FOR THE RECORD

FOR THE RFCORD

Read ’em and weep, Walter Mondale, read ’em and weep, ye pollsters everywhere. On February 14, one week before Iowa, an in-depth NBC News poll showed 87 per cent of Democrats hadn’t heard of Gary Hart or read enough about him to have any opinion of him. Of the other 13 per cent, 3 per cent thought he’d be “very effective” President; 6 per cent, “somewhat effective.” . . . On February 28, New Hampshire primary day, New York Times bannered final CBS/ Times New Hampshire findings: It would be Walter Mondale 57 per cent, to 8 for Jesse Jackson, 7 for John Glenn and Gary Hart, 6 for George McGovern. Actual figures, Hart 39 (32 points better than predicted), Mondale 29 (28 points worse than predicted). . . . Other delvings continue to show why Democrats (the Manchester Union Leader tagged the Democratic field “The Eight Nitwits”) will have trouble with Ronald Reagan no matter who wins. One in four Democrats questioned by CBS/ Times poll intended to vote for Reagan in November (same percentage as jumped ship in ’80) and early returns indicate more Democrats wrote-in for Reagan than voted for Hollings, Cranston, or Askew. Reagan and McGovern tied at 5 per cent, the closest McGovern has come to any Republican in years. . . . Mondale also was hurt in two ways by Lane Kirkland’s plighted troth. In exit-poll questioning, half of Democrats who voted said they thought Mondale was “too close to organized labor.” And an NBC sounding indicated organized labor hadn’t worked particularly hard for Mondale, contacting only half of union households on his behalf. . . . Hart gained, and will continue to gain, from spillover vote, some in New Hampshire for sure from Jesse Jackson, more in days ahead from the also-rans. For instance, half of McGovern voters say if their man gets out they’ll go to Hart, not Glenn, as do four-fifths of Cranston supporters. Question: Has Gary Hart got “the Big Mo” that George Bush thought, erroneously, he had after Iowa four years back? . . . Final New Hampshire note: New York Times, in profile of Granite State, was confused by fact that although New Hampshire is in bottom ten states in spending on education, its students in past ten years have scored highest on Scholastic Aptitude Tests.

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FOR THE RFCORD

Read ’em and weep, Walter Mondale, read ’em and weep, ye pollsters everywhere. On February 14, one week before Iowa, an in-depth NBC News poll showed 87 per cent of Democrats hadn’t heard of Gary Hart or read enough about him to have any opinion of him. Of the other 13 per cent, 3 per cent thought he’d be “very effective” President; 6 per cent, “somewhat effective.” . . . On February 28, New Hampshire primary day, New York Times bannered final CBS/ Times New Hampshire findings: It would be Walter Mondale 57 per cent, to 8 for Jesse Jackson, 7 for John Glenn and Gary Hart, 6 for George McGovern. Actual figures, Hart 39 (32 points better than predicted), Mondale 29 (28 points worse than predicted). . . . Other delvings continue to show why Democrats (the Manchester Union Leader tagged the Democratic field “The Eight Nitwits”) will have trouble with Ronald Reagan no matter who wins. One in four Democrats questioned by CBS/ Times poll intended to vote for Reagan in November (same percentage as jumped ship in ’80) and early returns indicate more Democrats wrote-in for Reagan than voted for Hollings, Cranston, or Askew. Reagan and McGovern tied at 5 per cent, the closest McGovern has come to any Republican in years. . . . Mondale also was hurt in two ways by Lane Kirkland’s plighted troth. In exit-poll questioning, half of Democrats who voted said they thought Mondale was “too close to organized labor.” And an NBC sounding indicated organized labor hadn’t worked particularly hard for Mondale, contacting only half of union households on his behalf. . . . Hart gained, and will continue to gain, from spillover vote, some in New Hampshire for sure from Jesse Jackson, more in days ahead from the also-rans. For instance, half of McGovern voters say if their man gets out they’ll go to Hart, not Glenn, as do four-fifths of Cranston supporters. Question: Has Gary Hart got “the Big Mo” that George Bush thought, erroneously, he had after Iowa four years back? . . . Final New Hampshire note: New York Times, in profile of Granite State, was confused by fact that although New Hampshire is in bottom ten states in spending on education, its students in past ten years have scored highest on Scholastic Aptitude Tests.