Gephardt's Poor Iowa Showing Ends White House Bid

Yahoo (Reuters) ^ | Tue Jan 20,12:42 AM ET | Thomas Ferraro

[The_Victor]

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Richard Gephardt's poor showing in the Iowa caucuses on Monday brought an abrupt end to his White House bid and pushed the longtime U.S. lawmaker toward an earlier-than-hoped political retirement.

"Well, this didn't come out like we wanted," Gephardt, who finished fourth with just 11 percent of the vote, told a tearful gathering of about 200 supporters, many of them from 21 international unions that had endorsed his populist bid.

"Tonight I congratulate the other candidates for their strong campaigns here in Iowa," Gephardt said. "One of them will wind up carrying the banner of the great Democratic Party in this election, and they will have earned it, and I will support that candidate in any way that I can."

Gephardt, 62, a 14-term U.S. congressman and former Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives from neighboring Missouri, won the Iowa caucuses in 1988 at the start of his first White House bid, which soon fizzled out.

Gephardt has gone for political broke this time. He stepped aside as House Democratic leader last year and announced he would not seek reelection to the House this year.

"This is his last campaign," an aide said. "And it is over."

Iowa's Democratic caucuses -- public meetings across the state where residents publicly declared who they favored to be the party's nominee to challenge Republican President Bush (news - web sites) in November -- seemed perfectly fitted for Gephardt, who boasted a large get-out-the-vote operation aided by labor.

"You can't blame labor. If it wasn't for labor he would have done worse," said Jeff Berry, a political science professor at Tufts University. "I think there is just a sense that Dick Gephardt (news - web sites)'s time has come and gone."

Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (news - web sites) had been running out front for months in Iowa, but U.S. Sens. John Kerry (news - web sites) of Massachusetts and John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina caught them in the polls last week and passed them in Monday's caucuses.

FRESH FACE, NEW ENERGY

"Iowa knows and likes Dick Gephardt, but I think they are looking for a fresh face and new energy," said Stu Rothenberg of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.

Gephardt had hoped to win Iowa, the first battle for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, and then go on to New Hampshire, which will hold the second contest next week.

Yet with initial returns showing Gephardt losing big, he canceled the trip to New Hampshire and decided instead to head home to St. Louis where he plans to hold a news conference on Tuesday.

Gephardt, the son of a Teamster truck driver, had adopted a turtle as the mascot for his second White House bid -- slow and steady wins the race.

So do bold ideas. So he offered sweeping proposals to expand health care, upgrade education, move toward energy independence and protect American jobs from unfair trade.

Gephardt campaigned largely on his Washington experience, saying he was ready and able to serve. But traditionally Americans do not turn to members of Congress to be president.

In fact, the last sitting member of the U.S. House elected to the White House was James Garfield in 1880. The last sitting Senate member was John F. Kennedy in 1960.

In addressing backers on Monday night, Gephardt said: "Life will go on because this campaign was never about me. It was about all of us. It was about our future, and it was about our children, and the America ahead of us."

[Alberta's Child]

From what I've heard, Gephardt is actually one of the more down-to-earth members in Congress. Someone said that you can judge a Congressman by how close he lives to D.C. when he is in the nation's capital . . . the closer they are, the more money they've got -- and the less connected they are to the voters. Gephardt supposedly lives so far away from D.C. in northern Virginia that he's closer to West Virginia than to D.C.

[GrandMoM]

You can't blame labor....NO, it was his embracing the gay lifestyle, same for Dean, whose numbers went down as soon as he brought the DYKE'S FOR DEAN on board.

....funny thing though, not one of news media mentioned this!!!!!!!!!!

[latrans]

Mr Gephardt was unlucky in life's lottery.
Everyone on Fox was very kind and gracious to him. They all
respect him a lot.

[steve8714]

Social radicals and pacifists rule the party these days.

[ken5050]

Dick's campaign was a "miserable failure"

[Wright is right!]

Although the art-tickle says Dip Geckhardt was "going home to St. Louis," you're right about where he really lives. His official address in St. Louis is the apartment where his mother used to live. He's lived in suburban and now rural VA for quite some time. In fact, back about 3 years ago, there was a big flap over the new house he built way way out in Virginia. Seems as though there were some questions about how he was paying for it.

I never liked Dip's policies, but he is bowing out in an honorable way. and I wish him a fine retirement.

Michael

[Arrowhead1952]

Remember, his dad drove a milk truck and belonged to the union.

[republicanwizard]

A fundamentally decent man. He represents a day in American which has passed. A successful retirement he does deserve.

[Sub-Driver]

So I guess he's now a "MISERABLE FAILURE"!

[barker]

Last I heard his address in MO was an empty apartment.

Doubt he even remembers where it is. He's very welcome to stay near DC. We're rid of two mad libs in the House. Tricky Dick and Mad Karen McCarthy 5th dist. KC area. McCarthy was once ranked as even more liberal than Dick. Unfortunately two more libs will probably replace them.

[republicanwizard]

Oh come on...the guy gave it his all. This is politics. Although he called Bush a miserable failure, he stood with the President when duty called. His finest hour was leading the Democratic caucus after September 11th.

Although a passionate Bush supporter, I am going to miss the Dick Gephardt-style politics which pervaded American elections from 1896 until the age of Sleazy Bill.

[barker]

He stepped aside as House Democratic leader last year ....

Notice this paper didn't mention he was forced aside because of his poor leadership.

[republicanwizard]

all right, all right. Gephardt lost. So did Bob Casey in 2002. Seems like the Clinton sleaze types-Kerry, Edwards, Rendell now dominate the Party of Jefferson.

Nothing to cheer about if you know what it once meant to be a Democrat.

[expatpat]

But with plenty of Heinz ketchuup, it may be edible for a Democrat.

[republicanwizard]

Yeah, he was dumped by the left in his party for supporting the President.

Guys. Pretend it is 1916. A beautiful summer day with some Joplin followed by a Sousa march. Then the candidate steps to the platform. The speech you would have heard given would be quite similar to that given by Gephardt, not the slime oozed by Edwards or Kerry.

For me, it was the past speaking. I'm 19, but as someone who loves what this country is, and knows what it was built on, I sure do miss that union rally style.

[Sloth]

Remember, his dad drove a milk truck and belonged to the union.

And every single night when the family sat down to supper, Papa Gephardt would remind little Dickie that they had the union to thank for having food on the table. This occurred while Dickie's brother was in the bathroom washing his hands.

[Alberta's Child]

Social radicals and pacifists rule the party these days.

Maybe so, but not in Iowa. I think Dean's third-place finish pretty much confirms that.

I don't know why this is the case, but in all my travels I've somehow gotten the impression that Iowa is the most "typically American" state in the U.S.

[JLAGRAYFOX]

Folks, I mean really! Did you really think that the man who lost the House of Representatives to Newt Gingrich in 1994 and four times after that was going to be a serious candidate for President? Did you really think that big labor has the pull over its membership? The leadership of the AFL-CIO is living in the thirties. I guess they will never realize that times change! The dwindling number of industrial unionized folks should be proof that something is dractically wrong in labor. Even the left-wing, socialist public service, teacher unions have no pull. Howard Dean was destroyed! These Democrats are living in the past! Times have changed, our country is in great peril, and these idiots don't have a clue!

[BluSky]

"Last I heard his address in MO was an empty apartment."

. . . and cobwebs in the 'ol attic too . . . and now a rocker on the porch. Yep! Another democrat house is complete. . .

. . . next?!!!