Reeling from the untimely death of his passionately liberal colleague, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told cheering University of Iowa students that voting in the Nov. 5 election is now more important than ever. 

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, his daughter Jenny Harkin and Tom Daschle, D-S.D., right, applaud during remarks by Rep Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., Monday in the State Room at the Iowa Memorial Union. The Democrats urged students to vote next Tuesday. Press-Citizen/Sok Lin Lim
 

"Paul would say, it isn't the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of fight in the man," Daschle said Monday, referring to Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., who was killed in a plane crash Friday.

"We're going to carry that fight for the next eight days," said Daschle, who appeared with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, before a standing-room-only crowd of about 100 people at the Iowa Memorial Union.

Harkin is running against Rep. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa.

Event organizers distributed green campaign stickers supporting Wellstone, and Daschle said Iowans should vote for Democrats because they represent a political philosophy of inclusion and diversity.

"I come to Iowa for one reason," he said. "I want to see what a Democratic tidal wave really looks like."

Harkin said he should be re-elected because he will fight to prohibit Social Security dollars from being invested in the stock market, to reduce student debt and to protect the environment. He criticized the Republican Party, saying it had abandoned the values built by former President Abraham Lincoln.

"It is now the House that Newt Gingrich built," Harkin said. "There's a welcome mat out for Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. There's a big sunroom for WorldCom and Enron. There's a back room where they cut deals with all the special interest groups, and there's a dark, damp basement for our kids and for those who don't have much in life."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also attended the event to build support for Julie Thomas, the Democratic challenger to Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, in Iowa's 2nd District. She said if 18- to 24-year-olds increase their voter turnout by 1 percent, the age group could determine the outcome of the race.

"Not even being elected, there are so many things she has done for this state to improve the lives of ordinary people," Schakowsky said of Thomas.

A hush came over the audience whenever the subject turned to Wellstone, a close friend of Harkin's. As Harkin concluded his remarks, he removed the Wellstone campaign sticker from his jacket and held it up before the crowd.

"If nothing else, let's do it for Paul," he said.
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