Was Gary Hart destined to be President? Hard to make that argument. By 1988, Americans were so enamored with Ronald Reagan and, subsequently enamored with themselves for being enamored with Ronald Reagan, that anything the man touched stood a healthy chance of becoming prez in his wake; Reagan’s disembodied hair could have run as an independent and swept the bible belt without breaking a sweat. So Reagan’s veep, George H.W. Bush, RIP, was likely the next CIC no matter whom he faced. What is obvious, however, is that Hart would have fared better than Mike Dukakis, the last of three consecutive Democratic duds vying for the top office in the world.
In April of 1987, Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) may not necessarily have been The Front Runner to be Reagan’s successor, but he certainly was the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. Speaking of quality hair, Gary’s was worth “six points” in the polls. But the excitement about his candidacy had to do, mostly, with issues. The film tells us he had a gift for translating politician bullshit into comprehensible English; it also told us he didn’t have a problem calling Reaganism on its many self-promoted exaggerations. Hart may not have been the ideal candidate, but compared to also-rans Walter Mondale (1984) and Dukakis (1988), Hart was the Democratic second coming of JFK.
And, like JFK, Hart enjoyed females who were not his wife. Gary met one such female, Donna Rice (Sara Paxton), in Miami on a luxury yacht called, no lie, the “Monkey Business.” And when confronted about his own Monkey Business both currently and historically, Gary acted as if the press, and –by extension- the American public, had no right to know. Oh Gary, Gary, Gary. For a politician, you have the naïveté of a freshman at Cal Berkeley. The following is neither my thought, nor do I know its exact origin, but it’s as true today as when I first heard it. To paraphrase: the American public gets to decide for itself what is and isn’t important.
I remember being young and thinking, “What’s the big deal? So what if this guy has some side-nookie – how does that relate to unemployment or embargoes or nuclear missiles? I remember distinctly being told by older and wiser people that a man who shows such poor judgment in his private life cannot be trusted to run the country properly. I remember agreeing with that statement. I still do. But the people who issued said statement to me at the time ended up years later voting for Donald Trump. Wow. Just … wow. And, if I might add, YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITES. Pardon my French.
The Front Runner definitely gets the right feel for the man and the time. Gary blew it the way few men before him have, and then stowed his public humility for some uncharacteristic belligerence when caught. In retrospect, no, he certainly wasn’t ideal –at least at the time. One thing I thought Jason Reitman and company got wrong was Donna Rice. Front Runner portrayed her as intelligent, reluctant, and, like Gary, a bit naïve herself. I remember at the time believing that Ms. Rice treated the discovery of her infamous celebrity like she’d won the lottery. Upon researching the truth, I find my perception was 100% wrong. Donna turned down $1M for a Playboy article –article only, no pictures- for fear of exploitation. I don’t think she’s a heroine or even worth more than this paragraph’s worth of attention, but I’m glad the film got her more right than I did.
It’s hard to nail down the legacy of Gary Hart. Here’s a man who tossed away an excellent shot at the presidency (and his entire political career) because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. And what did we learn from this? Far as I can tell, both Democrats 
and Republicans took divergent but equally wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong lessons. Democrats learned that if they have an inspirational would-be President and womanizer among their rank, they need to hide his indiscretions better. This culminated in a successful President blowing his legacy by getting blown by a White House intern – it also, in the long run, indirectly ruined his wife’s chance of becoming America’s first female President. Republicans, however, learned something very different. They learned that with the correct spin, any mediocrity can become President when the process has been adequately soiled. With the exception of John McCain, Republicans since have trotted out a series of increasingly unimpressive individuals all with an excellent chance of becoming president so long as Fox News exists. This has culminated in the very worst human being in the world currently holding the office. The bar doesn’t get any lower than Donald Trump. It’s on the ground. Republicans could offer next a pedophile Catholic priest, a convicted drug dealer, or an actual corpse, and so long as it was a white man with the moneyed hate machine behind him, he’d stand an excellent chance of becoming president against anybody. If you can convince yourselves that Trump is a force of good with your best interests at heart, there is no limit to your collective self-deception.
♪Two a.m. in DC
The Herald’s spying with glee
They wouldn’t dream of letting him go free
And it got hot in the press
Reporting Gary’s excess
“There goes the end of candidacy”
You see, he reaped what he sowed
‘Cause it’s Hart and LOL
Campaign goes null
He had it all, the nomination in his hand
Oh♫
Rated R, 113 Minutes
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Matt Bai & Jay Carson & Jason Reitman
Genre: Our screwed politics
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The Miami Herald
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Lee Hart
♪ Parody Inspired by “Heart and Soul”
