Hart Murmurs

It was not Napoleon returning from Elba, or even Nixon guardedly emerging from San Clemente. But less than four months after he truculently bowed out of the presidential race, Gary Hart was said to be poised to re-enter the fray. Was this real or just more monkey business? The answer seemed to depend on which former campaign aide one was inclined to believe. As for Hart, he was vacationing in Ireland with his son, dodging reporters one moment and coyly suggesting to Irish radio that he would not "confirm or deny" the rumors.

Here are the facts, such as they are. In early August a Gallup poll commissioned by the Nation magazine showed Hart still outdistancing the Democratic field, with 25% support, no doubt as much a reflection of name recognition as potential ballot strength. That prompted Warren Beatty, adviser and Hollywood home companion to the former Colorado Senator, to phone Hart in Ireland to urge him to resume campaigning. Then, Hart's former campaign manager William Dixon began hinting about a comeback. He went public in a radio interview, forecasting Hart was "likely to get back in the presidential race in the next 30 to 60 days."

The reaction from most other veterans of the Hart high command was shrill: Paul Tully, former political director, called it a "bizarre scenario." Others used phrases like "nutty" and a "terrible, terrible idea." Bill Shore, a longtime loyalist, quickly phoned the former candidate in Ireland and later said he was told to douse the speculation. "This has become the political equivalent of the Paul-is-dead craze 15 years ago," Shore remarked. "People were playing Beatles' tapes backwards, and now people are reading polls backwards." But Dixon defiantly stuck to his forecast, or his trial balloon: "Is he considering doing it? Yes. Is he going to do it? Probably."

Cynics suggest that Hart might re-enter merely to qualify for $900,000 in matching funds to pay his leftover campaign debts. Realists argue that no one besmirched by scandal could run without money or organization. And romantics, a strange breed that may include Hart, wonder if he might not yet again defy the verities of the old politics, run a lean campaign and wander the country preaching his issues -- whether or not it makes political sense. Amid the speculation, Dixon pointed out the one clear truth: "People who try to guess what Gary is thinking do so at their own peril."