2004 political presidential cartoons about Iowa primary precinct caucus and caucuses news, reports information on 2004 Democrat and Republican candidates, campaigns issues |
"This list of names... … Gephardt, once considered nearly invincible in Iowa, now faces another campaign hurdle as his alleged supporters disappear. His much-touted IA “leadership team” looks more and more like a campaign mirage. Headline from St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Team touted by Gephardt fades in Iowa” Excerpt from report by Jon Sawyer: “When Richard Gephardt announced his ‘leadership team’ of Iowa supporters a month ago he said, ‘I don't take one bit of support for granted,’ and touted what he called ‘a great team of folks behind me.’ But in politics, a month can be painfully long, and if Gephardt looks behind him now he'll find that his leadership team is fading in a state deemed crucial to his presidential hopes. Of the 34 ‘leadership’ individuals listed until Friday on Gephardt's Iowa campaign Web site, 11 say that in fact they are either undecided in the presidential campaign or actively supporting one of Gephardt's rivals. At least seven of those listed, including three mayors and a county supervisor, say they never intended to be counted among Gephardt supporters to begin with. Among the 15 individuals who identified themselves as actual Gephardt supporters, several appeared to be wavering. ‘I said I'd support him for now, verbally, but that's as far as it goes,’ said Joe McCasland, the mayor of Calmar, Iowa. Gephardt's campaign dismissed the defections as ‘par for the course’ and pointed to recent union endorsements as a better bellwether of Gephardt's standing in union-strong Iowa, where caucuses Jan. 19 mark the start of the presidential nomination process. ‘We did call these folks and got verbal commitments from them,’ said Bill Burton, Gephardt's Iowa spokesman. ‘It's too bad that this has happened,’ Burton said, referring to the defections and confusion, ‘but organizationally we have public support from important folks.’ Burton also supplied the Post-Dispatch with the names of an additional 53 activists and public officials in Iowa who he said have endorsed Gephardt. He acknowledged that those names had not been included on the campaign Web site; he said they have been disseminated to local reporters in Iowa. Until Friday the leadership list and Gephardt's quotations about it were prominently displayed on the campaign's Web site. They were removed some two hours after a Post-Dispatch reporter raised questions about the accuracy of some of the reported endorsements. ‘Here's what happened,’ Burton said. ‘I told (campaign) folks you were feverishly working on your story, and they said that if there were problems we should fix them.’”
In an article written 7/23/2003 by Des Moines Register reporter Jane Norman: “He [Gephardt] continued to raise questions about events leading up to the war... that turned out to be based on information considered dubious by the State Department. 'Bush should assume responsibility for his remarks, Gephardt said. ‘... Credibility is vital.’ |
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