Campaign Journal "The One Who Can't Win"

By Michael Duffy/Ottawa

Perhaps it was just coincidence that the B-grade thriller Return of the Living Dead was playing at the only movie house in Ottawa, Kans., when Gary Hart came home again last week. But it was fitting. Six weeks after Hart burst back into the Democratic race, the surge of excitement has subsided. Even in Ottawa, where he was born and raised, the ardor has cooled. Only a few hours before his nephew was to appear before the local chamber of commerce, not even Uncle Ralph Hartpence could resist telling a Gary-and-Donna joke or two.

And so it goes wherever Hart leads his surreal campaign. His supporters are more curious than committed. He draws large, enthusiastic crowds only where they count least -- in shopping malls and on college campuses. Young boys on bicycles in Jackson, Ga., know his name and add, "He's the one who can't win."

Last week Hart's problems took on a new dimension when his old nemesis, the Miami Herald, reported that Hollywood Video Mogul Stuart Karl, distributor of Jane Fonda workout tapes, had paid $15,802 of Hart's campaign expenses in 1984, despite an explicit limit of $1,000 on individual campaign contributions. The paper also reported that Karl picked up the tab for private jet flights, funded an aide who has been working full time for Hart, and agreed to settle an unpaid $96,000 loan to Hart for 10 cents on the dollar.

After several weeks of traveling with only a handful of reporters, Hart saw his press pack swell instantly at the news. A dozen reporters and cameramen ambushed him as he campaigned in Laconia, N.H., on Thursday morning, lobbing new allegations to which Hart, assisted on the road by just a single aide, was unable to respond. "Obviously, a candidate cannot know every detail," he protested. Hart then called for reinforcements. His chief counsel, Bernard Schneider, flew from Denver and attempted to pre-empt further questions with a detailed explanation. He said that the bills paid by Karl were simply part of his $96,000 loan.

The complex financial allegations could erode the aura of rebellious underdog that Hart has cultivated since his return. No longer can he get ) mileage out of the boast that he was the first Democrat to forgo PAC money. Nor will he be able to draw applause by pulling out his wallet and proclaiming, "This is our campaign treasury." But there is a limit to the damage that can be done. Because even young boys on bicycles subscribe to the conventional wisdom that Hart cannot win, new charges may not make much difference to his candidacy.