Daschle: "I've been a defensive lineman most of my career"

From today's edition of USA Today:

Daschle packs up after 26 years on Hill

By William M. Welch

WASHINGTON — His elegant, red-walled Capitol office is filled with boxes of memorabilia and photos and artwork in bubble wrap. At the end of this week, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., will close the doors for the last time and leave behind the view of the National Mall that he has enjoyed for a decade.

The first Senate party leader in a half-century to be turned out of office by his state's voters, Daschle plans to shut the door as well on a political career in which he once flirted with a run for president.

It has been a quarter-century climb that made him popular with fellow Democrats for quiet but steely leadership, and the bane of Republicans for slowing or blocking GOP bills and judicial nominations.

Daschle, who turned 57 last week, claims no interest in refighting his re-election campaign, which he narrowly lost to Republican John Thune.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS •Elected to the Senate with 52% of the vote over incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Abdnor. His victory helps Democrats win control of the Senate. •1988. Named by Majority Leader George Mitchell to co-chair the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. •1992. Re-elected with 65% of the vote. •1994: Mitchell retires as majority leader, and Democrats lose their majority. Daschle runs for minority leader, defeating Sen. Christopher Dodd, 24-23. •1998. Re-elected to a third term with 62% of the vote. •2001. With the Senate deadlocked 50-50, becomes majority leader for 17 days until Dick Cheney replaces Al Gore as vice president. Regains the majority leader's job in June when Sen. Jim Jeffords quits the GOP to become an independent. •2003. Becomes minority leader again after Republicans win Senate control. 2004. Loses re-election to Republican John Thune by fewer than 5,000 votes out of 391,000 cast.

"There are no regrets. I'm very much at peace with my 26 years and career here," Daschle said in an interview Friday. "It's so unproductive to worry about how the election could have been different."

Daschle also steered clear of criticizing President Bush, whose political operation helped Thune. Nor did he discuss Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who tossed aside Senate traditions by personally campaigning against the minority leader in his home state. And he avoided the Democratic Party's debate over new leadership in the wake of presidential nominee John Kerry's loss.

Daschle, whose party lost four Senate seats in the elections and will now have 44 to the GOP's 55, delivered a farewell speech last month urging more bipartisan cooperation. Yet when he delivered the speech on the Senate floor, most Republican desks were empty while Democrats filled theirs.

As Daschle considers his own next act, he has met with other politicians to learn how they handled the loss of power: George Mitchell, his predecessor as Senate Democratic leader; former president Bill Clinton; former Republican Senate leader Bob Dole, who lost the 1996 presidential election.

"Just about the universal advice is: Don't make any early decisions," Daschle said.

He said he has no interest in becoming a lobbyist, a frequent, lucrative path from Congress. He may teach and write, plans to enter business and wants to stay involved in issues he cares about most — international affairs, Native American concerns, global hunger, AIDS and rural economic development.

Daschle, who was elected Senate Democratic leader in December 1994, will be remembered for his role in a time of tumult — including 9/11, an anthrax attack that targeted him and killed two postal workers, and a Senate evenly divided between parties after the 2000 elections. "My proudest accomplishments are helping steer the country through some awfully difficult times — impeachment, Sept. 11, the anthrax attack."

He cited among his accomplishments expanded federal health care for children, seniors and veterans, and unfinished efforts to regulate managed care health plans.

As for future battles, he assailed Bush's plan to use a portion of Social Security taxes to finance personal savings accounts. "One of the worst ideas they have brought forth — and that's saying a lot."

The criticism reminded Daschle that for most of his time as his party's leader, he has been opposing the other side's ideas rather than advancing his own. "I always wanted to be an offensive quarterback," he said. "But I've been a defensive lineman most of my career."

And, he agreed, defensive linemen get hit on every play.