Forty years ago, when Walter Mondale won 49% in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses, far ahead of Gary Hart’s 16%, the media spotlight nonetheless immediately focused. With the help of a brilliant spot by consultant Ray Strother showing him tossing a hatchet into a tree, Hart went on to win the New Hampshire primary eight days later, 37% to 28%, and he suddenly became the favorite.
At the time, I thought Mondale’s performance was a more significant story than Hart’s. But only when Mondale, in debate, lampooned Hart’s platform as flimsy by echoing a Wendy’s “where’s the beef?” ad did the former vice president turn the race around, and he cinched the nomination only in the last primaries that June.
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