Gephardt Lets His Passion Shine Through

SOLON, Iowa —  At 8:30 a.m., the public library in this hamlet resembled many other venues Dick Gephardt had seen in a blur over the past fortnight. About 60 earnest Iowans were seated quietly, sipping coffee and ready for his pitch. But Saturday there was a difference. In the front row, to the candidate’s left, sat Jane.

His wife, gone from the campaign trail since early January with pneumonia, had returned to accompany Gephardt in his final three-day push in a state that could make or break his bid for the White House.

As he took the microphone, Gephardt launched into a spiel reporters had heard time and again, even in her absence: His partner for 37 years, the best person he knows, a woman who has knocked on doors with him in 16 campaigns for the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and Congress.

“Sometimes,” Gephardt told the crowd, as he has countless others, “I choke up when I introduce her.”

Then, for the first time in the Iowa campaign’s finale, he actually did. Gephardt bowed his head a moment to control his emotions. “This is a good person. She’ll be a great first lady in this country.” Minutes later, he allowed that a presidential campaign was “not her first choice of what we ought to be doing right now.”

The Missouri congressman, 62, who is giving up his House seat in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, is keenly aware of what the fast-ticking hours until the Monday evening caucuses mean for his career. His steady, often scripted, demeanor is giving way to moments of simple passion as he motors and plane-hops across Iowa in a zealous bid to nose across the finish line ahead of three strong rivals.

Despite polls that show others in the lead, Gephardt’s confidence never appears to waver, and he refuses to discuss what might happen if he finishes second, or worse.

While some say the longtime House Democratic leader is old news, many voters here respond to what they see: sincerity, ideals and an all-American image. His wife and their three grown children, also barnstorming Iowa this weekend, offer talking points for the Gephardt campaign and inspiration for the candidate.

On Saturday, the Gephardts rode in a Ford Excursion from Solon to Cedar Rapids. There, their daughter Chrissy, 31, was canvassing the city. The three stood on the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot of United Auto Workers Local 1024 while Gephardt shouted encouragement to more than 100 volunteers, many from Missouri, who were about to knock on doors and make calls for him.

He knew just the line to fire up the pro-labor group: “When I’m president, we’ll either get good trade deals or no trade deals!”

In the crowd, a woman in bluejeans and white tennis shoes snapped pictures. Millie Mamet, 63, said she had journeyed from her home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., to help her political idol.

“First time I saw him, I thought this was a man that can change everything,” said Mamet. The native Iowan added: “He’s a Midwesterner; that’s the most important thing.”

Gephardt, who several times in recent weeks has declared his reluctance to fly in unsafe conditions, skipped his next event when the Clinton airport was fogged in. Instead he motored on to Davenport for an appearance at a concert hall.

The event drew a crowd of more than 300, larger than usual for Gephardt, bolstered by pop singer Michael Bolton. He belted out a song, “Go the Distance,” offering a live alternative to the campaign’s recorded music by Bruce Springsteen, rapper Eminem and the rock band The Call.

Gephardt bounded onstage and basked as the crowd roared. He flashed a toothy grin -- still boyish 16 years after he first ran for president -- and repeatedly thrust out his fists with thumbs up.

Then he ripped through his speech, bringing cheers with the stark declaration that answered Democrats’ hunger: “I’m going to beat George Bush!” As he said it, Gephardt coiled and then threw his body and his right arm forward as if he were hurling a fastball at the GOP incumbent.

The audience later burst into a chant: “Dick and Jane! Dick and Jane!”

Laughing, Gephardt cracked: “It is Dick and Jane. There’s nothing we can do about it. Spot and Puff are out in the car.”

Afterward, the audience surged around him and a buoyant Gephardt grabbed a felt pen and autographed T-shirts and campaign signs with high-decibel music flooding the hall. He locked on to Annette Kroening as he signed her placard and answered her query on education.

The 38-year-old health-care worker said later that she planned to caucus for Gephardt, even though she had voted Republican in recent years.

“He told me he would do his best to help our kids out. I can tell he means it,” Kroening said. “It’s just the way he looked in my eye.”