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Show At stake is ou r desti n y "To be tired of London is to be tired of life," said an 18th-century wit. Today, if you are tired of politics, you surely are tired of life. It's the only game in sight. At stake is our destiny. The next election may well determine the quality of life for the next generation. That's why millions of Americans are following the primary races like hounds panting for the kill. Rarely has there been such a sharp scent of blood in the air. Democrats talk about the "survival of democracy" as the basic issue of 1984. Back in 1980, they say, we only suspected suspect-ed what a Reagan administration might do under the guise of "reform." Now we know. In less than four years we have seen the toppling of the noblest pillars upholding the good society. Protection of the environment, human rights, civil rights, food for the hungry, consumer safety, an honorable foreign policy they're all in a state of purposeful rot and decay. The men now contending in the Democratic primaries are under fearful fear-ful scrutiny. Onto the lives of Mondale, Glenn and, now, Gary Hart we are casting a cold eye. We need to know more about their creeds, their minds, the quality of their compassion. We need to know what sort of men especially what sort of rich men are writing the big checks for the campaigns. cam-paigns. This is vital. Too many men brought to Washington by Ronald Reagan have proved to be the "raw rich," greedy for status, hostile to the social justice that equalizes. They have names and faces now, men who cut back nutritional programs for pregnant women, men who deny legal services to the poor. They have no place in the high councils of democracy, but they are the president's men. Think about the public utterances and the backstairs maneuvers of Reagan's key advisers, and you will see living proof of an old philosopher's warning. Expect no benevolence, wrote Thomas Hobbes, "from him who is lately risen from dunghill to chariot." Primary elections have been called "democracy gone mad." They have, however, a certain redemptive value. For a little while they restore faith, building fresh fires under dreams gone cold. Against all the bitter lessons of the past, we begin to hope again: "Maybe this time..." Millions of words have been written and spoken in an effort to understand Sen. Gary Hart's recent upset victories over Walter Mondale. Nobody seems to know precisely how it happened. The most persuasive answer is "personality." "per-sonality." We're comfortable with Gary Hart. He is, as the cliche has it, easy in his skin. His confidence is sweetened by modesty. Mondale may be smarter, more experienced in government, but in his company we are not cozy. A Washington friend who has known the former vice president for many years calls him "a sterling human being." But his ambition is so naked, so charmless, that we are sometimes embarassed in his behalf. (If only one could erase the memory of his roar, "I'm READY to be your president! I'm READY!") What the Democrats are facing now is a crisis in style. The old pols say that Sen. Hart hasn't a prayer of winning win-ning the nomination. But the party's infighting, the steady sniping at Mondale Mon-dale by younger Democrats, can only weaken Mondale's chances against Reagan in November. 1 If only we could send Mondale away for a few days to have his personality revamped. Lacking that magic, maybe his advisers can tell him, "Be more like Gary Hart. RELAX! Talk to us, don't orate..." Copyright 1984 Harriet Van Home Distributed by Special Features Syndication Sales |
