Daschle In No Hurry
Urges Party to Move Past Nov. 5
By Paul Kane and Mark Preston
Unlike other potential White House contenders, Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) is in no hurry to make up his mind about the future.
Daschle said he is "only beginning this thoughtful process" and left open the possibility that the public won't know his future plans until well into the 108th Congress.
"I don't want to set any artificial deadline. I think it would be difficult for me to make a decision prior to the time we get into the early part of next year," Daschle said in an interview with Roll Call. "I can't indefinitely delay it but I must say, I think there are so many things to think about."
Other serious contenders for the 2004 nomination - former Vice President Al Gore, several Senators and even Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), now that he's given up his leadership post - have all said they need to make a decision by New Year's Day in order to put together the political and fundraising machines to mount a campaign.
But Daschle will remain hemmed in by the burdens of leadership, having just concluded leading a lame-duck session and now getting ready to help defend Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in a Dec. 7 runoff. After that, Daschle expects to use the holidays to begin deciding the next steps in his life, which could lead to retirement, a re-election campaign in 2004 or a run for the White House.
"It will be a good reflective time, but I don't think I will be in a position to make any decision for some time to come," he said.
With two of those three options involving his departure from the Senate, Daschle has all but endorsed his top deputy, Democratic Whip Harry Reid (Nev.), to be his successor as Democratic leader. "I would stay out of it, but I can't imagine - I would think that Harry Reid would be the unanimous choice. He deserves it. I just can't imagine anybody even challenging him. I think he would get it by acclimation. I honestly don't think he would be challenged if I weren't to run."
Members of Daschle's kitchen cabinet advised against reading too much into his cautious timetable for making decisions, noting that he has a loyal cadre of donors, staff and former aides willing to put off their decisions on who to support in '04 until Daschle delivers his verdict.
"He probably has a little more time to make up his mind than the others," said one Democratic lobbyist. "Ithink there are a lot of people who are willing to wait."
Still, some advisers admit they really don't have a feel for Daschle's timetable, or whether he will make all the decisions at once or first decide on the presidency and then on his re-election if he opts against the White House bid. "Idon't think any of us knows exactly what his mental timeline is," one adviser said.
If he does run for national office, Daschle plans to take the exact opposite course from Gephardt by using the Senate leadership as his platform throughout most of 2003. Eventually, he would step aside to focus his energies on the presidential race, but not any time soon.
"When it became clear that you can't really dedicate the time necessary to be effective as leader and as effective as a candidate, you have to transition out of leadership," he said.
Clearly, the decision is one of the toughest Daschle has faced as a politician. His respect and admiration for the chamber is endless. Without provocation he cited that just 1,865 people have ever served in the Senate and that "my number is 1776."
While he admitted that the 107th Congress was personally grueling, he said he found it a fascinating and significant-enough experience that he's writing a book on it. Daschle expects his first draft to be completed in March 2003.
"When you talk about an extraordinary history, this is it,"he said, citing the multiple switches in the majority, Sept. 11, anthrax and the strange circumstances that saw a sitting first lady and deceased governor elected to the Senate in 2000, while the governor's widow and a former vice president were defeated two years later.
But the 108th Congress will mark Daschle's 25th and 26th years in Congress (he previously served in the House). He'll turn 55 on Dec. 9 having never held a professional job outside of the government. Asked if retirement from politics sounded exiting, Daschle laughed.
"There are days when it is," he said.
A Daschle departure would deal a huge setback to Democrats, who will need a two- or three-seat pickup in 2004 to reclaim the majority in an election cycle when they'll be defending 19 of the 34 seats up for grabs. And South Dakota, in a presidential year with George W. Bush at the top of the GOP ticket, would be a very difficult open seat to defend.
"It would not be my favorite prospect," said Sen. Jon Corzine (N.J.), who is expected to chair the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the coming cycle. Expressing optimism that Daschle would stick around, Corzine added, "I don't think that's likely. It shouldn't happen."
Daschle poured his political heart and soul, as well as his dollars, into the South Dakota elections this fall. According to records filed with the IRS, Daschle's leadership PAC dumped $243,000 in soft money from July 1 until mid-October into his home state to benefit candidates for Senate, governor, secretary of state, House and other offices.
An aide said pending reports would show even more money pumped into the state, including the "clean-out-the-account check" for about $25,000 that went to the South Dakota Democratic Party in the final days of the campaign. New fundraising laws make it illegal for Members of Congress to operate soft-money accounts in their leadership political action committees.
While Daschle helped pull Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) across the finish line by a razor-thin margin, the remaining slate of statewide South Dakota races went to Republicans, leaving no natural successor to Daschle if he retires. But Daschle rejected the notion that there are no Democrats who can win his seat, pointing out that when his former boss, then-Sen. James Abourezk (D-S.D.), retired in 1978, everyone thought South Dakota Democrats were finished.
Daschle left Washington and won a House seat by 139 votes. "We have a lot of good people out there, so that wouldn't be a factor for me," he said.
Daschle said he has had recent talks with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the 40-year Senate veteran he calls a poster child for remaining effective in the Senate over the long term, and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine), his role model for leaving the Senate and maintaining a vigorous life in public service.
Daschle characterized himself as excited by "the thought of coming back and serving yet another term" and "the thought of national office."
"I am only beginning this thoughtful process and considering the options, and partly it's a consideration of where I might find the greatest challenge professionally and to what extent my family considerations play a role in making that professional decision," he said, adding, "I don't know if anybody could be more fortunate to have the job that I do. So, I am very content, but I think at every juncture like this you have to ask a question: 'Should you continue?'"
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