Trying to get some posts up as we deal with our database migration ... let's start with this Yahoo / USAToday article which reports less-than-delightful news for the Gephardt campaign:

Rep. Richard Gephardt, who raised millions of dollars for congressional candidates when he was the House Democratic leader, fell short in his presidential race Tuesday with fundraising totals that put him well below his $5 million goal and the top tier of the field.

Gephardt, of Missouri, raised $3.9 million in April, May and June. That put him fifth among the six major Democratic contenders. He was fourth in cash on hand, another key indicator, according to reports due today at the Federal Election Commission. He had $6.3 million as of June 30.

The town, not the former President. If you've been reading this page with any frequency, you know I try to post local stump coverage, and here the Clinton, Iowa Clinton Herald offers a first-hand account of a recent visit by Gephardt.

"By 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999... things were going in the right direction," he said, adding that 23 million new jobs were created in seven years' time.

"In 24 months, he's turned everything on its head," Gephardt said of Bush.
Gephardt's major push is to extend health coverage to 97 percent of the uninsured. The plan maintains employer-based health insurance coverage that promotes efficiency through group health insurance coverage and directs the benefits of the stimulus package to America's working families, he said.

Gephardt, who is the only candidate invited to address the AFL-CIO executive council's gathering back in February, is banking on the unions. Here's the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Gephardt's commitment to pro-union issues and hard-edged trade policies goes a long way toward defining the politician that Gephardt has become and the kind of president he would be. Labor's response to Gephardt's entreaties will go a long way in determining how far Gephardt will go in his drive for the Democratic Party nomination.

"Fighting for working families is in my bones; it's where I come from," he said at Mason Elementary School in St. Louis when he declared his candidacy earlier this year.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that Gephardt will be stumping in Iowa this week, visiting, among other places, Council Bluffs:

Gephardt will talk with Cindy and Ron Lakatos, owners of the Lake Manawa Dairy Queen, at their store at 540 32nd Avenue at 10 a.m. The event is open to the public.

From the Portsmouth Herald (NH):

A day before Independence Day, U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., visited the site of a conspiracy against the crown.

Like Declaration of Independence signer William Whipple, who lived in the Moffatt-Ladd House on Market Street during the late 18th century, Gephardt wants to free America from its current leadership. Gephardt smiled as his tour guide and strong supporter, Moffatt-Ladd House curator Barbara Ward, told of Whipple’s role in the colonial cause ...

... Across the street, during a speech in The Oar House tavern, Gephardt continued to criticize the Republican, trickle-down economics reflected in Bush’s tax-cut policies.

Bush argues that tax cuts for wealthy Americans will spur investment and create jobs for lower income citizens.

"There’s only one problem with trickle-down economics," Gephardt said. "It takes 100 years to trickle down."

From the News Tribune (MO):

Matt Gephardt joined fellow cancer survivors for a "Relay for Life" fund-raiser [last] Saturday, walking a few laps around a junior high school running track and displaying a one-track mind focused on boosting his father's presidential campaign.

The 18-hour American Cancer Society walk-a-thon for cancer research and patient programs was in its final hours when Gephardt joined the crowd Saturday morning.