Something old and something new

National Review, July 27, 1984 by Richard Brookhiser

There was another problem with Hart's new ideas, suggested by Mondale's hamburger question: There was no new integrating idea behind them. A pinch of maneuver warfare, a dash of reindustrialization, all might be welcome, but was there anything else? There was indeed, but it was mainstream Democratic fare, which Mondale could expound the primaries as an election rather than a coronation.

An hour and a half late, Lee Hart arrived and took to the dance floor. Cameras swarmed around; mere yuppies sat down. It is all rather horrible, the way would-be First Relatives are expected to perform. But I reflected that she had made the bargain willingly. A starlet sang "New York, New York," that hymn of Big Apple bumptiousness. It was announced that Hart would be another half-hour late. Reporters have some self-respect, so I left.

MONDALE WON again, in New York, pennsylvania, Missouri. By the time of the Texas caucuses, he was back in full stride.

The Rio Grande valley had gone three months without rain. Leafless dead palm trees lined the road like giant Q-Tips. The little town of Donna produced a big crowd--five thousand, the organizers said; maybe half that in fact. They were all having a blast. There were balloons, streamers, pinatas, mariachi bands. The governor of New Mexico said it reminded him of a good, old-fashioned rally in his home state. To say nothing of Old Mexico.

The fat sun declined, bu the temperature stayed in the high nineties. Mondale compromised to the extent of removing his jacket; the tie flew at full mast.

"Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo." The caucuses fell on May 5, a Mexican patriotic holiday. "That means independence and freedom. [What about Cuatro de Julio?] Tomorrow let's go to those caucuses and declare independence and freedom from Ronald Reagan, Reaganomics, Reagan's foreign policy, Reagan's unemployment, and Reagan's disregard for the problems of this valley and its needs."

Reagan, Mondale noted, had flown to Dallas recently. "He talked to rich people. He should have come to Donna. That's what a President's supposed to do, help Americans when they're in need.

"I'm no stranger to Texas and the valley. You know me, and I know you. I know what you need, I know what you're saying, I know what you want for your children and your family. We'll get on with the work of our nation's business--to help the people of this country."

This was beef. The band played "On Broadway." A Secret Service agent hooked an arm around Mondale's midsection, and, thus supported, Mondale leaned off the speakers' platform, grabbing hands two at a time.

THE CONTENDERS met in the home stretch--the serious contenders: Jackson stayed away--at a party to raise funds to retire George McGovern's campaign debt, held in the sculpture garden (the lawn, to you) of a longtime McGovern supporter in Brentwood, just across the San Diego Freeway from Beverly Hills.

Jacarandas dripped purple petals. Reporters questioned the debarking famous (I recognized only O. J. Simpson and Hugh Hefner, but I have deficient celebrity awareness). A pair of neighbors, perhaps Republicans, stared at the incoming Cadillacs and Mercedeses.