Professor Lauck, a historian at South Dakota State University, who operates the DVT blog, has a fascinating piece in National Review today headlined "Daschle’s Dakota Past." Excerpt:
Running as a conservative Democrat, Daschle was also able to neutralize the impact of social issues. On November 1 [1986], in response to criticism of his abortion record, Daschle sent a letter to voters stating that "I am unalterably opposed to abortion on demand" and casting the issue as "a battle over human life." Daschle enclosed a letter to him from a minister, who vouched for Daschle's pro-life credentials: "I remember some of the very personal, deeply soul-searching conversations we've had on this subject. You used expletives like 'repulsive' and 'gross' in underscoring your abhorrence of abortion. You even said it is a form of murder, and I believe you are right. The bottom line is you are as opposed to abortion as I am."
Now, Bishop Carlson of the Sioux Falls, SD diocese has told Tom Daschle he can no longer call himself a Catholic because of his record on abortion. This is spun by Tom Daschle's Democratic colleagues in the Senate as an attack on Daschle's religion, as seen by Senator Harry Reid's comments on the Senate floor a week ago:
By virtue of the fact that 48 other Democrats, in a period of over 10 years, have selected the Senator from South Dakota as our leader, as a result of that the Senator does things for the caucus. I am sure the caucus is not 100-percent headed in the right direction, but we do our best to try to, and when there is ever anything that is done that is not in keeping with what this White House wants, the leader is attacked, his family is attacked, his religion is attacked, his ethics are attacked.
(Emphasis added.) It seems to me that if Senator Daschle is going to exploit religious figures to get elected, religious figures have grounds to criticize Senator Daschle when he double-crosses them.
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