Full Disclosure, Semi-Outrage

By Laurence Zuckerman

"This is not the type of information we routinely request preparing profiles," wrote Craig Whitney, the New York Times Washington editor, to 14 Democrats and Republicans running for President. Whitney was right. In the most exhaustive set of questions ever put to national candidates by a news organization, the Times has asked not only for such routine documents as birth certificates but also for psychiatric records and access to FBI files. Though the candidates have had the Times request for more than a month, none have complied completely and nearly all are complaining about its scope. Says Patricia O'Brien, press secretary to Democratic Governor Michael Dukakis: "You ask questions. You don't say, 'Here is my plate. Fill it.' "

The Times survey was conceived before the Miami Herald broke the news about Gary Hart's dalliance with Donna Rice, but it has become part of the debate about how far the press should go in reporting the private lives of public officials. Republican Candidate Pat Robertson flatly turned Whitney down, pointing out that he was "not applying for employment at the New York Times." Democratic Front Runner Jesse Jackson charged last week that the Times had not distinguished between what is public and what is private. Earlier, a Jackson aide had attempted to rally fellow Democratic candidates to reject the Times's request. But when former Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona, Illinois Senator Paul Simon and Missouri Representative Richard Gephardt said they would cooperate with the paper, the plan was dropped.

Where most candidates say the Times has gone too far is its wish to review medical records and FBI files. "We have no interest in waiving privacy rights to allow newspapers to go on a fishing expedition," said John Buckley, press secretary to Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. Dukakis also will not sign a waiver. Three others -- Republican Alexander Haig and Democratic Senators Joseph Biden and Albert Gore Jr. -- are undecided.

Some journalists also found the letter troubling. "I may not be able to define perfectly the 'invasion of privacy' in presidential politics," wrote Boston Globe Columnist Ellen Goodman, "but I know it when I see it. This is it." In the Times's defense, Whitney argues that reporting is "one big fishing expedition. That doesn't mean we print everything we find."

What may unsettle the candidates more than the Times's request are the truly personal questions since Hart's fall. The Cleveland Plain Dealer cited Ohio Governor Richard Celeste's denials of a "Hart-type personal problem" as justification for its story about his alleged affairs. In a LIFE interview, Jesse Jackson's wife warned that her husband's fidelity was nobody's business. Said she: "I don't believe in examining sheets." Nonetheless, candidates who prefer to devote their time offering visions of the future are likely to spend much of the present talking about themselves, their character and their credibility.

With reporting by Alessandra Stanley/Washington