Bud Appleby Says Jim Risser, George Anthan Or Clark Mollenhoff Would Never Have Reported That Tom Harkin's Married Daughter In California Is Pregnant

After reading today's Des Moines Register, Bud Appleby had some comments in this e-mail:

"So Tom Harkin's married daughter, who lives in California, is pregnant.

"Is that news? The Register apparently thinks so.

"Jim Risser, George Anthan or Clark Mollenhoff would never have reported that. They were too busy doing their jobs."

Appleby was referring to the following story in the paper:

Card delivers: Harkin to be grandpa

By REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

December 23, 2005

Washington, D.C. -- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., is going to be a grandpa.

Aides to Harkin confirmed Thursday that his daughter, Amy, is expecting. A family Christmas card sent out to many Iowans by Harkin and his wife, Ruth, included a visibly rotund Amy.

"She and her husband are very, very excited, as are the grandparents-to-be," said Allison Dobson, Harkin's press secretary. The baby is due in late March or early April.

Amy, 29, the oldest of Harkin's two daughters, lives in California with her husband, Steve Goodrich.

As an infant, Amy accompanied Ruth Harkin to the office when Ruth served as the county attorney in Story County, one of the first women in the nation to become an elected prosecutor, according to the Iowa State University Web site.

Tom Harkin, 66, can consult with his colleague, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., on the grandfather front. Grassley, 72, has nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Dobson said Tom and Ruth Harkin are looking forward to the experience. "It's really the best Christmas present they could have gotten," she said.

The article was accompanied by a photograph with these cutlines:

SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER
Greetings: On the Harkins' card are Ruth and Tom, at right, son-in-law Steve Goodrich, left, and daughters Amy and Jenny. Amy and Steve are expecting their first baby in late March or early April.

[RON MALY'S COMMENTS: Appleby is a retired Register editor and reporter. Mollenhoff, Risser [right] and Anthan [left] were stalwarts in the Register's Washington Bureau when newspapers were newspapers].