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Unlike 1980, delegates are no longer absolutely bound to any candidate, even on the first ballot. The so-called robot rule or yanking rule that disqualified defectors (literally yanking them off the floor) was abolished in 1982. Nonetheless, party officials say there is still a moral obligation of delegates to vote for the candidate who brought them to San Francisco. This tie is likely to be especially strong on some delegates whose travel expenses to San Francisco are being paid for by organized labor. Hart's chance of taking away delegates from Mondale is "just about zero," insists Mondale Campaign Chairman Johnson.
Some delegates wonder, should the final round of primaries seem to wound Mondale irreparably, whether there might be some alternative besides Hart or Jackson, a fourth man who could capture the hearts of a restive convention. "Another candidate is the only hope we have against Reagan," says William Rosasco of Florida, formerly a John Glenn delegate but now uncommitted.
The party pros are doubtful that a fourth man could emerge. "It just doesn't work that way," says Timothy Russert, an aide to New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Cuomo illustrates the dilemma. He is perhaps the most prominently mentioned alternative. Yet having endorsed Mondale and helped him mightily to win the New York primary, Cuomo is not about to turncoat. Nor would most of the delegates want to embrace such an untested, unknown prospect. Various other names float about: Party Elder Robert Strauss, Former California Governor Jerry Brown, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers, even Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca. But all carry liabilities of either too little reputation or too much, and none have paid the same dues on the campaign trail as Mondale, Hart or Jackson. Says Texas Party Chairman Bob Slagle: "Our folks really believe in sweat equity. If you sweat for it, you get our first consideration."
The party's great fear is that Mondale will leave the convention not only sweating but bleeding. His aides had hoped to begin the healing process after sweeping the last batch of primaries. At week's end state party leaders met in San Francisco. They hammered out convention logistics but mended no fences. "If Mondale had won all four primaries, this meeting would have been the start of the call for unity," said Georgia Party Chairman Bert Lance. "I guess unity has been delayed for a while." The Mondale camp had hoped the convention would be a four-day media event extolling the party and excoriating the President. But it could easily disintegrate into a bitter struggle over rules and delegate credentials, with Hart and Jackson hitting Mondale from different angles and sometimes in tandem.