GAINESVILLE - The head of the Dean for President campaign in Hall County said Tuesday she was surprised by Dean's third-place showing in the Iowa caucuses. But Joy Hopkins said she was not dismayed by the turn of events.
"Oh no, no," Hopkins said. "I don't think (I'm dismayed). He'll come back."
Hopkins, like others, had watched Dean lead the pack in the weeks and days leading up to the vote only to see eventual winner John Kerry and second-place finisher John Edwards surge ahead of him in the closing days of the campaign.
Hopkins believes the outcome in Iowa "turned" on the issues. "The people simply aren't aware of the issues and neither Kerry nor Edwards discussed them."
She expects Dean, a former governor of Vermont, to do well in next week's New Hampshire primary because that vote will take place in his part of the country. However, Hopkins acknowledges that Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, will likely do well, too, since its also in his backyard.
She's unsure how Wesley Clark, who did not campaign in Iowa, will factor into the outcome in New Hampshire, where he has been vigorously campaigning for weeks.
"I don't know," she said. "I don't know how that's going to come out."
Tuesday
April 8th, 2025
4:51PM
