Gephardt speaks to farmers in Moorhead (1/4/04) During a campaign swing to Moorhead and Fargo, Gephardt stressed farm and labor issuesThe governor discusses the budget and the session during a speech to the Society of Professional Journalists' meeting in Minneapolis

Richard Gephardt


Gephardt quits presidential race
Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader and 14-term congressman, said Tuesday he was abandoning his second bid for the presidency after a poor, fourth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses. (01/20/2004)

The Iowa caucuses: results and analysis
After the blizzard of ads, the blanketing of the state by most of the Democratic candidates, Iowans caucused and made their choices. What's next for the following important primary, New Hampshire. ( 01/20/2004)

Kerry shakes up race and staggers Dean with decisive win in Iowa
Democratic presidential candidates vied for victory Monday across the chilly precincts of Iowa, the first step in the battle to face President Bush this fall. John Kerry was leading in preliminary results of an Associated Press survey of Iowa Democrats taken as they entered the caucus sites. (01/20/2004)

Practicing politics at an Iowa caucus
More than 100 people crammed Decorah's City Council chambers Monday night to participate in the Iowa Democratic caucus. For this precinct, in a small northeastern Iowa college town, it was the best-attended caucus in recent memory. (01/20/2004)

Variety of issues drive Iowans to caucuses
On Monday, Iowa Democrats will meet in close to 2,000 precinct caucuses around the state. Because Iowa gets to go first, some political observers say the views of Iowa residents play a disproportionate role in choosing a candidate for president. But the issues Iowans are concerned about --the war in Iraq, jobs, and education-- are the same ones on the minds of many Minnesotans and other Americans. (01/16/2004)

Democratic challengers meet in radio-only debate
Howard Dean accused President Bush of pursuing a policy that will "allow North Korea to become a nuclear power" on Tuesday, as a Democratic presidential debate turned into an all-out assault on President Bush's foreign policy. (01/06/2004)

Democratic presidential candidates debate
Seven of the nine democratic presidential candidates debated in Des Moines, Iowa, Sunday night in the first official event of the election year. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was sharply criticized by his rivals on taxes, health care, and terrorism. Drake University political scientist Dennis Goldford discusses presidential politics. ( 01/05/2004)

Gephardt tells growers he's top candidate to change trade policy
Democratic presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt said he's the best candidate to change trade policy, telling a group of Red River Valley sugar beet growers that a new deal with Central America would hurt family farms. (01/04/2004)

Rivals target front-runner Dean in first debate of the election year
In a feisty, first debate of the election year, Howard Dean drew fire from fellow Democrats on Sunday over trade, terror and taxes, then calmly dismissed his rivals as "co-opted by the agenda of George Bush." (01/04/2004)

Rivals gang up on Dean, Gore in debate dominated by endorsement
Eight of the Democratic presidential candidates ganged up on front-runner Howard Dean and former Vice President Al Gore, hoping to take the luster off Gore's newly minted endorsement of Dean. (12/10/2003)

Local political leaders selecting presidential favorites
The 2004 presidential election is still 11 months away, but the presidential campaign is well underway in Minnesota. Three Democratic candidates recently kicked off their Minnesota campaigns, and some are mobilizing Minnesotans to travel to Iowa in advance of next month's caucuses. Meantime, Republicans are working to sign up a record number of Minnesota volunteers for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign. (12/09/2003)

The 2004 race for president
President Bush is stepping up the pace this week, packing in four sessions with wealthy Republican donors in as many states. Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidates are building their paid staffs and paying frequent visits to Wisconsin, before the Wisconsin primary in two months. ( 12/01/2003)

Bush TV ad answers criticism over Iraq
Democrats are reacting strongly to an ad running in the crucial early election state of Iowa that talks about Bush's stand on the war on terrorism and Iraq. The ad, sponsored by the Republican National Committee, signals a strategy for addressing criticism of the administration's efforts in the Middle East. ( 11/25/2003)

Gephardt, Kerry take shots at Dean policies on health care in Democratic debate
Rep. Dick Gephardt and Democratic rival Howard Dean intensified their war of words on Monday, attacking each others' records in the latest in a series of Democratic debates. (11/24/2003)

Dean regrets pain of Confederate flag remark
Howard Dean said Wednesday he regretted the pain he caused by saying that the Democratic Party must court Southerners who display the symbol of the Confederacy in their pickup trucks. (11/05/2003)