There is something about national politics that imparts to the successful male politician the notion that he should not be bound by the usual social conventions. This "I gotta be me" outlook has landed many a politico in hot water, and such was the case with Delaware's golfing Republican congressman Thomas Evans, Jr.
In 1980, Evans and fellow Republicans Tom Railsback of Illinois and Dan Quayle of Indiana were doing the public's business at a Florida golf course, accommpanied by good-time agricultural insurance lobbyist Paula Parkinson, whose favorite crop appeared to be successful Republican politicians.
Questioned by the Justice Department, Parkinson admitted to innumerable flings , but only with Republicans. The Department decided not to prosecute anyone, but news of the junketing good time boys is thought to have cost Evans the next election, in 1982. The affair may also have been a major factor in the unseating of 8-term congressman Railsback. Quayle escaped the bad publicity and went on to exhibit his boyish charm and lack of spelling ability as U.S. vice president.
Parkinson did the expected and posed for Playboy magazine before disappearing from public view.
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