Just saw Daschle on CSPAN

[LittleClarkie]

What a decent man he appeared to be, and what a wonderful speech he gave.

So that's who Gannon/Guckert smeared out of office. Bastard. We have GOT to protect our elected officials better that that. We can't let these shills get the last word.

Damn.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. I'm sure he's decent

But he was horribly ineffectual and gutless in his job as Minority Leader.

[Frances]

2. Daschle was from a very conservative state

that has voted for Republican presidents for a long time. I don't think it was his fault that he was so cautious. I think the Dems should have chosen someone from a more secure seat to be their leader.

[confludemocrat]

3. He has no excuses

We know in our hearts that extraordinary times call for extraordinary postures and actions. Daschle could not see that as for example someone like Thomas Hart Benton saw (as ajn antislavery Senator in a slave state before the Civil War) that the crossroads of history call for great things from him as far as resisting the power (Bush's) games of the dominant and that he needed to take some uncalculated, heartfelt risks and throw "smart politics" aside and fight for what he professed to believe in. Too bad he couldn't find it in himself.

[dsc]

7. No he wasn't

Minority leaders don't get magic wands and decoder rings. Given the hand he had he did pretty well. Bush won his tax cuts but that was about it domesticly. The war vote was a failure but it wasn't just Daschle who failed.

[Robeson]

11. I agree. Just hated losing a seat.

[indigonation]

4. I am suprised at how far-reaching the effort to out Daschle was

I saw here in Michigan political contributions from rich Shrub supporters of $100K to John Thune's campaign. It almost appeared they wanted Daschle out more than they wanted Shrub in.

[YvonneCa]

5. So maybe...

...he was more effective than some are aware???:7

[Frances]

6. Remember Daschle received an anthrax letter

and I remember the right wing columnists vilifying him.

Republicans were very disciplined about picking off Dems. Unfortunately, the Dems did not stay united and help each other out. They did not have a unified message the way the Repubs did, although the Dems were in a bind.

Whenever Southern Republicans want to vilify a Southern Dem, they just say he belongs to the party of Ted Kennedy. (That's code for the person is a n-lover.) Or they may include the party of Kennedy and those northern liberals. Since so many of the Dems are northern liberals, it has not been effective for them to go South.

I hope that Dean will change that. I'm so glad he's going to Kansas and the South now, well before the next Presidential election.

[LittleClarkie]

9. A Conservative I know here kept talking about the filibuster

and how Daschle had to go beause he was holding up "perfectly good nominees." Come to find out from y'all that Bush has gotten more than most presidents do in the way of approved nominees, but he want them ALL.

Poor Daschle. Whatever his faults, he was a champion of the Native Americans, and didn't deserve to be targeted by an outside force. It's people like Guckert and Dobson we have to watch out for. I find their antics incredibly undemocratic.

"We had to destroy the democracy to save it, sir."

Funny, when I lurk over in Freeperville, they talk about Frist the way we have talked about Dachle. No guts. I find that oddly amusing.

[wisteria]

8. I was very sad to see him lose the election.

It was a very good speech.

[fujiyama]

10. I wish

it didn't take him losing his seat to have him being replaced as minority leader.

For all his faults and short time as minority leader, Reid is a million times better than Daschle. He has a fire and has made it clear that he's not afraid to say what he really feels.

Daschle seemed like a truly decent guy but I know that he would have been one of the first to roll over regarding the bankuptcy bill. Then again, that being the case, I have to reconsider how decent he really was.