Hart Wallops Mondale Again in Maine

Sen. Gary W. Hart (D-Colo.), building on his upset victory in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, again defeated former front-runner Walter F. Mondale yesterday in the Maine Democratic Presidential caucuses.

Speaking with reporters after a Massachusetts Democratic Party dinner last night, a blushing, smiling Hart called his showing "a miracle of some sort," and praised his Maine volunteers for working with a mere $40,000, compared "to 10 or 15 times that on the other side."

With 368 of 412 town and city caucuses reporting, Hart held a 50.0 to 43.7 percent lead over Mondale, with George S. McGovern, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, and Sen. John H. Glenn (D-Ohio) winning 1 percent or less.

Neither McGovern, Jackson, nor Glenn actively competed for votes.

Late yesterday, Mondale refused to concede defeat. "The net result is that we had a major contest and it is dead even. I find this encouraging," he said.

A cocky Hart, speaking before every major and minor state party official at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel, stepped up his attacks on Mondale, who has been endorsed by many of the state's top officials, including Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn.

Hart told the packed room his campaign "may have brought a political juggernaut to its knees."

Speaking just after preliminary results were announced showing him with a slight lead, Hart said, "Fritz Mondale is not ready to claim the title of front-runner again because he's a very humble man. Instead, I think, Fritz, you'd rather be considered a little-known dark horse struggling to get by on $12 million and the AFL-CIO endorsement."

Mondale, who spoke next, did not mention the Maine results and aimed his fire at the Coloradan's defense record, criticizing Hart's support for nuclear-build down--the replacement of two older weapons with a single more sophisticated one.

Mondale, veering from his usual emphasis on the budget deficit and the "fairness" issue, called arms control the "overriding issue" of our time.

Hart's dinner remarks seemed to anger party officials, some of whom hissed and whistled after he joked about Mondale's AFL-CIO endorsement.

At the post-dinner press conference, Hart said his remark was "not in derogation of Vice President Mondale or the labor organization." The Coloradan insisted he is a "pro-labor Senator," claiming an "80-plus percent" approval rating from the AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Responsibility (COPE) for "over 10 years."

Hart rated 79 percent from COPE two years ago, compared to 77 percent in 1981 and 47 percent in 1980.

Hart staffers have also been quick to define the new front-runner's Senate record on the oil import tax, the windfall profits tax, and the nuclear build-down; three issues pinpointed by the newly combative Mondale.

The Maine results set the stage for "Super Tuesday" on March 13, when nine states, including Massachusetts, hold primaries and caucuses. Tuesday, Hart and Mondale will go head to head in Vermont's non-binding primary.

A Boston Globe poll to be released today shows Hart with a 41 to 29 percent lead over Mondale, and Hart is expected to profit from a large inflow of financial and volunteer support after his two stunning victories.

The one fly in Hart's ointment is former mentor McGovern, who carried only Massachusetts in his 1972 presidential bid.

McGovern made light of Hart's "new ideas for the future" theme at the dinner, paraphrasing pop artist Andy Warhol, "In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

McGovern, who received the biggest ovations of the evening, compared the Presidential race to a horse race, accusing his opponents of spending too much time "handicapping" each other.

"The issue is not the horse race," McGovern said. "It's the arms race versus the human race. So when you get into that voting booth March 13th, don't horse around."

Jackson joked about the barbs flying between the two front-runners, saying. "Hart and Mondale cancel each other out. Vote for me."

Glenn did not attend last night's function