Gary Hart is a Democratic U.S. Senator from Colorado and the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination at the beginning of 1987. Thompson likes Hart both as a person and a politician and considers him to be the closest thing as an heir-apparent to the presidency since Ted Kennedy. However, in April of 1987, a fund raiser for Hart is raided by federal marshals and $30,000 is seized. This scandal is minor compared to the sex scandal that hits Hart in May. Hart's extramarital affairs are discovered because another Senator, Joe Tydings of Maryland, was going through a divorce and thought Hart was sleeping with his wife, so Tydings sent private investigators to follow Hart. The investigators discover Hart having sex with numerous women, none of which are his wife. After the scandal breaks, Thompson calls Hart foolish to be so easily brought down, but Thompson still respects Hart enough to call for his predictions about the election after Hart drops out.
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