Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was photographed at a private fundraiser in Boston earlier this week with Illinois Senator Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate. Harkin had been supporting former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for president, but Vilsack has dropped out. Harkin says his appearance with Obama was coincidence, not an endorsement.
Harkin says "I happened to be at a fundraising event for myself in Boston. It happened to be in the same building on the same floor down the hall from where Barack Obama was having his event. Barack just simply found out I was down the hall and came down to stick his head in my door, so to speak, and say ‘hi’ to the people who were there and, of course, cameras were clicking and took pictures and that’s all there was to it."
Harkin says he’s focused on his own re-election in 2008 and, as for the presidency, says "I don’t have a horse in this race."