BOSTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt vowed to defeat rival Howard Dean in Iowa and seize the nomination despite Dean's recent endorsement by two major labor unions.þþ``I don't see him as a runaway train. He was ahead in Iowa and now he's behind. If this was a runaway train that couldn't be stopped, he wouldn't have fallen back,'' Gephardt said Thursday. ``He's a worthy and tough competitor, but I'm going to defeat him.''þþGephardt made the comments during a swing through fellow candidate John Kerry's hometown to attend a fundraiser.þþOn Wednesday, Dean scored a political coup when the presidents of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union issued a joint statement endorsing him.þþAFSCME's endorsement was particularly tough for Gephardt, who skipped a nationally televised debate last week to meet with AFSCME leaders in Iowa.þþThe former House minority leader, who has carried labor's banner in Congress, has the backing of 20 unions, but AFSCME and SEIU were two of the most coveted prizes.þþGephardt downplayed Dean's coup Thursday.þþ``I never expected to get all the labor unions,'' Gephardt said. ``I've got 20, he's got three. That's a pretty good lead. That would even win a football game.''þþDuring his stop in Boston, Gephardt met with two legislative supporters in the same Statehouse where Kerry once served as lieutenant governor for former governor and 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.þþGephardt held his fire when asked about Kerry's recent campaign staff shake-up.þþ``I have enough trouble trying to run my campaign without trying to tell anyone else how to run their campaign,'' Gephardt said. ``I have great respect for Sen. Kerry.''þþEarlier in the day Kerry shrugged off the dismissal of his campaign manager and the subsequent departure of two senior staffers, saying his campaign ``will be better off moving ahead with people who want to be there.''þþGephardt hasn't been on the air in New Hampshire since early September. Instead, he has focused most of his TV advertising dollars in Iowa, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars less in New Hampshire than Dean, Kerry and John Edwards.þþBut the Missouri congressman said he is in a better position than other Democratic candidates to pick up support in key midwestern states in a general election against President Bush.þþ``The key to the victory is the midwest. It's Missouri and Illinois and Michigan and Pennsylvania, and Ohio and West Virginia. That's where we have to win this race,'' he said.þþRon Mariano, one of two Massachusetts state representatives who have endorsed Gephardt, conceded that his candidate has little chance of beating Kerry in Kerry's backyard, but said it's important to campaign everywhere. Rep. Vincent Pedone, D-Worcester also backs Gephardt.þþ``We would like to keep his name out there and have a credible showing,'' said Mariano, D-Quincy. ``You want to have reasonable expectations, but you don't want to give away any state.'' þþþþ
Source: NY Times
