September 26, 2002
From the desk of Jane Galt:So now Daschle's strategy becomes
So now Daschle's strategy becomes more apparent: he's trying to delay the vote on the war.
I don't think he thought this through. First of all, he made it into a Democrat/Republican issue more explicitly than it already was. Bush said "some in the Senate care more about politics than national security", with nary a word about Democrats; Tom Daschle told the nation that it was the Democrats who were obstructing Bush, and gave a platform to remarks that otherwise, almost no one would have heard.
Now, I think that the President's remarks went too far. And I understand why Daschle was hopping mad. But the speech he made on the Senate floor was hasty and not one of his finer rhetorical moments, and he's certainly not helping himself by saying "Well, now I don't know if we can vote on this until Bush has done a full grovel," that being what he's been telling the network shows. I don't think that "sulky girlfriend" is the image that the Democratic national leadership wants to portray heading into the election.
The Democrats, it seems to me, are doing exactly what the Republicans did under Clinton. They simply cannot learn to cut their losses, abandon issues they can't win, and get on with it. I understand that Daschle is in a tough place -- Wellstone may very well lose his seat if the war comes up for a vote. I admire Wellstone's honor, and I understand what a tough spot that puts the leadership of the Democratic Party in. But hurling yourself again and again against the rampart of a president's popularity ratings, when each sortie decimates your ranks and has no visible effect on the fortress you're attacking, isn't brave. It's foolish.
Posted by Jane Galt at September 26, 2002 12:19 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links"); ?>