Tag: Gary Hart

On Roll Call’s Political Theater Podcast, you won’t always get what you want. But you’ll never be bored. We hope. With that in mind, here are a few of our favorite podcasts from the year that was, which just happened to be our first. Houstonian and political reporter Alex Roarty and Inside Elections’ Leah Askarinam on the Texas Senate race, Lone Star demographics and whether being a Whataburger partisan helped Beto O’Rourke against his White Castle-loving-opponent Ted Cruz. If you worked on Capitol Hill for any length of time, you probably have a John McCain story. “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen discussing their documentary and its subject, the Supreme Court justice who became an unlikely pop culture icon, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When is it funny and when does it bomb? We did 49 episodes of Political Theater this year, and there was no way to capture them all in a year-end wrap-up. You can find all of our podcasts on our Political Theater page on RollCall.com and by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.

Former Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart, whose run for the White House in 1987 was derailed by allegations of an extra-marital affair, says all the rules have changed in politics, in an interview with Rita Braver for "CBS Sunday Morning," to be November 25. In a rare television interview, Hart talks about his career in politics, his life today, and the new movie "The Front Runner," which focuses on how his campaign was upended by a newspaper story that raised allegations of an affair with Donna Rice. "I think all the rules have changed," Hart tells Braver. "If Donald Trump can have a fan base of 30-40% despite everything he's done in life, all bets are off. Anybody can be president, regardless." The Colorado Senator was running for the Democratic nomination for president when he confronted reporters from the Miami Herald, after they saw him meeting Rice outside of his Washington, D.C. home while his wife was out of town. Hart admits he was not a traditional politician, and didn't like having to be charming. During the height of the frenzy in 1987, a reporter asked him if he'd ever been unfaithful. And I'll put my life up against anybody else's in terms of sound character. "Sunday Morning," hosted by Jane Pauley, is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Jason Reitman knew exactly what was wrong with Matt Bai and Jay Carson's script the moment he held it in his hands. Starring Hugh Jackman as Hart, the movie (which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and will open in theaters November 21) is a fast-moving, fast-talking look inside Hart's campaign for president, which starts with him being the favorite to the White House and three weeks later comes to a screeching halt when, in April of 1987, The Miami Herald runs a story from an anonymous source that Hart is having an affair. The movie's look at how the reporters got the story, and how Hart dealt with the backlash, is a fascinating moment in politics as it was new for everyone. "It's like writing non-fiction but much harder in the sense that you're importing a lot of information without wanting anyone to feel you're talking at them," Bai said. Often Reitman, Bai, and Carson would sit in a room and just talk about campaign life. At some point Reitman would love something that came up in the conversation and write a line of dialogue on a white board. "In the movie, there's a conversation about where to get beer before the stores close, but there's another about who is going to Miami, and they both are going on at the same time," Reitman said. "Everyone talks over each other, we tried to make it feel like that. But what does Gary Hart think about his past coming back to the fore 31 years later? And Lee was like, 'Yes, that's exactly how you talk.'

In 1972, George McGovern of South Dakota was the Democratic Party's nominee for president. Both ran campaigns with strong visions for what they wanted America to be. And while Mondale says McGovern's campaign looks good through the lens of history, "It's not the campaign I would have run." Mondale tells me he believes McGovern made a mistake in how he executed the message of his campaign; perhaps too liberal at a time when the country was shifting to more conservative politics. Four years later.....1976.....Mondale is elected vice president on the ticket with former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter. Four years later, in 1980, they are defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan and his running mate George Bush. I think we had to open up the party. But Mondale tells me there were people in his own campaign who questioned his vice presidential choice. Sometimes after that 84 election, Mondale ran into George McGovern. Mondale asked his friend a question; "George, how long did it take you to get over your defeat in running for president?

Karin Caves, a fixture in Sacramento politics who advised powerful California lawmakers and governors since the late 1980s, died early Thursday. The news of her death surprised her friends in the Capitol and beyond. She began her latest assignment as the communications director for the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration in October. She was diagnosed with the illness that took her life only a month ago, her friends said. She's volunteered and worked for political campaigns since the early 1980s, including Gary Hart’s 1984 presidential campaign. Never miss a local story. “She was really good at her job. Caves worked at the Health and Human Services Agency from 2014 until she joined Maduros’ department last year. She will be deeply missed,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley. Caves’ last job put her in charge of communications for a new state department that the Legislature created to replace the Board of Equalization.