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VINTON - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says John Kerry has been gaining in the polls every day since Oct. 21, and George Bush has been going down every day.
"That's how God wants it to be," Harkin told a group of about 25 people at the Benton County Headquarters in Vinton on Thursday afternoon.
Harkin was touring the state to stump for Kerry and Democratic legislative candidates. He appeared in Benton County on behalf of Mt. Auburn Mayor Dawn Pettengill, who is running against incumbent Republican Dell Hanson for the Iowa House District 39 seat.
Harkin spent the first part of his speech echoing many of the campaign themes of the economy and Iraq sounded by Kerry in his presidential campaign.
Harkin predicted victory for Kerry on Tuesday, saying that the polls that show Bush and Kerry in a tight race do not include the many new Democrats who have recently registered to vote.
(Most polls only use input from likely voters, which mean those who have voted in previous elections.)
Harkin said that in Iowa, 50,000 new voters registered as Democrats recently, but only 20,000 registered as Independents and even fewer - 9,400 - registered as Republicans.
After encouraging the party faithful to get out the vote for Kerry, Harkin turned his attention to the Iowa Legislature, which he called an "albatross around the neck" of Gov. Tom Vilsack, whom he referred to as the "best governor in the United States."
"This is the worst legislature I've seen since the 1950s," Harkin said.
Harkin didn't remember the name of Pettengill's opponent, but told the group, "he has to go."
Harkin introduced Pettengill, who used her speech to respond to Republican mailings and television ads blaming her for a tax increase in Mt. Auburn by saying the city council was forced to increase taxes because of budget decisions made by Hanson and other Republicans in the legislature.
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