Playing Video Games

There is no background music, but the theme from Star Wars would be appropriate. On a white grid that rolls off into blue infinity, the name Gary Hart appears in silvery letters. With the aid of computer animation, the screen seems to become a book, flipping open page by page. Page 1: a close-up shot of a youthful-looking Hart in a coat and tie speaking directly into the camera. "The politicians of yesterday are trading our future by asking our price instead of challenging our idealism." Page 2: Hart framed from fore head to chin by the television screen. "My candidacy is for those who still dream dreams . . . who will stand together once more to build an American future." Intones an unseen narrator: "Gary Hart ... a new generation of leadership."

Below the turning pages, the letters in Hart's name, glowing like the numerals on a digital clock, never move.

The 30-second "generation" spot was one of seven high-tech ads that the Hart campaign team hurried onto New Hampshire television screens during the last three weeks of the race.

They were produced by Washington-based Media Maven Ray Strother, a transplanted Louisianian whose previous clients include Democratic Senators Russell Long and Lloyd Bentsen. "I normally do traditional spots, but they would have looked too much like doing," what he the said "Our spots candidates had were to work harder." Each was tailored to a specific audience and strategically aired in time slots close to news, public affairs shows or popular prime-time series. All seven had a rat-a-tat rhythm that sent out an unmistakable message: Hart is a man on the move. "The spots are real, real intense and jampacked," said Strother. "They are so rapid fire that the viewer needs a break to begin to comprehend them."

The ad arsenals of John Glenn and Walter Mondale seemed to pack less punch. After the Ohioan's resounding defeat in Iowa, Media Strategist David Sawyer abruptly switched from a "video resume" of Glenn's accomplishments to direct, no-nonsense voter appeals. Said Sawyer: "Everyone agreed we had to do something dramatic." Six days before the primary, Glenn taped a five-minute address in the home of a Nashua, N.H., supporter, urging voters to display their Yankee independence. The unedited videotape was rushed to Boston's station WBZ by helicopter seven minutes before its scheduled broadcast time. The spot was expensive (about $25,000 in air time for eleven showings), but well received, according to viewers polled afterward. Apparently it did not enough potential sup-Sighed Sawyer: "It's hard to the sensible center."

Mondale's ads, the creation of Spence, 35, a Texas-based media pro, portrayed the candidate as both accessible and presidential. One showed him reeling in a fish and walking down a country lane ("I'm sort of a farm kid"). Another showed him in blue suit, red tie and white shirt, pledging sternly to cut the Reagan deficit. In the background, uplifting music suggested strength.

"We got a lot of reaction, both positive and negative," said Spence. "Obviously, we need to do better."