For the Record

Gary Hart’s Connecticut victory was most lopsided of all Democratic primaries so far: Hart got 54.9 per cent, Walter Mondale 30.3 per cent, and Jesse Jackson 12.2 per cent. But it wasn’t any surprise. Connecticut is pure Hart country: It has a low rate of unemployment, many high-tech businesses, many surburbanites. Connecticut win gave Hart 33 more delegates to San Francisco convention; Mondale got 18, Jackson got 1. . . . Going into New York primary, Mondale holds large lead over Hart in total delegates, 698 to 429 (Jackson has 87), with 1,967 delegates needed for nomination. . . . Washington Post/ABC poll gives Mondale a 44 to 32 per cent lead over Hart among voters who say they are certain to vote in New York’s April 3 primary. . . . Never mind where’s the beef, Mondale people are nervous about the bucks. Mondale spent big money early. “We had assumed there was going to be an early decision,” says Maxine Isaacs, a Mondale deputy campaign manager, “and we spent it accordingly.” Reports filed with Federal Election Commission state that Mondale had spent $10.4 million by February 29, while Hart had spent only $2.3 million. Campaign ceiling, by law, is $20.2 million, giving Hart a lot more room than Mondale. . . . New York should be Mondale country. He has full support of state’s Democratic establishment, including more than fifty of state’s 62 Democratic county leaders, not to mention Governor Mario Cuomo, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and New York City Mayor Edward Koch. . . . Louis Farrakhan, leader of Nation of Islam and staunch Jackson supporter, isn’t helping to add a Jewish tinge to the rainbow coalition. Speaking in New York two weeks before primary, Farrakhan stuck by Jackson, insisting he was “absolutely right” to call Jews “Hymies.” . . . Kevin Phillips, in his American Political Report, says that the longer the race for the Democratic nomination goes on, the more the national Democratic coalition unravels. In 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980, Democrats had bruising primary battles and won only one national election (Carter in 1976).

Big winner in El Salvador’s March 25 election may be Reagan Administration request for military aid to El Salvador. U.S. congressmen who observed election came back impressed. House Majority Leader Jim Wright (D., Tex.) called election a “resounding repudiation of any notion that the guerrillas represent the people.” Senator William Roth (R., Del.) said the “consensus [of observers] was, without question, that it was a very, very impressive event. . . . This was truly another step forward in the democratic process.” . . . Big question is whether Administration will get support from congressmen who didn’t go down to observe. Tip O’Neill, for one, wasn’t persuaded. “The majority of Democrats out there,” he said, “are opposed to any military funding.” . . . Administration officials are saying Salvadoran troops will be out of ammunition by mid-May and warn that if aid does not come through, Congress will have done to El Salvador what it did to South Vietnam. . . . Proponents of school-prayer amendment, which came up 11 votes short of 67 needed for Senate approval, have found a silver lining: The vote provides a guide to targets in November elections. “There are some people,” says Gary Jarmin, executive director of Christian Voice, “who voted against us . . . [for whom] this vote is going to be a major factor in their political careers.” . . . Senator Jesse Helms promises to move ahead with a bill keeping federal courts out of cases involving voluntary prayer or Bible readings in school.

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Presidential Election

Gary Hart’s Connecticut victory was most lopsided of all Democratic primaries so far: Hart got 54.9 per cent, Walter Mondale 30.3 per cent, and Jesse Jackson 12.2 per cent. But it wasn’t any surprise. Connecticut is pure Hart country: It has a low rate of unemployment, many high-tech businesses, many surburbanites. Connecticut win gave Hart 33 more delegates to San Francisco convention; Mondale got 18, Jackson got 1. . . . Going into New York primary, Mondale holds large lead over Hart in total delegates, 698 to 429 (Jackson has 87), with 1,967 delegates needed for nomination. . . . Washington Post/ABC poll gives Mondale a 44 to 32 per cent lead over Hart among voters who say they are certain to vote in New York’s April 3 primary. . . . Never mind where’s the beef, Mondale people are nervous about the bucks. Mondale spent big money early. “We had assumed there was going to be an early decision,” says Maxine Isaacs, a Mondale deputy campaign manager, “and we spent it accordingly.” Reports filed with Federal Election Commission state that Mondale had spent $10.4 million by February 29, while Hart had spent only $2.3 million. Campaign ceiling, by law, is $20.2 million, giving Hart a lot more room than Mondale. . . . New York should be Mondale country. He has full support of state’s Democratic establishment, including more than fifty of state’s 62 Democratic county leaders, not to mention Governor Mario Cuomo, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and New York City Mayor Edward Koch. . . . Louis Farrakhan, leader of Nation of Islam and staunch Jackson supporter, isn’t helping to add a Jewish tinge to the rainbow coalition. Speaking in New York two weeks before primary, Farrakhan stuck by Jackson, insisting he was “absolutely right” to call Jews “Hymies.” . . . Kevin Phillips, in his American Political Report, says that the longer the race for the Democratic nomination goes on, the more the national Democratic coalition unravels. In 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980, Democrats had bruising primary battles and won only one national election (Carter in 1976).

Big winner in El Salvador’s March 25 election may be Reagan Administration request for military aid to El Salvador. U.S. congressmen who observed election came back impressed. House Majority Leader Jim Wright (D., Tex.) called election a “resounding repudiation of any notion that the guerrillas represent the people.” Senator William Roth (R., Del.) said the “consensus [of observers] was, without question, that it was a very, very impressive event. . . . This was truly another step forward in the democratic process.” . . . Big question is whether Administration will get support from congressmen who didn’t go down to observe. Tip O’Neill, for one, wasn’t persuaded. “The majority of Democrats out there,” he said, “are opposed to any military funding.” . . . Administration officials are saying Salvadoran troops will be out of ammunition by mid-May and warn that if aid does not come through, Congress will have done to El Salvador what it did to South Vietnam. . . . Proponents of school-prayer amendment, which came up 11 votes short of 67 needed for Senate approval, have found a silver lining: The vote provides a guide to targets in November elections. “There are some people,” says Gary Jarmin, executive director of Christian Voice, “who voted against us . . . [for whom] this vote is going to be a major factor in their political careers.” . . . Senator Jesse Helms promises to move ahead with a bill keeping federal courts out of cases involving voluntary prayer or Bible readings in school.