Posted on 01/15/2004 11:08:58 AM PST by Holly_P
WASHINGTON - If Gary Hart jumps into Colorado's Senate race this year, the former senator would be doing so only to "lay the groundwork" for a presidential run in 2008, incumbent Ben Nighthorse Campbell said Wednesday.
"The presidential aspirations are still there," said Campbell, R-Ignacio. "I would think he might see it as a steppingstone again."
Hart, expected to decide this week whether to run, declined, through a spokeswoman, to respond.
Hart, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in 1974 and served two terms. He ran for president in 1984 but lost the nomination to Vice President Walter Mondale.
He decided not to seek re-election to the Senate in 1986 and started a campaign for the 1988 presidential nomination, but his candidacy was derailed by allegations of an extramarital affair.
From November 2002 to May 2003, Hart again explored running for president. He said he felt called to public service and saw a need for his expertise on defense, terrorism and homeland-security issues.
Hart was co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, which predicted in early 2001 that there would be a terrorist attack such as the one that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
Campbell's comments, made in an interview with The Denver Post, were his harshest attack yet on Hart and included a swipe at Hart on the scandal that ended his 1988 campaign.
"He left the Senate voluntarily," Campbell said. "And he got in trouble voluntarily, too, by the way.
"And it's a little much to ask people of Colorado to put him back in the Senate when most everybody would know it's for one reason - that's to lay the groundwork for 2008."
But if Hart does get in, he'll have to fight for the Democratic nomination. One of his prospective opponents picked up some support Wednesday.
Internet millionaire and State Board of Education Chairman Jared Polis endorsed Colorado Springs educator Mike Miles for the nomination.
"I've been impressed with Mike as a person, but I've been equally impressed with his desire, after graduating from West Point and Columbia, to come back to his hometown south of Colorado Springs and serve as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent," Polis said.
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