Ruth Harkin to Endorse Hillary Clinton

ABC News’ David Chalian Reports: Iowa’s senior Democratic statesman, Sen. Tom Harkin D-Iowa, may be holding off — for now — on throwing his support behind one of the Democratic presidential hopefuls, but his wife, Ruth Harkin, is jumping into the fray tonight.

Mrs. Harkin is a former prosecutor and former Clinton administration appointee as head of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

According to an Iowa Democratic source familiar with her plans, Mrs. Harkin plans to make her endorsement public tonight at 8:30 pm ET at the Des Moines event with Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Of course, spouses do not necessarily lead the way for their elected official husbands. In the 2004 cycle, Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack endorsed John Kerry while Gov. Tom Vilsack remained neutral.

Sen. Harkin plans to have all the Democratic hopefuls attend his annual steak fry in Indianola, IA in September. Harkin backed Howard Dean in the 2004 Iowa caucuses and was standing by his side during the famous Dean Scream as the campaign started collapsing following Dean’s third place showing in Iowa.