The Nation - News from Aug. 27, 1989

Polls in Boston showed that Rep. Barney Frank’s constituents still strongly support him, despite revelations about the congressman’s relationship with a male prostitute. A poll conducted for the Boston Globe and WBZ-TV showed that 65.3% did not think Frank should resign, while 22.3% said he should. At the same time, a survey by the Boston Herald and WCVB-TV showed that 56% said Frank deserves to be reelected, while 29% called for his ouster. The state Republican Party has also called for the Massachusetts Democrat’s resignation, charging that Frank, 49, showed a “profound lack of judgment.” However, political observers predicted that the fifth-term congressman, who publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in 1987, would survive the scandal.