Word: hartely
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Like shipwrecked sailors on an isolated atoll, nervous Democrats have been constantly scanning the horizon for signs that they may yet be saved from having to nominate any of the existing contenders. Needless to say, Hart up to now has not figured prominently in these rescue scenarios. But Robert Squier, | a Democratic media consultant, says that "the more candidates you have in, the more the brokered convention seems feasible." He notes, "It's probably good for Mario Cuomo," who has ruled out a race but not a last-minute call to duty...
...example, if Hart does well in New Hampshire and Jackson runs strongly in the South, the other five may become even more diminished. Hart may not ultimately win that many delegates: he has neither the time nor the organization to file full slates and get the necessary signatures to be listed in many places. Nevertheless, it will become mathematically more difficult for any of the five others to forge a majority, especially if the popular fascination with Hart and Jackson continues to overshadow them...
Intimations of a stalemate would provide a window for a last-minute candidacy by Cuomo, Bradley or Nunn -- either by entering a couple of late primaries or by being available when the preconvention brokering begins. Such a confection is still mostly spun sugar, but the re-entry of Hart is certain to keep speculation alive for months...
...Gary Hart has become the Democratic version of Richard Nixon: a political leader of vast talents and conspicuous flaws, a man who seems to draw strength from his own humiliation, and a natural loner in a profession that places a premium on warmth. Like Nixon, he is a fascinating touchstone of the times, whose character and psyche are both intensely familiar and strangely unfathomable. The ill-concealed bitterness that the political establishment displays toward Hart is more than merely political and situational; it is rooted in anger at an iconoclast who scorns convention. Mocking the pretensions and smugness...
...most cynical interpretation is that Hart is doing this merely to qualify for roughly $1 million in federal matching payments. But even if Hart were to receive this money, which is subject to the approval of the Federal Election Commission, the funds would go to his new 1988 campaign committee, not into his wallet. Nor is it certain that this money would ever be applied to his $1.1 million 1984 debt which, legally, is not owed by Hart personally. Only if Hart gets the matching funds, drops out of the race again, and wins FEC approval might this $1 million...