Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, one of the Senate's leading liberals and a former presidential candidate himself is now sending strong signals that he will endorse Senator Obama and vote for him at the convention.
His main reasons are Clinton's bashing of the Iowa caucuses:
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said Hillary Clinton's criticism of the Iowa caucuses and Barack Obama's advantage among independent voters would weigh on his decision, should he declare his support for one or the other.
"Iowa doesn't have the best track record in determining whom the party nominates," Clinton said. She also referred to the contests as having "disenfranchised" voters who could not attend.
"I was not happy with those statements," Harkin said. "I happen to think there's a great value in caucuses for organizing."
And Obama's strength with independent voters:
"They, I think, obviously are going to be the deciding factor in this election, and I think we have to pay attention to independents in Iowa," Harkin said.
A Des Moines Register poll in February showed Obama handily beating McCain in Iowa, in part by winning a majority of the independent vote. McCain was shown narrowly beating Clinton by winning an equally narrow majority of independents
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/...
Harkin plans to keep mum until after the final primaries and caucuses in early June. Want to bet that Harkin will be part of the SuperDelegate stampede that will put Obama over the top? And then we can have a negotiated settlement on Florida and MI, maybe even throw HRC a bone in Florida.