Inside Report (4)

Is Gary Hart, the lanky senior US senator from Colorado, gearing up for a 1984 run for president?

''Almost,'' says Democratic National Committee chairman Charles T. Manatt, who adds that Hart would be a ''good'' candidate. Hart, who served as national campaign director for George McGovern's 1972 presidential bid, has kept a high profile within the party. Last year, he spoke at 11 Jefferson-Jackson dinners. On Feb. 6 he will present a letter on Democratic economic policy to the party's strategy council.

''We'll know more then,'' says Manatt, who ranks Hart along with Sen. John Glenn, Walter Mondale, and Ted Kennedy as the current leading contenders for the 1984 nomination.m