WASHINGTON — Now that everything about President Clinton's sex life seems to be fair game, other politicians and candidates are girding for an ugly election year that could amount to open season on the private lives of public officials.
Many political professionals are worried that candidates' private lives will be subjected to a new, more intrusive level of examination during the 1998 midterm elections--and that the political establishment may not bear up well under the scrutiny.
"You can brace yourself for an ugly campaign season," said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster. "We warned our candidates that you had better be prepared if there is anything you haven't told your family."
Clinton appears to be surviving--for now--the detailed public airing of his alleged marital infidelities. And, so far, the only other major figure affected by the current climate is Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who was recently forced by a magazine expose to acknowledge a long-term relationship with a woman not his wife.
But some fear that's just the beginning.
"I tell my candidates that those cameras focused on them have cross-hairs on them," said Phil Perington, Democratic Party chairman in Colorado. "There are hundreds of Roy Romer stories already in the can. They just drag them out when the time is right."
Others hope the frenzy over sex and politics won't spread much further. The public seems to be recoiling from the subject as a result of the Clinton controversy, and the risks to both parties are high.
"I do not think either party has an interest in making this a major theme in congressional races," said Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, noting that both Democrats and Republicans have skeletons in their closets. "It would be mutually assured destruction."
But some political consultants are still urging their clients to prepare for the worst. Lake said she advises candidates to tell all to their families, practice giving succinct answers to nosy questions and hire someone to research themselves and their spouses.
"I really encourage candidates to hire opposition researchers on themselves," said Lake. "It's important to find out what the opposition is going to find out about you."
The consequences of this heightened anxiety may be far-reaching. Some party officials say the hot spotlight on politicians' private lives is driving potential candidates away from public office.
