Democrat in Bush Country
A GOP Target, Daschle Begins Race of His Life in S.D.
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 31, 2003; Page A01
washingtonpost.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Tom Daschle was pumping more than gasoline Wednesday morning at the Gas Stop convenience store.
The Senate's top Democrat was working the pumps and the crowd here to promote ethanol, the homegrown corn-based fuel additive and lifeblood of local farmers. Yet Daschle had a bigger, less obvious task on this day: convincing the locals that he's the irreplaceable protector of corn growers and other struggling South Dakotans -- not just Washington's chief antagonist of President Bush, who remains highly popular in these parts.
The minority leader, up for reelection next year, is embarking on the earliest and costliest campaign of his political career, trying to hold off a wave of attacks over his outspoken criticism of Bush. This week was "ethanol week," a Daschle staff member said, a time for the senator to break ground on a new ethanol plant and spend several days talking about how "two out of every three rows of corn" will be turned into Made in the USA corn fuel if he gets his way.
Daschle -- a little bit Washington, a little bit South Dakota -- rolled up the sleeves of his pressed white dress shirt and charmed the crowd as few others in the political business can do. He didn't look anything like the obstructionist monster that conservatives are making him out to be in political ads.
Daschle's image as a home-state hero is critical to his reelection hopes, because his anti-Bush routine won't fly in a region where the president rides high in the polls. Such is life for Democrats running in Bush country. Bush won the state with more than 60 percent of the vote in 2000, and his allies have spent the better part of two years portraying Daschle as the villain in the president's wartime Washington.
Neal Tapio, 32, a businessman and former GOP Senate staff member, said he may challenge Daschle strictly out of "disgust that our leader has been the leader of the opposition to President Bush." In a letter to the local paper, Josh M. Anhalt of Madison pleaded with voters to "support someone who will work for South Dakota instead of for himself and his political party."
Daschle isn't the only Senate Democrat seeking reelection in a climate in which attacks on Bush in Washington could backfire back home.
In addition to Daschle, Minority Whip Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the Senate's second-ranking Democrat, and Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.), the fourth-ranking party leader, are running in states that Bush won three years ago. Six other Senate Democrats -- including three who are contemplating vacating their seats before the election -- hail from southern and midwestern states that Bush won.
They include Sens. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Bob Graham (D-Fla.), both of whom are vying to challenge Bush for the presidency next year, and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), who is mulling retirement. As a result, Democrats face an uphill fight merely to keep the 48 seats they now occupy. "On paper, obviously we have a bigger task than [Republicans] have," Daschle said in an interview the night before playing guest gas man.
Bush has great incentive to throw his weight around in these Senate races. With the House solidly in GOP hands, the biggest obstacle to advancing his conservative agenda has been the 48 Senate Democrats and one left-leaning Independent who have largely stood together under Daschle's leadership to block the president's judicial nominees, his $726 billion tax cut proposal and many of his pro-business domestic policies.
In 2002, Bush's vigorous campaigning helped sink Democratic Senate nominees in Georgia, Minnesota and North Carolina. Next year, if Bush wins his own reelection and brings in a new crop of Republican senators, he would be ideally situated to enact broader policy changes than he has accomplished thus far.
Bush is urging former GOP congressman John Thune, who lost last year's race against Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) by 524 votes, to try again -- this time against Daschle. Thune, a lobbyist who splits his time between Washington and South Dakota, has set up a political committee to put pressure on the minority leader. Many South Dakotans assume he will enter the race.
Besides Thune, freshman Rep. William J. Janklow, a former governor, is considered the only other state Republican with the name recognition and political skills to knock off Daschle. But Janklow, a friend of Daschle's, is not expected to jump in.
In the meantime, Daschle is getting hit by attacks from activists outside and inside the state over tax cuts, his leadership style and his vocal opposition to the president's Iraq policy. Groups including the Washington-based Club for Growth and the Minnehaha County Republicans have run ads against the minority leader -- even though the election is 18 months away. The attacks on Daschle are getting big play in the local news media. This actually might help Daschle because voters are still reeling from the Johnson-Thune race, which ate up so much TV time that sitcoms seemed like brief and welcome respites in the airwaves war.
There's some evidence that the attacks are sticking, however. Nearly one-third of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Daschle, compared with 17 percent who view him favorably, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. Locally, GOP polls indicate Thune could beat Daschle if the election were held today. Daschle campaign manager Steve Hildebrand conceded a race against Thune would be tight.
Daschle, who flirted with the idea of running for president, is fighting back. He said he plans to raise at least $10 million -- enough money to purchase heavy air time starting this summer or sooner, and running straight through Election Day. South Dakota television markets are among the nation's cheapest, so voters are likely to watch another 18 months of political ads.
"We will be prepared to confront whatever comes, regardless of intensity levels," said Daschle, who appears poised for hardball. Hildebrand said the campaign has assembled embarrassing information on several conservatives who are considering more attack ads against Daschle. The information includes videotape of a conservative activist discussing how he paid for his girlfriend's abortion.
"You'll see us spending a lot of time attacking the attackers," Hildebrand said.
Daschle's campaign has blocked a group of local conservatives, called the Rushmore Policy Council, from using $1 million to attack him by raising public complaints.
South Dakotans, who would make any civics professor smile with their detailed knowledge of politics here, are closely following the play by play. The clerk at the National Car Rental counter, upon realizing a Washington-based reporter was present, offered a proud thumbs-up as she detailed how Daschle had derailed the "Rushmore" guys.
Daschle's greatest asset may be his familiarity with the state's 476,440 registered voters and their heavy reliance on federal goodies. While Sioux Falls is prospering, thanks to robust credit card and health care industries and a booming housing market, much of the state is suffering, especially small farmers and the thousands who live on Indian reservations.
Daschle, who represented the state in the House for eight years before winning his Senate seat in 1986, is steeped in South Dakota's enigmatic politics and the value of federal funds. While Republicans greatly outnumber Democrats on paper, the state -- stretching back to George McGovern -- has routinely elected Democrats to the Senate.
Daschle prides himself on visiting every county and, over the course of his career he has shaken hands, hugged or slapped the backs of many of the state's approximately 700,000 residents. More importantly, he has steered millions of dollars in federal money to research projects at state universities and brought clean water to small towns in the thinly populated state. Daschle's latest crusade packs an even bigger political punch: He's working with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to triple the nation's use of ethanol.
"We're not stupid," said Brad Wrigley, 48, leaving the Gas Stop. "We know how much power Tom Daschle has in Washington."
Staff researcher Alice Crites contributed to this report. |
