Gephardt sets up for another Presidential run with Iowa visit

Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt is in Iowa today in a trip that could lay the groundwork for another Gephardt bid for the presidency. While three other democrats who’re gearing up to run for president in 2004 are headed to Florida for a big political event, Gephardt’s in Iowa, a state that’ll host the nation’s first caucuses in the 2004 presidential campaign. Gephardt won Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses in 1988, and kept close ties to the state ever since. Gephardt’s in a bit of a box when it comes to the next presidential race. If he succeeds at getting the House back in democrat hands, he’ll become House Speaker but if he criss-crosses the country and fails to win the House back, he’ll be damaged by that failure.Gephardt says you can only cross one bridge at a time, and he’ll make a decision on that after the 2002 election.Last night, Gephardt helped raise money for a retired labor leader who’s running for the Iowa Legislature. Today, he’s campaigning with an Iowa democrat who’s running for Congress.