Reporters who had covered Mills knew he was a heavy drinker and appeared to be drunk at some committee meetings, but they would not pursue the story because they did not think they should invade his private life. Washington reporters may have felt intruding into Packwood's behavior with staffers and lobbyists was too intrusive. Packwood's misbehavior followed a similar pattern. Packwood may have also been subject to less scrutiny because of his strong record of supporting abortion rights and other traditionally feminist causes. This is a fatuous paradox.
Conservatives are no more intrinsically accepting, or guilty, of sexual harassment than liberals.
Unfortunately, Packwood's Congressional support of women's issues helped his Senate career and kept many women who had been harassed quiet. Rather than exposing a controversial figure, the press would have been demonizing a popular Senator. The centrist and feminist positions Packwood took were, in some ways, an insurance policy against exposure. It doesn't look that way. Packwood, who still receives a substantial Senate pension, has returned to Washington, hoping for a successful career as a lobbyist.