Dick Gephardt mulls Iowa loss, future

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., attributed his loss in Iowa's Democratic presidential caucuses to the state's loss of union jobs and family farmers.

For one thing, he said, much of that base had disappeared over the past two decades, as family farms went bankrupt and union jobs went overseas, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.

Union workers and farmers, along with the elderly, helped Gephardt win Iowa in 1988.

"There's just a lot less agriculture out there," Gephardt said. "(And) there's a lot less labor out there. A lot of people have left."

Gephardt also said he would be unlikely to endorse one of his former Democratic presidential rivals before Missouri's primary.

In fact, Gephardt may stay out of the nominating battle entirely.

"Obviously they all want your help in this thing," Gephardt said, saying that Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts had called him twice since he decided to drop out of the race.

"But I'm not doing anything at this point and I may never do anything."