Mondale's Whipping Boy

Ronald Reagan and Rev. Jerry Falwell cordially invite you to their party on Nov. 6," the television ad begins. "Here's all you have to believe in: the secret war in Central America. All new Supreme Court Justices must rule abortion is a crime even in the case of rape and incest. No Equal Rights Amendment. No mutually verifiable nuclear freeze." Pictures of Reagan and Falwell appear side by side on the engraved invitation. Intones the voiceover: "Think about the people who have taken over the Republican Party. They want their new platform to be your new Constitution. Think about that."

Paid for by the Mondale for President Committee, the ad is part of a concerted Democratic drive to make Falwell a campaign issue. Mondale dropped the Fundamentalist preacher's name three times during the debate with President Reagan, and Running Mate Geraldine Ferraro picked up the refrain when she squared off with Vice President George Bush. Says a Mondale aide: "Jerry Falwell is a no-risk whipping boy."

The Mondale camp claims that Falwell, founder of the conservative Moral Majority, draws high negative ratings among key voting groups. For example, Moral Majority is anathema to some Jewish voters, as well as to the Yuppies, who tend to be conservative on economic matters but liberal on social issues, especially abortion. Says a Mondale aide: "Falwell is shorthand for the idea that God controls one candidate and one party."

Mondale was slow to zero in on Falwell. But when audiences began to respond with feeling to Mondale's occasional swipes at the Religious Right, the Democratic candidate began to make Falwell a standard item in his campaign repertory. Now Mondale bangs away at Falwell's boast that in a second Reagan term "we will get at least two more appointments to the Supreme Court." Says Mondale: "If you pull their lever, you'll be handing over the Supreme Court to Jerry Falwell, who wants to run the most private questions of your life."

Moral Majority does not turn the other cheek. It claims to have added 2 million Republican voters to the registration rolls this year, 8 million since 1978. Another fundamentalist group, Christian Voice, publishes a "Biblical Scoreboard" to show that Reagan is more faithful to the Scriptures than Mondale on abortion, homosexual rights, school prayer and national defense.

Falwell protests that he would have no veto power over Reagan's Supreme Court appointees (indeed Reagan chose Sandra Day O'Connor over Falwell's objections) and adds that he has favored legalized abortions when rape or incest is involved or to protect the life of the mother. Mondale's attacks, Falwell insists, actually help Moral Majority, boosting membership and fund raising. Says Falwell: "If there was some way I could pay Mr. Mondale to mention us more often, I would ... I only hope that he keeps it up."