DUBUQUE, IOWA — Teri Hawks Goodmann is getting stressed.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has just delivered an hourlong campaign speech to autoworkers at Dubuque's convention center, and the presidential hopeful now faces a hurdle of fans wanting a picture, a handshake, a chat.
The furrow between Goodmann's finely plucked brows deepens as time drains from Biden's tight campaign schedule. Every time the senator from Delaware tries to pull away, another enthusiast appears.
"The nuns are waiting," she says, wanting to take the candidate to his next destination without further delay.
This political volunteer knows about waiting.
For more than 20 years, she has nurtured the dream of a Biden presidency.
Goodmann is a longtime foot soldier for Biden on Iowa's eastern frontier. She was there when he sought the presidency in 1987. Two decades later, she campaigns for him again in her hometown.
Dubuque, a historically working class city on the Mississippi River, has changed considerably since Biden's last run for the Democratic nomination. Where sex shops and dive bars once stood, chic restaurants and a day spa have taken over. The view of the river is no longer obscured by graffiti-covered flood walls.
The city is still heavily Catholic in a heavily Protestant state. In its front yards, white plaster Virgin Marys watch over the shifting seasons. In its bars, black-and-white portraits of President Kennedy conjure up the past.
Residents -- descendants of Irish and German immigrants -- are so headstrong the city has been called "the state of Dubuque." And few are as headstrong as Goodmann, 54. With just 14 days before the first contest of the 2008 race, she is still fighting hard for her long-shot candidate.
"Jostling with windmills," she said. "I've been there before and won.
"Having said that," she continued, "I'm not a cynic but a realist. It's a difficult, difficult battle."
When Goodmann first met Biden, she was taken with his youth and desire to change the world. Today she praises his maturity and accomplishments. His experience makes him the best candidate for president, she said, in explaining her commitment.
"I have never known Teri to do anything or to support anyone on the basis of political expediency or ambition," said Chuck Isenhart, a John Edwards supporter and longtime Democratic activist in Dubuque who has known Goodmann for 20 years.
