South Dakota Politics

Daschle supported bipartisan delegation in '93

DVT unearthed this gem from the November 16, 1993 edition of the Argus Leader:

Argus Leader: South Dakota has only 3 members of Congress, yet there if often division among you. Is the state hurt by the frequent disagreements on issues that split you and Sen. Larry Pressler (R)? ... Are South Dakotans being hurt?

Daschle: I think they are being assisted by it. You certainly would not want everybody to march in step just for the sake of unanimity. I think they benefit from hearing both sides.

DVT interviews former Daschle opponent

DVT has posted excerpts of a recent interview with former U.S. Representative Clint Roberts, the man Daschle defeated in 1982 after South Dakota was consolidated from two districts to a single, at-large district. The interview illustrates how Daschle was elected to office under false pretences, running as a conservative to get elected, and once elected moving sharply to the left. I think it's safe to say that one does not become the Democratic Leader of the Senate by being a conservative. Today, according to the National Journal, Daschle is more liberal than 80 percent of the entire Senate.

Daschle's response to putting Reagan's face on $10 bill

The NYT's Sheryl Gay Stolberg has an interesting piece headlined "Pondering a Legacy Not (Yet) Carved in Stone." Excerpt:

Then the subject changed to whether Mr. Daschle would support putting the face of Mr. Reagan, who suffered Alzheimer's Disease, on the $10 bill. The Senate minority leader deftly ducked the question.

"Well," he said, "I think we have to allow historians and others with some thought to consider how we might best remember President Reagan officially. I think the best way to remember President Reagan is to fully fund Alzheimer's research and to find a cure to that dreaded disease sometime soon."

Bill Sammon on Daschle's '02 strategy

Bill Sammon of the Washington Times has a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the mid-term elections in '02 headlined "Democrats played into GOP hands." The passage in the piece regarding Tom Daschle's maneuverings during the run-up to the Iraq war is most interesting:

The public was livid over Mr. McDermott's stunt, which recalled Jane Fonda's infamous visit to Hanoi. Then-House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt came under intense pressure to get his caucus under control.

Sensing an opportunity, the White House quietly opened a direct line of negotiation with the Missouri Democrat over the congressional resolution authorizing war.

"It was a night-and-day difference between Gephardt — who was straightforward and 'I'm with you' — and Daschle, who was the nuanced, on-the-one-hand-this-on-the-other-hand-that guy," Mr. Rove said. "Daschle basically was saying very noncommittal things."

And so, Mr. Daschle became the only congressional leader not present at a bipartisan show of support for the president in the Rose Garden. His absence was glaringly obvious as Mr. Bush surrounded himself with Democrats and Republicans from both houses of Congress.

Nine days later, even Mr. Daschle came around to the president's way of thinking. He was among a minority of congressional Democrats who voted yes on the resolution authorizing the president to wage war against Iraq.

(Emphasis added.)

Daschle and Eugene McCarthy

The Washington Post has a blurb on the celebration of Eugene McCarthy's 88th birthday this past Friday. McCarthy, of course, was the man who posted a strong showing in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire because of his anti-war stance, instigating President Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek another term as president. Thus the WaPo:

Former senator and liberal political icon Eugene McCarthy turns 88 today, but the celebration began Friday night at Teatro Goldoni with some 50 friends. In honor of his 88 years, guests offered almost as many toasts. "When you hear someone question the reasons and the costs of war, you hear his voice," hailed Tom Daschle. But the Senate minority leader yielded the floor to the guest of honor, who recited several of his poems.

(Emphasis added.) I guess Senator Daschle is back to his position of "questioning the war" now that he's in the friendly confines of DC, amongst his intimate liberal friends, although when he's in South Dakota he says he has no concerns about the war, as a recent DVT post pointed out.

Back in 1968, when Daschle was attending South Dakota State University, he was a big fan of Eugene McCarthy, as a story in the SDSU Collegian indicated, which I cited in a post written last September.