Mr. Inside vs. Mr. Outside

By Hugh Sidey

The Presidency

Walter Mondale, more than any other modern presidential candidate, is a child of the political system and the Government he seeks to control.

Aside from a few years of practicing private "political" law back in the '50s, Mondale has been campaigning for, or serving in, public office his entire adult life. His view of the nation and the world has been shaped from within the Government looking out. He has seen the private sector through the prism of lobbyists and favor seekers. Though he has drawn a six-figure salary as a Chicago lawyer for the past three years, his worth was measured by proximity to Government power. For nearly 30 years Mondale has devoted his life to spending other people's money in the belief that Government can be a force for good in their lives.

When all is said and done in this singular campaign, that may be the most important consideration. The final confrontation could be classic: Walter Mondale, who knows and values the role of the state, vs. Ronald Reagan, who has built his power by a direct dialogue with the people and given much of his long professional life to fighting Government.

Mondale got his law degree on the G.I. Bill, went immediately into campaigning for Minnesota politicians, was appointed the state attorney general, named U.S. Senator to fill a vacancy, was elevated to Vice President by Jimmy Carter and has been running for President since January 1981.

Reagan eked out an education doing odd jobs. He made his way successfully through the desperate Depression years on his genial Irish manner, his appealing profile and his enduring head of thick hair. He invested his movie earnings in real estate and made a bundle more, then entered government in protest against its size, cost and intrusion into individual lives. His view of power politics is still that of an outsider looking in.

Seventeen years separate these two men, and that seems to be an eon in the affairs of this country. Reagan as a young man never indulged in self-pity. He fought the Depression and won, gaining strength and stature from the challenge. Mondale, as a Midwest preacher's child in those years of drought and deprivation, was scarred by the suffering. Then he heard the glorious promises of Government from his mentor, Senator Hubert Humphrey, and he never looked back.

Mondale, sometimes more missionary than executive, overflows with compassion and concern, and for him Government is always there, comforting and handy, playing an important and worthy role as a resource against almost any adversity. Markets and profits and personal enterprise he reads about in newspapers. Mondale knows Government's processes, understands their limits and possibilities and has a feel for how they work. He is Government's grandest product.

Reagan believes that too many Government promises and programs have already dimmed the national spirit. He is convinced that the magnificent goose, whose golden eggs Mondale loves to distribute, does not live in the White House but resides in the private sector, fed by the vision of great reward and the fear of failure. Government now threatens rather than encourages the creation of wealth, the source of American strength, by Reagan's lights. He does not know Government very well, nor does he fully understand what has happened to this society and the world during his long life. But his unshaken belief that individual initiative is still the main ingredient of each person's success has already changed American society in a remarkable fashion.

That is the choice. Nobody said it would be easy.