Democratic Party Iowa

Last summer, Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis had a problem in Iowa, and his name was Dixon Terry. Terry, an Iowa dairy farmer and founder of the influential Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, did not like what Dukakis was saying about agriculture.

The process of selecting the next leader of the free world began with 75-year-old Carita Kelleher getting a shampoo and blow-dry at West End Beauty Salon in the tiny town of Winterset. She was preparing for her television debut on "Good Morning America," which arrived at her 1,000-acre corn and soybean farm at 4:30 a.m. Monday to get a firsthand look at the way the Heartland nominates candidates for president--the Iowa caucus way.

Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and former television evangelist Pat Robertson both capitalized on the disenchantment of Iowa Republicans with the nation's direction to deliver a stunning blow to Vice President George Bush in Monday night's caucuses, the Los Angeles Times Poll found. In addition, Dole and the Democratic winner--Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt--both benefited from their emphasis on agriculture issues.

Campaigning all alone in the state where he has lived for 52 years, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin scored a landslide victory Monday in the first electoral contest of the 1992 presidential race. As he promised, Harkin did better in Iowa's Democratic caucuses than any presidential candidate has ever done. He even exceeded former President Jimmy Carter's record of 59% in 1980. But the significance of his victory was limited because he faced almost no opposition. With 91.

Reporters seeking to explain a candidate's popularity often resurrect moldy cliches such as "well-oiled juggernaut" or "finely tuned machine" to describe his campaign apparatus. The success of the Democratic front-runner in Iowa, Gephardt, demands some other explanation. In the first hour of an Iowa swing last week, state troopers pulled over three Gephardt motorcade vehicles and cited them for speeding.

Nearly three years after the start of one of the most intense Democratic presidential campaigns Iowans have ever seen, caucus-goers across this heartland state will declare their choice tonight from a crowded field, narrowly led in several pre-election polls by Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt. Under the glare of hundreds of television lights and world attention, Democrats will gather at 7 p.m.

Just one month before the Feb. 8 Iowa caucuses--the first real electoral battle of the 1988 presidential contest--the political landscape in Iowa appears confused and uncertain, clouded by the sudden return of a once-fallen prodigal candidate on the Democratic side and shrouded in mystery by the unknown power of a former evangelical preacher and the lingering after-effects of the Iran-Contra scandal among the Republicans.

On the strength of a savvy media blitz that stressed a populist Midwestern message on trade and agriculture, Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt surged to a narrow victory in Iowa after being all but written off just one month ago. Many political observers believe that his series of television commercials that humanized his tough stance on trade played a crucial role in Gephardt's turnaround.

Iowa Democrats decided Saturday against rules changes that would have given native son Sen. Tom Harkin stiffer competition from rival Democrats in the state's Feb. 10 presidential preference contest. Under the rules, Iowa Democrats must express their preferences in the open, a requirement that might intimidate supporters of other candidates because they would have to vote in the presence of party officials who often double as Harkin campaign workers.

Both Democrats and Republicans vote in Iowa's caucuses Feb. 8. But the process for each party is so utterly different, you would hardly know you are in the same state. For Democrats, the atmosphere will be open and boisterous--like a prize fight or the closing hour on the floor of the stock exchange. Here you vote with your feet, walking to a corner of the room and standing in public in groups backing the candidate of your choice.

Iowa Democrats decided Saturday against rules changes that would have given native son Sen. Tom Harkin stiffer competition from rival Democrats in the state's Feb. 10 presidential preference contest. Under the rules, Iowa Democrats must express their preferences in the open, a requirement that might intimidate supporters of other candidates because they would have to vote in the presence of party officials who often double as Harkin campaign workers.

When Black Hawk County Democrats gathered at the United Auto Workers' hall for their annual "all-Iowa" fund-raising dinner three weeks ago, everything seemed pretty much as usual. Green-and-white checkered tablecloths. A cash bar. Inch-thick Iowa pork chops. And of course, campaign posters. But one element was conspicuously missing. In a state that traditionally has been the starting-place for the nation's presidential campaigns, there was not even a hint of presidential politics.

If this is October, 1989, it must be time to start the 1992 presidential campaign. That's the way it seemed here in Iowa last weekend when Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the 1988 Democratic vice presidential candidate, showed up to address a state party dinner and appear at two other local fund-raising functions.

Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and former television evangelist Pat Robertson both capitalized on the disenchantment of Iowa Republicans with the nation's direction to deliver a stunning blow to Vice President George Bush in Monday night's caucuses, the Los Angeles Times Poll found. In addition, Dole and the Democratic winner--Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt--both benefited from their emphasis on agriculture issues.

On the strength of a savvy media blitz that stressed a populist Midwestern message on trade and agriculture, Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt surged to a narrow victory in Iowa after being all but written off just one month ago. Many political observers believe that his series of television commercials that humanized his tough stance on trade played a crucial role in Gephardt's turnaround.

Lee M. Walker was surrounded. "We just need one more, one," pleaded Mary Lee Rusk on behalf of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. It took 17 supporters at this township caucus to win one delegate to the county Democratic convention. The Dukakis forces numbered 16. Walker's wife, Randa, a supporter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, put her hand on her husband's arm. "No, no, no," she implored frantically. "You don't even like Dukakis."

Lee M. Walker was surrounded. "We just need one more, one," pleaded Mary Lee Rusk on behalf of Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis. It took 17 supporters at this township caucus to win one delegate to the county Democratic convention. The Dukakis forces numbered 16. Walker's wife, Randa, a supporter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, put her hand on her husband's arm. "No, no, no," she implored frantically. "You don't even like Dukakis."

If this is October, 1989, it must be time to start the 1992 presidential campaign. That's the way it seemed here in Iowa last weekend when Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the 1988 Democratic vice presidential candidate, showed up to address a state party dinner and appear at two other local fund-raising functions.

Nearly three years after the start of one of the most intense Democratic presidential campaigns Iowans have ever seen, caucus-goers across this heartland state will declare their choice tonight from a crowded field, narrowly led in several pre-election polls by Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt. Under the glare of hundreds of television lights and world attention, Democrats will gather at 7 p.m.

Reporters seeking to explain a candidate's popularity often resurrect moldy cliches such as "well-oiled juggernaut" or "finely tuned machine" to describe his campaign apparatus. The success of the Democratic front-runner in Iowa, Gephardt, demands some other explanation. In the first hour of an Iowa swing last week, state troopers pulled over three Gephardt motorcade vehicles and cited them for speeding.