Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he wants to give a hand to presidential candidates in his party and will host a series of forums for Democrats from March through August.He says he wants to create an “issued based” forum around the state to let the candidate get out his message and let people around the state tell candidates how they feel.Harkin says he’s creating a political action committee to fund the forums.He says the PAC will fund the set up and operation of the forums,and he says the events will give people a chance to get to know the candidates without endorsing them. With former Vice President Al Gore dropping out of the democrat race, the field is wide open.Harkin says the forums will be in the major media centers in the state and the order for the candidates will be randomly chosenHe says they’ll get all the candidates’ representatives together and pull names out of a hat to see who goes first. He says they’ll start in Polk County, move to Linn County Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Davenport and Dubuque. Harkin once ran for the highest office in the land, and was asked if the forums could be a way to boost his chances for another run.He says he’d like to be president, he just doesn’t want to run for it, so he’s not planning to run. Harkin says he doesn’t know yet how much it will cost to hold the forums.
