'Old-Style' Democrat Sees Time, Voters Pass Him By

DES MOINES, Jan. 19 -- In the end, his impressive political career, more than a decade of congressional leadership and the backing of 21 international unions could not help Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) overcome the perception that he was an old-style Democrat in an election cycle when voters were looking for someone new.

By 9:45 p.m. Monday, Gephardt acknowledged his stunning defeat in the Iowa caucuses, effectively ending a four-decade career in government, and said he would support the eventual nominee.

The 14-term congressman abruptly canceled a trip to New Hampshire and flew to St. Louis, where he has scheduled a formal announcement on Tuesday. He has already said that he will not seek reelection to the House.

"Well, this didn't come out the way we wanted, but I've been through tougher fights in my life. When I watched my 2-year-old son fight terminal cancer and win, it puts everything into perspective," Gephardt told 200 grim supporters and staff.

Flanked by his family and fighting back tears, Gephardt thanked his family, his staff and the unions, but in particular his wife, Jane, whom he said "makes the sun come up for me every day."

"He is such a good and decent man. I have such a high opinion of Dick Gephardt," Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) said on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday night. "He's been an extraordinary public servant."

Gephardt began the night with the most to lose, having said he needed to win the state that he won in 1988 in order to capture his party's nomination. Iowa was considered his best shot to propel him forward into New Hampshire next week and the subsequent states, where he did not have anywhere near the organization he was said to have here.

But his staff was at a loss Monday night to explain how the force of thousands of volunteers and union members from Iowa and beyond failed to produce the intended results. Gephardt received more than 15 percent of the vote in only 23 out of the 99 Iowa counties.

At one caucus with 259 people downtown, Gephardt had only 11 supporters on hand, nine fewer than Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio). "He's a good guy, but I don't think he's electable. I don't think he projects enough leadership. He's a traditional Democrat," said Scott Berry, a sales manager and Kucinich supporter, who ended up voting for Edwards.

It was a long haul through Iowa for Gephardt. At 62, he was the oldest candidate, and he had battled a perception that his time has passed. Neither an engaging campaigner nor a rousing speaker, he worked to turn a liability into an asset by emphasizing his experience and electability.

He built what some believed was an unsurpassed field organization in the state, relying largely on the efforts of union members to get voters to the precincts. And he thanked them, saying, "Your fight is my fight, and it will always be that way. . . . America's workers are what makes this country what it is."

Gephardt tried to appeal to middle-class Iowans and seniors with a message of jobs, universal health care and opposition to free trade. With a discipline that bordered on monotonous, he repeatedly told Iowa Democrats that George W. Bush had to go and that he was the best man to drive the president from the White House.

And for months, he held strong here, in what was portrayed as a two-man race between him and former Vermont governor Howard Dean. But in the final days of the campaign, Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and Edwards surged, leaving Gephardt's success suddenly in question.

Gephardt had refused to entertain public doubt or defeat in the face of polls that showed him in fourth place until Sunday night, when a reporter asked him what he would do if he lost Iowa. "I'll have a good life," he said. "I have a great family."

And, despite his energized campaigning across the state, there was some poignancy to his final days in Iowa. After repeatedly introducing his wife by saying he chokes up when he talks about her, he actually did choke up on Friday.

His eyes teary and voice cracking, he said, "We've been married for 27 years, and she's the best person I ever met. She's gone door to door with me in 16 campaigns. . . . I realize what she's done to help me."