Harkin could have saved the Howard Dean campaign. Within 24 hours of the scream speech, Harkin could have silenced all Howard Dean critics. Harkin was there, standing behind Dean, looking out at the audience. Like Mira Liasson, Harkin knew the criticism was over the top, if not completely unjustified. But Harkin disappeared off the planet, and while hidden, willingly allowed his candidate to be destroyed by the media.
And from now until November, everytime you hear Sharpton, Harkin, McAuliffe, Rangel, or any other Clinton toadie speak of the 2000 "selection", you'll know it's part of "the plan". Kerry or Edwards won't ever have to refer to 2000...Harkin and his ilk will do it for him.
During a 1992 bid for the presidency, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa claimed that he had served as a pilot in Vietnam. His claim had surfaced eight years before, during a 1984 bid for reelection to the Senate, when Harkin boasted that he had served one year in Vietnam flying F-4s and F-8s on combat air patrols and photo-reconnaissance support missions. Challenged by Sen. Barry Goldwater, Harkin did a quick shuffle, claiming that he had actually flown combat sorties over Cuba during the sixties. Harkin finally admitted he had not seen combat but had served as a ferry pilot stationed in Atsugi, Japan, flying aircraft to be repaired from Atsugi to the Philippines. When pressed by reporters to explain how much time he really spent in Vietnam, Harkin estimated that over a year, he flew in and out of Vietnam a dozen or so times. But Harkin's military record showed no Vietnam service decorations. He finally conceded he had not flown combat air patrols in Vietnam and began descibing himself as a Vietnam era vet. (STOLEN VALOR...p.182)