The U.S. Senate's No. 1 Democrat until his ouster by voters two years ago, Tom Daschle is weighing a campaign comeback he hopes might propel him into the White House in 2008.
The first Senate leader in half a century to be voted out of office, the South Dakotan hopes to turn the outspoken opposition to President Bush that was his downfall in his home state into a plus with voters nationwide.
"I'm ready for another challenge," Daschle, 58, said in an interview, adding: "I've enjoyed underdog status."
Coy as any other presidential hopeful, he has yet to declare his candidacy for his party's presidential nomination to replace Bush, a Republican whose term ends in January 2009.
But in an interview he told Reuters, "I've been to a number of states and so far the response has been very encouraging."
South Dakota, a Republican-leaning state, elected Daschle three times to the Senate and four times to the House in 26 years before handing him his first defeat in 2004.
"A bright red (Republican) state," he calls it.
Amiable and tough, Daschle said he would decide by year's end whether to run. Early polls show him with scant support.
Read it all.
Recent Comments