Stephen Hess: Daschle's remarks on eve of war "verged on being offensive"

The March 18, 2003 edition of the White House Bulletin contained the following passage about Senator Daschle's divisive remarks on the eve of the Iraq war:

Asked about Daschle's comments, Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics told the Bulletin that Daschle's remarks were "pretty tough, especially for one who's running for reelection - or presumably running for reelection -- in a state that voted 60 percent for Bush." Asked about historical examples of similar comments, Sabato said there was serious criticism of former President Bush in the last week prior to Operation Desert Storm in 1991, noting, "Sam Nunn was predicting complete and total disaster. That was the end of his presidential aspirations." Sabato added that while Daschle is not seeking the presidency this time around, he is similarly "rolling the dice" politically.

Stephen Hess, a senior fellow at Brookings who has made a career studying the presidency, told the Bulletin that Daschle's remarks were "stunning" and "verged on being offensive, and I'm used to a lot of rough political talk." Hess added Daschle's remarks "couldn't have been more grossly stated at the wrong time," though they could have been "great remarks" after the war. Hess concluded, "He could live to regret that deeply."