Academic

Gary Hart Says Clinton Broke the Rules ? But He Neglects to Mention His Own Past.

By dhutchinson

On Huffingtonpost.com, Gary Hart has a new post saying that Clinton has broken an unwritten rule in politics by giving ammunition to the Republicans to use against Obama.  Here is a snippet: “By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party’s nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-hart/breaking-the-final-rule_b_90420.html#postComment

Coincidentally, I was involved in an exchange with other law professors on Clinton’s comments recently, and I concluded that they were not outside of the mainstream of political banter.  Obama, for example, has said that the Republicans would have a “dumptruck” of dirt on Clinton, that she lacks “judgment” to serve, and that she is too divisive to lead the country.  But the most interesting aspect of Hart’s comments is that they ignore the rhetoric he used when campaigning against Mondale.  Political scientists view that campaign as one of the most divisive in recent politics.  Hart (and Mondale) said some pretty harsh things — debatably harsher than what Clinton has said.  A New York Times article from 1984 details some of his comments: 

 Senator Gary Hart said today that Walter F. Mondale, as Vice President, was part of an Administration that was “weak,” “inept,” “uncertain” and marked by “days of shame” in Iran…

“Walter Mondale now promises an America that can and will stand up for its vital interests,” the Colorado Senator told an ebullient crowd of hundreds of students at Texas A&M University here. “But Carter-Mondale actually gave us an America held hostage to the ayatollahs of the world.”

“In national security as in domestic policy,” he said, “we must not leave the American people with a bleak choice in 1984 between two failed pasts - that of Ronald Reagan and that of the Carter-Mondale Administration.”

‘Reagan’s Favorite Opponent’

“After reviewing the record of the Carter-Mondale Administration, I can understand why Walter Mondale is Ronald Reagan’s favorite opponent,” Mr. Hart added.

Interestingly, critics believed that Hart’s language would help Republicans campaign againist Mondale: “[Gary] Hart risked a party division and the possibility that Republicans might exploit [his critique] if Mr. Mondale is nominated.”

See, Bernard Weinraub, “Hart, Risking Party Split, Attacks Carter-Mondale Team as “Inept,” N.Y. Times,  May 1, 1984, at A1. 

 What do you think about this? Has Hart learned from his “mistakes,” or is he simply omitting this history to avoid looking hypocritical?

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Full post as published by BlackProf on March 07, 2008 (boomark / email).