Hart Accuses 4 Rivals of Being ‘Wedded to Past and Status Quo’

Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart lashed back at his critics Thursday, blaming opposition to his candidacy on the inflexible thinking he said has always dogged his career as a political maverick.

“Resistance to reform and change is resistance to a new generation and a new way of thinking,” Hart said. “And the resistance to me and my candidacy is in large part a resistance to generational understanding of a world where the old arrangements never work.”

The impassioned speech, delivered to students at Black Hills State College here and to another college audience in Cedar Falls, Iowa, amplified Hart’s longtime emphasis on “new ideas” and sought to distinguish his proposals from those of other Democratic candidates.

Criticizes His Rivals

In rare criticism of his rivals, Hart named four of them--Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois, Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis--and accused them of being “wedded to the past and the status quo.”

But the speech was most notable for its angry tone, reflecting what Hart has called frustration with the skeptical response to his revived campaign and the difficulty of drawing attention to his views on the issues. He said his criticism was aimed at “the process, not the other candidates.”

Hart, who resumed his candidacy last month after dropping out of the race in May following disclosures about his relationship with a Miami model, claimed his campaign has been the target of unprecedented scrutiny.

The press and political insiders have been unwilling to forgive him for “the mistakes of last May,” he charged, and the initial furor over his re-entry has been replaced by “a more subtle attack designed to raise questions about my qualifications for the presidency.”

Denounces News Reports

Hart denounced as “totally false” recent newspaper reports critical of his handling of campaign finances and charged that TV newsman John Chancellor “sought to humiliate me and my family before a national television audience” in comments he made Sunday as moderator of a debate in Manchester, N.H.

“I made a personal mistake and I’ve publicly apologized for it at great length,” Hart said. “But that has nothing to do with my ability to govern. Nor does it explain the hesitancy that some in the party establishment and in the press has shown toward me and my candidacy a long time before last May.”

The explanation for that resistance, Hart said, is his independence and refusal to play by the rules--characteristics he suggested are essential in raising “non-traditional, non-conventional questions” about the nation’s future.

“Other candidates defend the status quo or only want to change things on the margin,” Hart said. “I want to change policies and institutions fundamentally.”

‘New Rules and No Deals’

“Old politics, played by the old rules, just isn’t good enough,” he said. “This is a candidacy of new rules and no deals.”

As examples of old politics, Hart singled out Gephardt’s support of “protectionism,” Gore’s preoccupation with “Cold War terms,” Simon’s commitment to unimaginative economic programs and Dukakis’ refusal to “make hard choices.”

When asked why he did not include the other two major Democratic candidates, former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, in his criticism, Hart said complimentary things about each but said his selection had not been political.