Sen. Tom Harkin: Democratic ideals worth fight

DES MOINES — Unlike the proverbial old soldier, Sen. Tom Harkin told the Iowa Democratic Party state convention he doesn't plan to fade away.

In his last speech to a state convention as a U.S. senator, Harkin, 74, reminisced, thanked his fellow party members for their support over his 40-year career and promised to never stop fighting for the ideals they share, 'ideals to be proud of, ideals worth fighting for, not just between now and November, but for a lifetime.'

Delegates, nearly three-fifths of the 758 eligible to participate, met to ratify the party platform and the slate of Democratic candidates who will be on the ballot this fall. They also approved the party's platform without much debate or disagreement.

Harkin asked the delegates to elect U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley as his replacement in the U.S. Senate, so his progressive work would not be undone by GOP nominee state Sen. Joni Ernst, 'a Tea Party Republican who wants to take us back to the 19th century.'

He thanked the 'Democratic activists and stalwarts' for their support, 'for getting out of your comfort zones a lot of times to stick up for me.'

'Thank you for your passion for social and economic justice. Thank you for your commitment to peace and human rights,' Harkin said. 'Thank you over the decades for moving our state of Iowa in a positive and progressive direction … and most recently, thank you, thank you for fighting for the right of our LGBT brothers and sisters to marry the person they love.'

Des Moines Sen. Jack Hatch and Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon, the party's candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, promised to lead the state in that progressive direction.

Vernon introduced herself as 'one proud Democrat … a lifelong pro-choice woman who has championed human rights and civil rights,' including equal pay for woman and same-sex marriage.

'Democrats, my heart is right here with all of you, and I want to thank all of you who have embraced this lifelong progressive,' she said to the convention's applause.

Playing off his campaign theme of a 'fresh start' — which included shaving off his mustache in an introductory television ad, Hatch promised 'not just a new look, not just a new idea, but a new era … in which every Iowan has something to look forward to.'

He's looking forward to defeating five-term Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who, Hatch said, has been governor too long, acts above the law and has produced what he called the most scandal-ridden administration in Iowa history.

Braley, who had no challenger for the Democratic nomination, focused on the Iowa values he would take to the Senate.

'If this race is about Iowa values, we're going to win,' Braley said, because 'the choice in this election is as fundamental as it is clear.'

Although 2014 is an 'off-year' election, state party chairman Scott Brennan told the delegates the political pundits who think Iowa matters only in presidential election years are mistaken.

Of course, it wouldn't be an official Iowa Democratic Party convention without presidential politics. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who spoke at Harkin's 2012 steak fry and has made no secret that he's laying the groundwork for a presidential bid, filled that role.

He helped launch a canvass kickoff with Democratic volunteers at a Des Moines bar and later appeared at fundraisers with Hatch and made an appearance at Irish District Music & Arts Festival in Cedar Rapids.

O'Malley, who was mayor of Baltimore before being elected governor in 2006, said the nation is going through 'a cynical time of disbelief … with more excuses than action, more ideology than cooperation, more fear and anger than progress.'

'Let's remember who we are,' he said. 'For 235 years, we have been the country that thrilled the world — and led the world — over and over again, in large part, by making ourselves stronger at home. Don't you think it's time to do it again?'