Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who cast himself as the liberal heir to Democratic presidents of the past, quit the 1992 race Monday after a string of poor showings and said he would "pay any price" to help defeat President Bush.
"Circumstances may change, but the work of compassion still continues," Harkin told an audience at Gallaudet College, a school for the deaf. He signed the beginning of his remarks to his audience before stepping to the microphone.Harkin's departure came four days after a similar withdrawal statement by Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska. The remaining Democrats - Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas and Jerry Brown - were pointing toward an 11-state showdown on Tuesday.
Harkin's withdrawal was rife with symbolism.
His brother Frank is deaf, and the selection of Gallaudet was meant to underscore a campaign commitment to Americans with disabilities.
The man who depicted himself as heir to Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy wryly paraphrased JFK as he dropped out, and kidded his remaining rivals at the same time:
"I will pay any price, bear any burden, learn to speak Greek, develop a Southern accent, or learn to wear a turtleneck to assure that a Democrat is elected president in 1992," he said. Harkin was traveling to Iowa for an appearance in his home state later in the day.
The Iowa senator won his home state caucuses in February - the leadoff event of the year - but it was a hollow triumph, since none of the other candidates contested him. Despite support from numerous unions, he faltered in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, coming in fourth, and finished second in a farm-state showdown with Kerrey a week later in South Dakota.
Except for a victory in Idaho's caucuses on March 3, his campaign engendered little support among the voters. His last stand in South Carolina on Saturday netted him only 6 percent of the vote. A spokeswoman said he was $300,000 in debt.
Harkin campaigned as an advocate of old-time Democratic religion, advocating deep defense cuts, and a massive program of construction in hopes of pulling the sluggish economy out of recession. He criticized Tsongas and his other rivals as pale imitations of 1980s Reaganomics.
"As for me, circumstances may change, but the work of compassion still continues," he said. "The poor may be out of political fashion, but they are not without human needs. The middle class may be angry, but they have not lost the dream that all Americans can advance together."
Still, his withdrawal contained some sobering signals to his party. His departure, coming on the heels of Kerrey's withdrawal, means the Democratic survivors are now exclusively outsiders, each trying to portray himself as most suitable to force the party into new directions.
And Harkin's poor showing seemed to reflect the decline of unions as a potent force in Democratic party politics.
Clinton has some backing within white-collar unions and stood to benefit from some of the labor groups that had remained neutral or endorsed Harkin.
Both Tsongas and Brown said Sunday they would aggressively court organized labor.