The Mourning After

By Frank Trippett

At no point in the uproar that led to his withdrawal from the 1988 presidential campaign had Gary Hart given way to contrition and remorse, as he did during last week's lull after the storm. "I take full responsibility for what I did and the big mistakes I made," he said. Although Hart had quit the race "angry and defiant" over headlines about the weekend he spent with Miami Model Donna Rice, he was now less willing to shift the blame: "The news media made mistakes, but it was wrong of me to make it seem like it was all their fault. I brought this on myself."

Hart's remarks were more meaningful because they were uttered not for the benefit of the press but for 15 senior staffers at his Denver headquarters. "I realize that I've hurt people and let all of you down, and I apologize," he told his aides during a two-hour farewell meeting in the cramped corner office of Campaign Manager William Dixon. "There are a lot of idealistic 23-year-old kids out there that I have hurt, and I want you to tell them that I'm sorry and that they should not get discouraged and should keep working for what they believe."

Hart, his wife Lee and their children spent most of the week at their stone-and-log cabin in Kittredge, Colo., 25 miles west of Denver. The man who had been the Democratic front runner just three days earlier stayed out of view of reporters even as he began work for the law firm of Davis, Graham & Stubbs. Hart joined the group as a part-time associate last January, mainly to bring in new business. He spent part of every day last week at the firm's 48th-floor downtown offices, which have commanding views of the Rocky Mountains. Associates say Hart will receive a salary in the "low six figures" for expanding the firm's work in such areas as foreign trade and international law; he is expected to begin traveling to Asia and Europe.

Hart's personal financial situation is not precarious, say close colleagues, but he has so little accumulated wealth that with two children in college, he needed to begin work immediately. Said Dixon: "Like the rest of us, he can't afford to interrupt that income stream. He can't just take a year off and write novels." The author of two novels already, Hart does hope to start another one in his spare time.

Nor can the shuttered campaign ignore its financial problems. It still owes $1.2 million from the 1984 presidential race. (Although nearly $2 million had been raised for the 1988 race, only a small surplus is expected to remain after bills are paid.) Hart's organization has asked the Federal Election Commission for permission to pay down the old debt with an estimated $1.1 million in federal matching funds that Hart will request for the 1988 effort. But he may no longer qualify for this money: the agency is supposed to allot matching funds only to candidates actively seeking the presidency.

Although a few Hart staffers will stay through the summer to pay bills and cancel various leases and contracts, most are exploring new paths. Campaign Manager Dixon, 45, was going home to Madison, Wis., to practice law. Many of the aides are expected to sign on with other Democratic candidates, who were quick to come courting. Former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt sent a recruiter to Denver, and Illinois Senator Paul Simon took Hart's entire 14-member Iowa campaign staff to breakfast. Delaware Senator Joe Biden phoned Hart's Iowa coordinator, Teresa Vilmain, to make a personal pitch for her services. She was not immediately persuaded, and asked, "How can I go back to Iowa and tell all those people I sold on Gary Hart, 'Oh, now I've got another candidate -- try this one'?" In Denver, last week Deputy Political Director Joe Trippi waved a clutch of pink phone messages in the air and joked, "This is like career day in college."

The candidate who may have the best chance to latch on to Hart's top hands is Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, whose positions on promoting high- tech industries and education are similar to Hart's. Dukakis aides invited Hart's Denver-based political director, Paul Tully, and others to see him in action in Iowa. But Hart's people were not rushing to new assignments. Most were, in Tully's word, still in "concussion" from their hero's sudden fall. Explained Deputy Campaign Manager John Emerson: "All of us have sacrificed time and money and moved from our homes to work for the one candidate we believed in. That kind of commitment isn't easily transferable."

With reporting by Dan Goodgame/Denver