6 candidates spend Labor Day in Iowa
Originally published in the Des Moines Register
6 candidates spend Labor Day in Iowa
By LYNN OKAMOTO
Register Staff Writer
09/02/2003
In what some called "opening day" of the 2004 campaign, six of the nine Democratic candidates for president came to Iowa on Monday to court the labor vote, criticize President Bush, and tout their plans for health care and the economy.
"I can't think of anyplace I'd rather be today than with you here," U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said to about 5,000 people at a labor rally in Des Moines. "This is the moment when the American people start to focus on the presidential race."
Iowa's precinct caucuses kick off the 2004 nominating season on Jan. 19. As the race for the caucuses passed the Labor Day milepost Monday, none of the candidates appeared to be relenting in their quest for the White House.
"This is a race that has not crystallized," said U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who campaigned Monday in Davenport, Clinton and Dubuque. "A lot of people are just beginning to focus. My goal is to exceed expectations."
A series of six debates begins this week with all of the candidates in Albuquerque, N.M.
Lieberman today will unveil a health-care plan that would repeal some of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy, provide government subsidies to low-income children, and allow those who are laid off to buy into the same health-care plan that covers Congress and federal employees.
"It will cover more people at a lower per-person cost than any other plan," said Lieberman, who added that his plan will be cheaper than those offered by Kucinich and U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts will formally announce his candidacy today in South Carolina and Des Moines. He also plans to begin television advertisements Thursday in Iowa.
Two candidates - U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois - have scheduled announcements for later this month on whether to continue their candidacies. In interviews Monday, they confirmed their plans to stay in the race.
"I am 100 percent committed to running for the Democratic nomination for president, and I intend to be the nominee," said Edwards, who placed fifth last week in a poll of likely Iowa Democratic voters.
Braun, who has trailed in polls with less than 1 percent of the vote in Iowa, maintained that the response to her campaign has been positive across the country.
"With the endorsement of the major women's organizations, I think that it's appropriate to say, 'OK, fine, I can do this because the support seems to be there," " she said. "We're going to engage a real national campaign and kick it off on the 22nd."
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has maintained his status as the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race, according to polls released last week in New Hampshire and Iowa. That has made him a frequent target of criticism by other candidates.
"We've got to avoid promising everybody everything," Dean said Monday, defending his plan to repeal all the Bush tax cuts, including those for the middle class, so Americans can have universal health care and jobs.
Braun, Dean, Edwards, Kucinich and Bob Graham of Florida walked Monday in a Labor Day parade from the Iowa Capitol to the State Fairgrounds. The event that followed at the fairgrounds, televised live on C-SPAN, was a pep rally of sorts where campaigns competed for who had the most supporters and who chanted the loudest.
Edwards and Kucinich appeared to have the most vocal supporters at Monday's events. While Braun participated, no one held signs for her. She spoke last, and her speech was poorly attended. Those holding signs for Kerry stuck around and clapped politely for her.
Gephardt, who has picked up a dozen major labor union endorsements and is in a competitive race with Dean in Iowa, did not attend Monday's labor events in Des Moines. Neither did Kerry or the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York.
With less than five months until the Iowa caucuses, Edwards and Graham continue making their criticism of President Bush a major focus of their speeches.
"George Bush makes his father look good," Edwards said. "He has taken a two-by-four to the American dream. He does not come from where the rest of us come from."
Speculation continues as to whether Gen. Wesley Clark will enter the race. The former NATO supreme commander has said he will make a decision before he visits Iowa on Sept. 19 to give a speech at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
Subscribe to this blog's feed