Are there any lessons to draw from this?
Absolutely: if you're a politician — especially on the national level — everything you've ever written, said, or done can, and likely will, be dredged up for all the world to inspect and critique.
It's not the first time writings from long ago have resurfaced to be used against a candidate. Republican Bob McDonnell's 20-year-old thesis about his views on women was also used as a cudgel against him in his bid for governor of Virginia in 2009.
When Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's name began to surface as a potential vice-presidential candidate in 2012, the political world began writing about his 1994 essay about an exorcism he says he witnessed. That, by the way, is sure to come up again if he runs in 2016 or any time in the future.
Many candidates have also faced plagiarism charges, like Democratic Sen. John Walsh of Montana, who dropped out of his re-election race last year after the New York Times reported he had lifted portions of the final paper he wrote to get his master's degree.
Vice President Joe Biden admitted in 1987 to cribbing a speech from a British politician, but said it wasn't "malevolent." In 2008, the Clinton campaign accused Barack Obama of lifting lines from his friend, then-Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
And then there are the countless officials who have been embarrassed in the media for sexual impropriety, including the aforementioned Bill Clinton. Eliot Spitzer. Anthony Weiner. David Vitter. John Ensign. Chris Lee. Vito Fossella. Mark Foley. Dennis Hastert.
It's not just elected officials — consider the flap over past comments in which now-Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor described herself as a "wise Latina." It's not plagiarism or an affair, but it created a headache for her during confirmation hearings.
The scrutiny is part of why so many people want nothing to do with the white hot spotlight that comes with running for office.
The Bernie Sanders 'Rape Fantasy' Essay, Explained : It's All Politics : NPR