife of John. The Daily Beast can report while Mrs. Edwards may, indeed, be deposed at some point in this process, the next person on the list is someone who, according to a well-placed source, “knows a lot about Rielle and her past relationships with all sorts of men.”

Edwards’ lawyer, Jim Cooney, did not return a telephone message inquiring whether his client intended to make that May 13th deposition.

Investigative journalist and syndicated columnist Diane Dimond has covered the Michael Jackson story since 1993 when she first broke the news that the King of Pop was under investigation for child molestation. She is author of the book, Be Careful Who You Love—Inside the Michael Jackson Case. She lives in New York with her husband, broadcast journalist Michael Schoen.

Wife of Dennis Hopper May Want Him Dead

Nancy Pelosi's Husband Picks Out Her Clothes

Not every obsessive take on Nancy Pelosi's appearance is hateful: The Daily Beast would like to crown her a "fashion icon." Apparently it's her husband Paul who deserves the credit, because he buys most of her clothes. [TDB]

Meghan McCain to D.C. Men: Stop Judging Me, I Don't Wear Pearls and Pantsuits

A Skeleton in Barney's Closet

Cases before the House ethics committee are stacking up like planes at Washington's National Airport, and so are the embarrassments for Congress. After the committee investigates Georgia Republican Newt Gingrich for a questionable book deal, it must consider Ohio Republican Donald Lukens, convicted in May of having sex with a 16-year-old girl. Then it will weigh the case of Illinois Democrat Gus Savage, accused of fondling an unwilling Peace Corps volunteer during a March trip to Zaire. Last week the committee agreed to investigate Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, who has admitted that he had an affair with a male prostitute.

On a scale of 1 to HUD, Frank's transgression is a low single digit: there is no suggestion that he used his public office for personal gain. In the eyes of some, however, private failings are far more serious: they go to a leader's judgment and character, as Gary Hart and John Tower learned. For many people, the fact that the scandal involves gay sex makes Frank's behavior more offensive; among others, tolerance of homosexuality has shielded Frank from sharper criticism.

At the least, Frank's judgment was appallingly naive. After an initial encounter in which he paid Steve Gobie $80 for sex, the Congressman says he tried to lift the younger man out of drugs and prostitution by hiring him to run errands. He wrote letters to Gobie's probation officer and paid his psychiatric bills. He allowed Gobie the use of a car and sometimes his apartment when he was out of town.

After 18 months, Frank says, he dismissed Gobie upon discovering that he was bringing clients to Frank's apartment. Two years later, Gobie tried unsuccessfully to sell his story to the Washington Post. He then gave the story to the Washington Times for nothing, in hopes of getting a book contract for the male version of The Mayflower Madam. This week Gobie will appear on Geraldo, discussing his prospects for a television mini-series.

While the House could censure Frank or reprimand him, colleagues and constituents so far have been generally sympathetic. The scandal does not involve seducing a minor, as it does with Lukens, or adultery, since Frank is single. It is an incident from a past secret life that has come back to haunt a legislator who is widely respected. Frank can debate and speak extemporaneously better than almost anyone else in the House, and he tackles some of its more complex problems like immigration and housing. Back home, he makes sure constituents get help from 18 staffers who track down Social Security checks and Medicaid benefits. Though he freely disclosed in 1987 that he was a homosexual, his district, which encompasses the liberal campuses of Boston and nearby blue-collar mill towns, re-elected him overwhelmingly in 1988 with 70% of the vote.

Massachusetts Republicans have jumped on the Frank affair, and the latest poll shows that only 45% of the Congressman's constituents still look on him favorably -- a blow but not necessarily a defeat, since 61% want him to run for office again next year. Alexander Tennant, Massachusetts G.O.P. state committee director, says the political issue is "not Barney Frank's sex life but whether the Congressman broke the law." Gobie says he did, by abusing congressional immunity to avoid paying Gobie's parking tickets, a charge Frank denies.

Earlier this month Frank apologized to other Democrats for the embarrassment he was causing. The audience's eyes were not averted as usual, says one Congressman, because "Barney was living in a different world in 1985 that most of us don't understand . . . We have all been stupid when we have fallen for the wrong person. Most of us were lucky enough to do it when we were younger."

One reason Frank says he revealed his homosexuality was to square his private and public lives, to protect himself from the Gobies of the world who don't abide by the tacit social contract among former spouses and lovers not to talk because they know so much. When that pact is broken, the results can be devastating. Massachusetts Republican Edward Brooke, an able Senator for two terms, lost his seat to challenger Paul Tsongas amid divorce proceedings in 1978, damaged by press reports that focused on the breakup of his marriage.

While university professors and college students might be expected to tolerate Frank's affair, when he returned to his district it was a largely working-class crowd that cheered him at a parade through Fall River soon after the story broke. Perhaps even in quiet, conservative Fall River, the world isn't as neat as it used to be. One must learn to forgive the sinner while hating the sin -- or risk shutting out the daughter who had the abortion, the son with AIDS, the nephew trapped by drugs. Even the most conservative parts of the Fourth District may decide to believe and forgive Frank rather than Gobie. Maybe those who catch the early bus know better than anyone that an honest day's work can sometimes be done no matter how messy life is at night.

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