Trying to Win the Peace

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Many in the Mondale camp are lukewarm about Senator Bentsen, whose campaign style is soporific at best, though Georgia Party Chairman Bert Lance made a strong case for him when he visited Mondale. He warns, "If Mondale can't win the South, he can't be elected President." Another strong contender from the South is Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers, who is expected to visit North Oaks in early July. Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, once considered a possibility, has firmly removed himself from consideration; he will, however, give the keynote speech at the convention.

The candidate who might best expand Mondale's base is Gary Hart. In a Harris poll released last week, the Colorado Senator performed 10 points better than Mondale in head-to-head competition against Reagan, losing by a mere 46% to 51%; Mondale trailed the President 41% to 56%. To Hart, such polling results argue that he, not Mondale, should be the presidential nominee. Hart no longer attacks Mondale personally. Indeed, his supporters are now trying to position their man as a vice-presidential candidate. In a speech at the National Press Club last week, Hart sounded like one, playing the traditional role of a feisty running mate by attacking the Reagan Administration's "routine contempt for facts and ethics."

Mondale's biggest headache is Jackson, who is trying to rally support for his claim that he has been shortchanged by party rules, since he won 21% of the popular vote but only 8% of the delegates (see following story). Jackson mocked the vice-presidential screening process as a "p.r. parade of personalities," then belittled Mondale by saying that Hubert Humphrey was the "last significant politician out of the St. Paul-Minneapolis" area. Mondale brushed off the insults, yet he is in an awkward position. If he bows to Jackson, he offends other supporters, particularly Jews, who are deeply suspicious of Jackson. If he resists, he risks losing Jackson's valuable appeal to black voters.

While the antagonists warily circle, Democratic leaders search for compromises, so far without any success. Congressman Morris Udall of Arizona, who was chairman of an ad hoc committee looking into Jackson's grievances, wistfully noted last week, "I want a nice, boring convention. It can't be too boring for me." A calm convention, however, would seem somehow unDemocratic. It also seems unlikely. —By Evan Thomas. Reported by Sam Allis/North Oaks and David Beckwith/Washington