(4 of 5)
Adding to his drumbeat of nervous-making adjectives ("unsteady," "inexperienced," "naive"), Mondale last week called Hart "uncertain, delayed and confused" on arms control, the "central issue of our time." Hart had only embraced a freeze on most nuclear weapons, Mondale charged, after first supporting a build-down proposal that would allow both sides to build new weapons if they destroyed more old ones. The build-down, insisted Mondale, was "totally at odds" with the freeze. Actually, Hart had carefully conceived positions on arms control until he began doing precisely what he accuses Mondale of doing, posturing for political purpose. Hart claims that he embraced the simplistic freeze only when his more sophisticated approaches failed to attract support.
Mondale has struck fear in the Hart camp by hiring Media Consultant David Garth. Mondale's regular media man, Roy Spence, came up with the worst slogan of the campaign, declaring before New Hampshire that Mondale "dares to be cautious." Garth is known as a tough New York street fighter. "We expect a vicious, negative series of attacks," says Hart Deputy Campaign Chairman David Landau.
The Hart camp is planning some low blows of its own. Two ads have been pre pared attacking Mondale: one focuses on the Carter Administration's failure to honor the 1976 Democratic platform's call to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; the other pictures a burning fuse and accuses Mondale of failing to learn "the lessons of Viet Nam" in Central America.
Hart expects to have twice as much money as Mondale to spend on advertising in New York. Hoping to clinch the nomination early, Mondale spent more than $10 million in 1983; he risks bumping up against the $20 million federal spending ceiling by the time the campaign rolls into its last showdown, the California primary on June 5. Hart, who only raised $1.5 million before New Hampshire, raked in twice as much in the past month. Mondale must also worry about Jesse Jackson siphoning off black votes that would otherwise go in his column. Jackson drew 79% of the black vote and 21% of the overall tally in Illinois.
The Hart camp hopes to regain some momentum this week by winning the Connecticut primary and adding 60 dele gates to his total. Mondale is not putting up much of a fight there, apparently conceding a sweep of New England to Hart. But the race could still be close: Connecticut has a large ethnic, blue-collar labor vote, and the Yumpies tend to be Republicans, who cannot cross over and vote in the Democratic primary. Hart's aides expect an upswing after New York, when the primaries become less bunched up. Says Adviser Pat Caddell: "We'll have more time to develop our message and get Gary better known."