The Front Runner

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming

to bring you the following report from NBC News.

Here now is Tom Brokaw.

Good evening from Des Moines, Iowa, tonight.

The Democratic caucuses in the state of Iowa now are underway,

and the first results have just been reported.

The NBC News projection

is that Walter Mondale will be the winner.

About half of those attending the caucuses tonight

who expressed a preference for a candidate

are for Mondale.

All the other candidates are far behind.

It does appear, however, that Senator John Glenn

will not finish second.

And it appears that there's a very good chance tonight

that Gary Hart will be second in the preferences

of those attending the Iowa caucuses tonight.

Let some of the other...

His hair looks like shit.

- When is he getting it cut? - That is the new cut.

We can't get a clear line.

What? Are we at full stick?

Jesus. Did you have to park so close to the building?

Okay, go, Steve!

Yes, we learned just a few minutes ago

that Senator Hart will soon leave this hotel,

head back to the convention hall, where he will concede.

Yes, he will concede to former vice president Walter Mondale.

Hart went into the primaries a relative unknown,

eclipsed by challengers like John Glenn...

I'm on my hands and knees,

fiddling with these wires behind the accelerator.

I'm trying to get a...

Congratulations.

I'm fooling with the wires behind the accelerator

trying to jump-start the damn thing, but...

- You know how to do that? - Well, golf carts are easy

to jump-start, you got to get the right wires together.

Say he's been making phone calls and thanking supporters

and asking them to back Walter Mondale's campaign.

Okay, let's try another one. In three...

Hey, asshole, you're walking through my shot!

- Yeah, sorry. Sorry. - Come on!

Hart won every state west of the Mississippi

in his fight for the Democratic nomination,

but in the end,

it was a question taken from a Wendy's advertisement

that dogged his insurgent campaign.

Roll tape. Go.

When... When I hear... When I... When I hear...

There are some specific ways to do that.

When I hear your new ideas,

I'm reminded of that ad, "Where's the beef?"

- Yeah? - Okay, go, Steve.

Hart will take to the stage

- later this evening... - Wait. Hold it, Steve. Hold it.

- To share his thoughts... - We lost the signal.

Are we facing south?

- I think we're facing south. - Steve, would you shut up?

We lost the signal again.

Well, maybe you should invest in a goddamn compass.

Would someone tell... Steve, shut up!

When he took the New Hampshire primary.

- Okay, no one's listening to me. - At that point, it was anyone's game.

This news tonight resets the playing field.

Insiders of both camps say the challenge now,

heading into the fall campaign, will be to unify

this very divided Democratic Party.

The long fight between Mondale and Hart...

What's the plan for after?

The body's still warm. You want to talk about '88?

- I mean drinks. - That Hawaiian place.

Polynesian.

I don't know what he was talking about,

but he was in that... Carter's White House...

- So, can you use it? - I lost all feeling above the knuckle.

I could always tell when it's about to rain.

- No, really? - Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

I appreciate it, Walter.

I'll come with you back to Denver.

You should stay.

Senator, it's time.

Remember to hit homelessness, sir.

- I don't want you to fly alone. - I'll be fine.

I'll take the kids. You need to be in D.C.

- I don't need to be anywhere. - Yeah, you do.

Senator, we need to roll.

Are you really gonna follow Mondale around

- for another six months? - My apartment is grim.

- I'll take the free meals, though. - Maybe they'd like your job, Quinn.

It's a good plan. Well, it was a good plan.

They light the damn thing on fire, don't they?

There's no weapons allowed at the table.

The only shot I want's whiskey.

- To the wisdom of the framers. - Jefferson and his slaves.

Leave Jefferson out of it.

- Gentlemen. - Hey, Bob.

Of course, they don't even have a straw big enough

- to reach down the bottom... - You want a real drink?

- You want a real drink? - No, that is a real drink.

America is the land

where dreams can come true for all of us.

Ladies and gentlemen of the convention...

Thinking of going swimming?

My name is Geraldine Ferraro.

Remember our first trip to New Hampshire?

Come home in a Carter motorcade?

And those two vans, you know, that time we won the primary.

Think Mondale's got a chance?

Mondale? No. Reagan's gonna crush him.

In four years, they won't have an answer for us,

- for our ideas. - George Bush might.

You think young people are gonna vote for George Bush?

If the economy keeps up.

The world changes when young people give a damn, Billy.

We're the only ones who'll give a damn about them.

We should have won.

That's not what this was about.

Then what was it about?

Now they know who we are.

- The circus. - Jim, I would like to say,

we do miss home, and four months ago, we left,

and I have not walked into my house,

have not seen my puppies and my kittens and all those things

and our dear friends that we love so much since.

And so, to the people at home, we love you,

- we miss you and... - Yes.

And we hope all of the people we love so much will forgive us.

- Give the president a little credit. - No...

One could argue he's trying to keep us safe.

No, President Reagan has allowed our cities to decay,

while he buys enough warheads

to destroy this planet 30 times over.

I mean, imagine if every school could have a computer,

every library, every home. That is...

Well, why don't we just buy everyone a microwave?

And a television set, while we're at it.

I'm interested in educating the next generation, not entertaining them.

You know, gentlemen, this is beginning to sound

something like a campaign debate.

Mr. Billy Shore, what's the story?

Do either of you have anything to announce?

It's not gonna happen today, Alan, okay?

- After you, Senator. - But keep asking.

You and your younger Democratic colleagues

have been called the "Atari Democrats."

I've heard. I didn't coin that.

- Have you ever played Atari? - Yes,

I've tried Asteroids a few times with my son.

I mostly drifted around getting pelted with rocks.

Felt like my first term in the Senate.

Did you see what Bono announced?

He's running for mayor of Palm Springs.

Oh, come on.

I can certainly guess his campaign slogan.

"He's got you, babe."

- He looks good. - Yeah.

- I've read your spy novel. - Well, thank you.

Hey, you guys be careful. Let's put that inside right here.

Now, these other candidates are all decent guys.

They all want what's best for this country.

But they're not gonna win.

You know it, they know it. More importantly, George Bush knows it.

That's why they're all gunning for us.

We lose this primary, that's it,

we can kiss the White House good-bye.

And kiss your future good-bye, because...

Will somebody pay the pizza guy?

- How much is it? - $17.99.

If line three rings, don't pick up. That's the fax.

What if line one and two are busy, though?

Use line four.

It's amazing.

We have a rusting industrial base.

How does he look that good?

Genetics.

Whose? Don Johnson's?

Yeah. That's why I look like this.

What if line four is busy?

- Who the fuck did this? - So, when you're exhausted

and your feet hurt and your fingers are frozen

from knocking on doors in Nashua for 12 hours straight,

you miss your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your

kids...

You're tired of eating fast food and

leftovers because we don't pay you jack shit...

I want you to think about the opportunity

that we have right here, right now.

And the cost to this great country

if we squander it.

Anyway, let's assume Cranston's out. Who are we missing?

Well, if Cranston doesn't know he's out,

- somebody better tell him. - Gore's looking at it.

- What, Al Gore? - Is he old enough?

- He's 38, I think. - His daddy could win him the South.

- Have you seen the wife, Tipper? - Thanks.

- That's her name. - There's Dukakis, maybe.

- Who? - The Governor of Massachusetts.

"Dukakis"? That's not gonna look good on a campaign poster.