Tom Harkin Frank Capra, the film director of Meet John Doe and Mr Smith Goes to Washington, never made a movie about a presidential candidate. But he did help create the American myth that little guys with big hearts and good ideas can triumph over an entrenched political establishment. Sen Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) fits that quixotic Capra mold. He says he's running for president to save America for the little guy. Against the advice of political experts, he has launched and plans to sustain a head-on frontal assault on George Bush's economic and social policies. Harkin is not your typical Democrat: He's a liberal and very proud of it. While many Democratic leaders argue that the party must moderate its traditional liberal views and adopt a more conservative agenda to appeal to the US middle class, Harkin scoffs. "That's just nonsense," he says. "It's time to get off our knees and fight back." That feistiness is just what many Democrats have long been waiting to hear. The party's identity crisis has seen the Republicans define its agenda to the US electorate ever since Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976. Harkin's style is blue-collar populism. His wit is acerbic. His tongue, razor sharp. He was 1 of 6 children raised by a widower coal miner. His brother Frank is deaf. Harkin is a champion of greater civil rights for the disabled. And one commentator has said Harkin grew up "with a chip on his shoulder for the rich." Harkin always refers to the incumbent as George Herbert Walker Bush--to taunt the president's patrician roots. At his campaign kickoff he said: "I'm here today to tell you that George Herbert Walker Bush has got feet of clay and I intend to take a hammer to them." Harkin, 51, is a 4th generation Iowan. His mother died when he was 10. As a boy he was shuttled around Iowa to live with relatives. He graduated from Iowa State with a BS degree in 1962. He flew Navy jets during the Vietnam era. He met his wife Ruth in Japan where she was working for the USO. Ruth Harkin is now a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington. He took night courses and graduated from Washington's Catholic University Law School in 1972. From 1975-85, he served in the House of Representatives, and he is the first Iowa Democrat to be elected to 2 terms in the Senate. Harkin's Program A Roman Catholic, Harkin is an advocate of abortion rights. He voted against military action in the Persian Gulf; he favored economic sanctions against Iraq. Congressional Quarterly reports that Harkin has opposed Bush's policies more often than only 1 other US Senator. Harkin criticizes Bush's preoccupation with foreign affairs, saying: "We need a president who knows the threat to national security is not halfway across the world but halfway down the street." In the early stages of his campaign, Harkin's plan to cure America's ills is not yet well articulated. One thing is clear, however: Harkin feels America's quality-of-life concerns must come first. He said: "If you believe like I do that Europe is [rich and powerful] enough to defend itself...[that] we can take some of your wealth and invest it in America--and build better roads and highways, better energy systems, educate our kids, have better health care--then you take your ballot and you put it in the Harkin box." Harkin says he wants to replace Bush in order to champion the future of "the hard-working men and women of America, our farmers, our small-business people, the people who pull the load and pay the taxes." At his campaign kickoff, Harkin said: "For the last 4 years, we've had a different vision of America coming out of the White House." The Republicans, in his view, pit "race against race," "class against class" and believe that "the few at the top are privileged and deserve special treatment and favors from the government." The Harkin Campaign Harkin kicked off his campaign in New Hampshire, where he told a small crowd outside an unemployment office that President Bush has created class warfare in America. He declared: "The message we've been getting from the White House is one of, `Get what you can while the getting's good. Don't bother how you get it. The heck with everybody else.'" Harkin formally entered the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination Sept 15. The 2-term senator again accused Bush "of pitting race against race, class against class, old against young." Harkin, stressing class conflict in America, contrasted his own upbringing as a coal miner's son with that of Bush and told jobless workers: "I understand what's happening to ordinary, hard-working Americans because I've been there." Harkin visited New Hampshire the day after he declared his candidacy for the White House at his annual steak fry for 2000 supporters on a farm in Winterset, Iowa. He is considered a favorite-son shoo-in to win the Iowa caucuses in February. Sen Bob Kerrey (D-Neb) is his only serious challenger. So Harkin and other Democratic contenders are focusing on New Hampshire in February. Harkin stressed employment, a major theme of his campaign, early on--and displayed a bit of his blunt speaking style. New Hampshire's jobless rate, which averaged well under 3 % in 1986-'87, was 6.9 % in July. He said New Hampshire had lost 40,000 jobs in 3 years and is among the states hardest hit by the recession. "Here's the state that gave Bush his big break [in 1988]," Harkin said. "Here's the state whose former governor is chief of staff, and yet is near the bottom in return of federal tax dollars. If he's doing that to New Hampshire, think what he's doing to the rest of the country." Passionate and pointed, Harkin has been called the best stump speaker in the Democratic field. But his strategy is risky. His target: the extreme liberal wing of the party, the sector that dominates primaries. Labor leaders like him for his promises to put health care and education ahead of defense spending as well as for his pledge to create jobs by rebuilding the nation's crumbled infrastructure. His liberalism could hurt him in the South and in the general election. His evocation of class inequities in America, as he appeals to the unemployed, may alienate the middle class in a general election.