FROM CONGENIAL PLAYBOY TO FAMILY MAN

Faced with depositions from his divorce 27 years ago, Republican
gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher this week acknowledged that he
was unfaithful in his first marriage and that he had used drugs. He
apparently threw away his first marriage for fun, fame and power.

Today he says that his relationship with Jesus Christ has changed him
and that his second wife and young son have helped him see the error
of his ways.

An affair and a divorce a quarter-century ago do not disqualify
Gallagher, 62, from the state's highest office, but the revelation
will not help him with those already skeptical about his newfound
faith and lifestyle.

More troubling than his adultery and personal peccadilloes is his
first wife's representation of his motives for seeking public office.
She told Tribune reporter Michael Fechter that Gallagher entered the
public arena because he wanted celebrity and to "be treated like
royalty." Politics, she said, changed the man she married.

Gallagher's campaign team did a masterly job with damage control
Monday, engaging the state press corps with copies of court papers
given them by the Tribune. But it was a low-brow move to exclude
Fechter from the follow-up call with reporters.

Gallagher, long known for his moderate politics and for enjoying his
reputation as a congenial playboy, presents himself as the family
values candidate who hopes long-ago indiscretions hold little weight
with voters.

The question facing voters is whether Gallagher is for real.