Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 | 8:47 a.m.
SO MUCH for the polls.
A very wise man once told me and every young political aspirant within earshot that polls are a gauge only of that day's headline. Make a new headline, create a new poll.
Thirty years later and in a place as far away as the state of Iowa, those words rang true once again as Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts changed headline after headline during the last week before the Iowa caucuses and with them the polls that just days before predicted Howard Dean the cinch winner of the nation's first Democratic effort to pick a candidate for 2004. In the end, the poll that counted provided 38 percent of the Iowa votes for Kerry with Dean in a distant third place. Sen. John Edwards finished second. That, in itself, could be the ticket that the Democrats will send into battle against President George W. Bush this November.
Of course, the above can be proved completely wrong once New Hampshire makes up its mind. Gen. Wesley Clark could be the instant front-runner with a good showing, or even the vice-presidential candidate that almost was in 2000, Sen. Joe Lieberman, could be the surprise victor. From there, what's left of the pack will head south and west for who knows what. The only thing that is most likely true is that the Democratoc Party will have a candidate by March and the fight will be on. And just like Iowa surprised almost everybody so, too, could the country shock itself again if the expected winner of the presidential contest -- that would be President Bush -- defies the polls and pundits and becomes a one-termer just like his father.
But I am not writing today to pick apart the results and prognosticate about the future. There will be plenty of time for that and, I am certain, far more knowledgable people to do that kind of work. Although that kind of informational deficit never stopped me before.
What struck me most about watching the results in Iowa last night was not the conduct of the winner and some of the whining of a loser or two, but the unambiguous dignity with which the former Democratic leader of the House of Representatives bowed out of the race. The sadness I felt when Rep. Richard Gephardt announced that he was ending his second quest for the White House was not so much for the candidate, although I believe he would have made a fine president, but for the loss to this country of the style and grace by which he conducted his service to the public.
The kind and quality of leadership that epitomized Dick Gephardt's 28 years in Congress is a rare commodity in Washington these days. Instead of the kind of collegiality that defined the nature of service in the lower house of government from the days of Carl Hayden and Tip O'Neill, the political world of Congress in 2004 is one of polarization and paralysis -- it's the "either my way or the highway" mentality that sees a cohesive majority shoving bad government down the throats of an unwilling minority without regard for the simple decency and respect that was once the trademark of our democracy.
Gephardt will end his public service to his state and this nation at the end of the year. By deciding to cast his lot in the presidential primary race this year, he chose not to run for a 15th term in the House of Representatives. His will be the end of another bit of the era of gentlemanly lawmaking, where people of good will on all sides of the aisle could disagree vociferously, take a vote and then go to dinner to discuss the next day's business or matters less weighty.
Perhaps the change for the worse in our nation's capital was one of the reasons Gephardt chose not to stand for re-election. Maybe life was getting too onerous and not as enjoyable as it should have been. Perhaps Gephardt figured he'd go for the brass ring -- either change the dialogue and the environment back there in a big way by winning the grand prize of the presidency -- or consider his lifetime of service his gift to the public weal and find something more rewarding and less ugly to do with his time and talent.
Whatever the reason, you couldn't tell from his concession speech Monday night that this man had lost. That's because Dick Gephardt is not the kind of person who loses. Sure, he may not win an election but, even in defeat, he has won a host of freinds and admirers across the country for the way he has gone out.
Whether you agree or not with his lifetime of consistent support for working men and women, you have to admire his steadfast dedication to the principles and goals of the union movement in this country. And whether or not you agree with his support of various governmental programs to help those less fortunate in society, you cannot question the sincerity of his position which has been forged since childhood and honed throughout his life experiences. He has been consistent. Not the kind of consistency that keeps mean people mean throughout their political careers -- pandering to the worst of our human nature -- but the kind of sticking to principle that gets harder to do as people grow more secure, more selfish and more myopic in their outlook and forget where they came from.
And, for those of us who live in Nevada, Gephardt's lifetime of affinity for our state, its industry and its people has been a rarity in a world marked more by political expediency that political courage. When it was easy to support Nevada, everybody did. When it has been hard, though, Dick Gephardt was one of the few who stood by our side. This state will miss him, I am certain.
With his family by his side and behind him last night, what must have been a hurting but always smiling and gracious Gephardt thanked those who helped him along his lifelong journey of public service. It is not that he will drop out of sight and out of mind -- good and decent people don't take that route -- but, rather, that he will give back to his country in a different way. Perhaps it will be in a way that will provide the kind of financial security to his family that honest public service cannot provide or perhaps he will choose another way to try to help his fellow man.
Whichever it is, Dick Gephardt will do it with his head high because the friends he has made and the dignity of service by which he has made them allow for no other way.
Now, on to New Hampshire and the elusive quest for civility in this democracy.
Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
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