In 1984, it was George McGovern. In 1992, it was Jerry Brown. In 2004, apparently, it’s Gary Hart‘s turn.

An awkward realization, as Gary Hart remembers he left his “new ideas” in his other jacket.

These blast-from-the-past candidates always choose the same market niche, politically speaking. Renouncing the careful compromises and hedged stands of mainstream contenders, they position themselves as their party’s conscience, speaking truths that no one else dares. And so it is that Hart, who ran as a moderate pragmatist in the 1980s, is now speaking out firmly against the war in Iraq and George Bush’s reward-the-rich tax cuts. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

Does he expect to win? Of course not. This script is already written: Hart will garner occasional media attention and the fervent support of some token college students hoping to find their generation’s Eugene McCarthy, finish in fifth place in the New Hampshire primary (as Brown and McGovern did), and go home — happy to have drummed up some future income from speaking engagements, perhaps a book, and any other rewards that come from recasting his image from hapless also-ran to principled elder statesman. Meanwhile, somewhere in Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis is looking ahead to 2008 and musing about the possibilities…