The Two Toms

This excerpt is from a column I wrote for Roll Call in January 2004 and notes how Daschle tries to have it both ways--Bush's best buddy in South Dakota, where Daschle is now running his hug-with-Bush ad, and Bush's chief nemesis in Washington:

In one of the more bizarre rituals of last year, Daschle’s campaign operatives in South Dakota constantly bragged about how often Daschle supports President Bush. Their strategy, carried off with a straight face, has been to tout how much the titular head of the Democratic Party supports a Republican president in an “us versus them” age, when swing voters are disappearing, and when the parties are implementing “get out the base vote” plans.

One can understand the strategy. Bush won South Dakota by 22 points in 2000 and a Democrat has not won the presidential vote in the state for 40 years.

The liberal alternative to the Drudge Report, Buzzflash.com, recently picked up on Daschle’s strategy and, unsurprisingly, called for his resignation as Minority Leader. Stories in National Journal, The New Republic, The Nation and The American Prospect have echoed liberals’ growing exasperation with Daschle. Such attacks on Daschle are a portent of things to come.

Daschle, as the leader of the party, will be expected to keep constant pressure on President Bush. Being the full-time obstructionist, however, will be disastrous back in Bush country in South Dakota. If he doesn’t do his duty, on the other hand, he virtually guarantees he won’t be re-elected as Democratic leader.