Gephardt throws his hat in US presidential ring

Dick Gephardt, for eight years the minority leader in the House of Representatives, today threw his hat into the US presidential ring.

The 62-year-old from Missouri joins what is shaping up to be the biggest field of Democratic presidential hopefuls since 1988, the year he first sought the presidency.

He said, if elected, he would repeal the vast majority of President George Bush’s ”patently unfair” tax cuts to finance an ambitious new health care initiative.

Gephardt a 26 year House veteran, ran the House Democratic midterm election campaigns in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 – gaining some ground but never retaking the majority control that Democrats lost to Republicans in 1994.

Two days after Democrats lost seats last November, he resigned his leadership post amid criticism from party activists, and began to plot his White House bid.

Earlier Carol Moseley-Braun, a former Illinois senator, joined the race - seeking to become the first black woman to become a presidential candidate.

The 55-year-old was the first black woman to be elected to the Senate in 1992, but lost her bid for a second term in 1998.

Six other Democrats have formed presidential committees or say they intend to do so and at least five others are contemplating bids

The sandy-haired, youthful-looking Gephardt has built a formidable fund-raising network as House minority leader.

But many Democrats wonder whether Gephardt has grown stale and unable to excite activists. They are looking for assurances that he could beat Bush.

The White House is taking his candidacy seriously, with some presidential advisers privately calling Gephardt one of their biggest worries.