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A Master of Political Timing

Submitted by Eric Woolson on Sat, 01/10/2004 - 01:00.

The talk for weeks has been that four-term Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin had waited far long for his endorsement to make any difference in the Jan. 19 Iowa presidential caucuses. There was talk, in fact, that he wouldn't endorse any candidate because the moment had simply passed him by. (The apparent decision to sit on the sidelines was made all the more fascinating by Harkin's well-timed endorsement of Bill Clinton in 1992 virtually hours after the Iowan abandoned his own presidential quest.)
As it often turns out, conventional wisdom was wrong.
Harkin couldn't have chosen a more strategically advantageous time for Dean (or himself) to bestow his seal of approval on the former Vermont governor.
Dean was mired in a day of media and activist questioning about his 2000 remarks criticial of the Iowa caucuses then, magically, late in the day, Harkin announced his support for Dean.
Dean's earlier problems hadn't disappeared -- in fact, a Des Moines TV station poll found 44 percent of Democratic activists' opinion of Dean has changed because of his criticism of the caucuses -- but they were reported in the context of winning the Democrats' most sought-after Iowa endorsement.
If you're one of the other candidates, you're obviously disappointed. Particularly, Dick Gephardt, who has worked with Harkin on farm legislation in years past. John Kerry and John Edwards, Senate collegues of Harkin, certainly are disappointed, too. (Though coverage of Kerry was big, too, with his endorsement from Attorney General Tom Miller.)
All you can do if you're one of the other candidates is say, "Tom Harkin is a good Democrat whose judgment I respect, but it's voters not endorsements that decide elections." And, true to form, that's what they are saying today.
Harkin's endorsement gave a new shot of energy to Dean's Iowa campaign when momentum was slipping away. It also raises his standing with the front-runner in yet another Democratic presidential campaign. And, it proves once again that Tom Harkin is a master of political timing.

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