Daschle to Remain Senate Democratic Leader
URL: foxnews.com
Friday, November 08, 2002
WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt may be stepping down from his leadership post, but Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is not going anywhere.
Daschle, of South Dakota, told reporters on Friday that he plans to remain the Democrats' head even when they move into the minority in January. He said he would not be challenged by any of his colleagues, tamping down speculation that Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut would pursue the leadership spot.
Daschle said that as the minority leader, he would try to negotiate in good faith with President Bush.
"We intend to work closely with the president when we think he's right, but I must say we will stand up and fight for our principles when we think he's wrong," Daschle said.
Gephardt of Missouri announced Thursday that he would not continue as minority leader, a position he has held for eight years. Immediately stepping up to compete for his spot were Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, and Martin Frost, a moderate who chairs the Democratic caucus.
On Friday, three-term Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, who joined Congress at age 26, announced that he too would throw his hat in the ring. Ford may be able to pull votes from both opponents, though pundits speculate that Pelosi will win the contest, which will be decided by secret ballot next Thursday.
The White House said that it is willing to work with any Democrat who steps into Gephardt's shoes. Dachle said that President Bush called him to invite him to breakfast at the White House next week, a regular activity the president has held with congressional leaders in the past.
He added that the president said he would like to move forward, and told Daschle that the elections are now past and it's time to get on with the business of the people.
But Daschle was not yet done evaluating the election. He said that he believes Democrats effectively cast their criticisms of Bush's economic agenda but failed to offer a clear alternative.
"I think we were effective in pointing out the deficiencies and failure of this administration to address economic policies," he said. "We were deficient in clearly pointing to an alternative ... we had a different approach, but I don't think we were effective in making sure we articulated that as efficiently as we could have been doing." |
