Alot of people are mad at Tom for saying Gephardt is slowly going down. But you really have to look at the situation and then ask yourself if being nice is more important than being honest. Now I don't want to put Dick Gephardt down. Lord knows he hasn't been Dr. Deans bestfriend during the campaign (deanfacts.com?) he is probably at least partly behind the secret group that ran those Anti-Dean ads last month. And has since ran ads questioning Deans loyalty to Democratic Values.
But Dick Gephardt has been a member of the house for many many years and in what could be his final hours does not deserve criticism from a punk like me. So I will not talk about any of the flip flops he's had over the years, nor will I go on and on about his character or his inability to inspire. All I am going to say is this.
What does Dick Gephardt plan to do next if he does somehow manage to win in Iowa? He has no money to continue outside the state, it will most likely be 1988 all over again. Iowans do not want to caucus for a man who will be stuck in a rutt afterwards. They want to slingshot someone toward Boston. If Gephardt wins Iowa and loses every other state the Iowa contest will have been moot, pointless and ultimately wasted.
So while Dick Gephardt deserves respect for his years of service to say he is fading is in fact a correct assement. He's taking his last stand in the first state. And thats not the way to run a campaign.