|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Tom Harkin's Militant Populism
| Article
# : |
20125 |
|
|
Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
|
| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1992 |
1,704 Words |
| Author
: |
Gary Bullert
Gary Bullert is professor of political science at Troy State
University and is the author of The Politics of John Dewey. |
Sen. Tom Harkin's presidential candidacy promises to be the perfect antidote to Michael Dukakis' failed campaign. As a professed prairie populist, Harkin is not defensive, dispassionate, or wimpy about his unabashed liberalism. Instead of attempting to frame the issue as being one of competence and not ideology, Harkin endeavors to polarize the electorate along, class lines. Whereas Dukakis' stump style exuded an aura of Harvard intellectual superiority, Harkin specializes in street language. He mocks George Herbert Walker Bush and J. Danforth Quayle as rich kids who inherited their privileged status on the social ladder.
Harkin often reminisces about his disadvantaged childhood in small-town Iowa. He was born fifty-one years ago in the endemically poor railroad stop of Cumming. Most everyone from Cumming was raised in comparative poverty. Harkin was one of six children who lived in a two-bedroom house. His mother died when he was 10; his father became afflicted with black lung disease. Harkin's half-brother was born deaf. These roots of hardship serve as a badge of authenticity in his empathizing with the human needs of the poor.
After graduating from a Catholic high school in Des Moines, Harkin attended Iowa State University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He majored in government and economics while cultivating an intense interest in politics. Upon graduation, he ferried damaged jets between Vietnam and Japan on noncombat missions. His military service would late enable him to fend off charges of antipatriotism due to his opposition to a constitutional ban on flag burning.
Upon his discharge from the military, Harkin arrived in Washington, D.C., as an aide to Rep. Neal Smith of Iowa. He also landed a patronage job in the House Post Office. Harkin's career is virtually bereft of any background in the private sector. In 1970, he became a staffer on the House Select Committee on U.S. Involvement in Southeast Asia. While visiting Con Sol Island prison in Vietnam, Harkin took photos of the infamous "tiger cages." When he returned to the United States, he proceeded to blast the committee for a "white-wash." Harkin sold the pictures to Life magazine, reportedly for $10,000. This transaction served two purposes. He gained visibility as an antiwar activist and paid off his law school debts at Catholic University.
Both Harkin and his wife, Ruth, returned to Iowa and immediately launched political careers in 1972. She was elected as a county prosecutor, but he was defeated narrowly in a bid to unseat Republican
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
