Far from being a mere appendage to the winning ticket, Walter Frederick Mondale turned out to be a considerable asset. With unflagging energy and unfailing good humoreven when his staff steered him to factory gates after shifts had changedMondale effectively worked the northern tier of the U.S. His assignment was to build bridges between Jimmy Carter and the sizable Democratic blocs that did not know the Georgian well: ethnics, labor, liberals.
Mondale pursued his assignment doggedlyand with more zest than he had shown in his own earlier aborted presidential quest. He improved on...