Speaking of abortion rights.....look who's throwing his hat into the Presidential primaries -- Gary Hart.<P>I overheard a guy at the Patti Smith show at Kennedy Center claiming he worked for Hart and that Hart was definitely running. Then this article appeared in today's NY Times.<P>Gary Hart Weighs Strengths Against Past Embarrassment <BR>By JOHN TIERNEY <P>DES MOINES, Jan. 23 â?? As his plane descended over Iowa's frozen cornfields on Wednesday, Gary Hart analyzed his presidential prospects as cheerily as he did during the 1980's. At 66, he looks the part better than ever now that the boyish good looks have weathered. Gray hair is an asset for a politician whose most famous pictures involved a yacht named Monkey Business. <P>Mr. Hart knew, of course, that reporters were waiting on the ground to ask him more embarrassing questions about the extramarital fling in 1987 that destroyed his last campaign. He knew that he has no money or political organization except for a few university students promoting him on a Web site. And he knew that while this was the first time he has ventured to Iowa in years â?? to gauge whether he should enter the race â?? other Democratic aspirants have already made frequent trips here. <P>But Mr. Hart, who represented Colorado in the Senate from 1975 to 1987, also knew he had a couple of advantages. As a prophet who kept warning of terrorist attacks well before Sept. 11, he might emerge as the only Democrat with a clear defining issue: the Cassandra candidate. And while the others have a head start, no one knows presidential campaigning the way he does. <P>"I can make a plausible case for having invented the Iowa caucuses," Mr. Hart said, recalling his decision to focus on the then-obscure caucuses when he managed the 1972 campaign of the then-obscure George McGovern. The results in Iowa helped propel Mr. McGovern to the nomination and made Iowa the first contest to watch ever since. In 1984, after an unexpectedly strong second place finish in Iowa, Mr. Hart went on to win New Hampshire and nearly defeat former Vice President Walter Mondale for the nomination. <P>"When we came into Iowa, Mondale was the prohibitive front-runner with poll numbers above 50 percent, and I was about 2 or 3 percent," Mr. Hart recalled. "This year looks a lot more open. Nobody else is even up to 20 percent." <P>Nobody else, though, has as much explaining to do as Mr. Hart, who so far has been bearing his burden calmly. Several weeks ago, he recalled, he was asked at a news conference if he was prepared to answer the awkward questions about 1987 should he enter the presidential race. "I said, `Yes, I'm prepared to deal with the subject,' and then I added with a straight face, `But maybe it won't come up.' I was trying to make a joke, but I'm afraid they took me seriously." <BR> <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/24/national/24HART.html?pagewanted=1" TARGET=_blank>
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/24/national/24HART.html?pagewanted=1[/url]
