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The Harkin Steak Fry

21 Aug 2007 08:12 am

Last year, Sen. Barack Obama rocked Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry fundraiser in Indianaola, as 3,000+ Iowans screamed, cheered, cried and begged for him to run for president. The year before, Bill Clinton was the guest.

So a topic of speculation has been who Harkin would get to host this year's extravaganza -- his 30th. All of the party superstars are running for president. It wouldn't be fair to invite just one of them.

So...

This year our special guests include Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, Senator John Edwards, Senator Joe Biden, Senator Chris Dodd, and Governor Bill Richardson

Well, there you go. September 16 will be the first major post Labor Day cattle call for Democrats. But wait -- No Kucinich? No Gravel?

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Comments (4)

Bill Clinton was 2003, not 2005. I think 2005 was Edwards and 2004 was Sheryl Crow (yes, really). Most of the Presidentials were there in 2003, also.

Posted by Anonymous | August 21, 2007 10:16 AM

isn't Kucinich a vegan?

Posted by David | August 21, 2007 11:51 AM

That's actually kind of irritating. Let's face it, does Joe Biden really have more of a chance than Kucinich?

Posted by Dan Miller | August 21, 2007 12:55 PM

A staffer at Citizens for Harkin told me the invitation criteria were the same as "worked out" this summer by (or with?) the Iowa Democratic Party and the Iowa Federation of Labor. He said Dennis didn't qualify on two counts: 1) "actually campaigning in Iowa" and 2) "committed to the first-in-the-nation caucus." He said the six invited candidates all pledged not to campaign in states trying to jump ahead of the four earliest, but Dennis hasn't taken "the pledge."

I asked what it would take to get Dennis invited. Not gonna happen, he said.

Does Joe have more of a chance than Dennis? Well, in Iowa, Dennis has no staff, but Joe invites me to contact one of 10 regional field directors to receive my free Harkin Steak Fry ticket. I'd already ordered my $30 ticket and arranged to carpool with fellow "Kucitizens". Other candidates will bring their folks in chartered coaches.

Posted by Daniel G. Clark | September 8, 2007 3:23 AM