In 2002, Senator Tim Johnson was in a tough race against John Thune and used a quote from Senator Chuck Grassley in one of his television ads. The ad was effective because it seemed to show Tim Johnson was a centrist coalition builder. One thing Johnson's ad certainly did was show that Chuck Grassley calls things the way he sees them. With that in mind, take a look at what Grassley has to say about Senator Daschle in today's edition of the Des Moines Register, in a story headlined "Iowans dig into wallets for hot race in S. Dakota":
Grassley, however, said Daschle's leadership position in the Senate has become a "curse instead of a blessing.""Daschle puts politics and party ambitions in first place. And by doing that, he is sacrificing the interests of farmers and rural America," Grassley said.
(Emphasis added.) One example of Daschle putting party ambitions first and sacrificing the interests of farmers can be found in a harsh, uncompromising letter Senator Daschle sent to the Wall Street Journal last year. The contents of Daschle's letter follow:
In your Sept. 25 editorial, 'Daschle's Ethanol Dilemma,' on the energy bill now pending in Congress you state that 'Alaskan drilling already has majority support in the Senate.' Yet the proposal to drill for oil in the Alaska wildlife refuge received only 48 votes when the Senate last voted on the question in March of this year, and drilling proponents mustered even fewer votes on other recent occasions. You also suggest that I would abandon my opposition to drilling in the wildlife refuge in order to advance the energy bill's ethanol provision, which is supported by more than two-thirds of the Senate and President Bush. I never will make that trade, and I am confident that the ethanol provision will become law this Congress, either in the energy bill or on its own merit.
(Emphasis added.) Of course, the energy bill, with its provisions for ethanol, and without a provision for ANWR drilling, failed because Senator Daschle couldn't get two more votes to defeat a Democratic led filibuster. Daschle himself said on the Senate floor that he only "reluctantly" supported the bill and that he "understood" the choice of those who were mounting the filibuster and respected them for it.
Daschle's reluctance to support the bill, coupled with his refusal to actively work for the bill's passage, outraged Senator Grassley:
“If a Democrat leader can deliver 46 out of 49 votes to keep the president’s good judges from being approved,” Grassley said, “he surely ought to be able to deliver 15 out of 49 votes for the energy bill when it’s so important to South Dakota.”
Aside from Grassley, Lisa Richardson, one of the most influential lobbyists in South Dakota, said the following about the failure of the energy bill, according to Congressional Quarterly Weekly:
Those affiliated with the state's burgeoning ethanol industry may also take their anger out on Daschle if an energy bill is not enacted this year, said Lisa Richardson, executive director of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association.
In sum, this is what Grassley is talking about when he says Daschle "puts politics and party ambitions in first place. And by doing that, he is sacrificing the interests of farmers and rural America."
UPDATE: You can find out more details HERE.
Recent Comments