Tom Daschle has been a Barack Obama supporter from the beginning and he helped lead the unsuccessful campaign here in the South Dakota primary so what if any position would he like in an Obama White House?
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has no interest in the vice presidency or in serving as chief of staff if Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is elected president, but sources say he is interested in universal health care and might relish serving as HHS secretary.
Daschle, an early and ardent backer of Obama’s bid for the White House and a key player in President Clinton’s push for universal health care in 1993, told CongressDaily he hopes he “can be helpful, perhaps in a prospective Obama administration, on healthcare reform” and added that he would be “interested in finding ways to do that.”
Bush Puppeteer Karl Rove all but blamed Tom Daschle the other day for forcing Bush to go to war in Iraq. Yesterday Daschle responds with “the Rest of the Story” (h/t Paul Harvey).
Well, I was called last week a couple of times and I literally thought it was a joke. I thought somebody was trying to pull my leg. I can’t believe that anybody would make such an outrageous statement and I was interested in that several of the former Bush high level people have now disputed it as well. But, he’s saying it and I guess he’s trying to sell some books.
He goes on to again try to refresh Rove’s memory on what really happened.
I reminded the President that his father waited until after the election for the 1991 war. It was a wise thing to do and allowed him to build consensus around the world and de-politicize it here at home. I turned to him and said that he ought to do the same thing. I wish you’d consider that. He looked at the Vice President. They smirked a little bit and then looked at me and said. “Can’t do that.”
While I understand that it was common practice here in South Dakota to blame all our problems on Tom Daschle, just ask Jon Lauck, but now apparently Daschle bashing has become common place nationally as well. This morning former Bush puppeteer Karl Rove all but blamed Daschle for our presence in Iraq.
This morning on Fox News Sunday, Karl Rove–who is quickly becoming the laughing stock of Washington– appeared with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (chair of the DCCC) to talk politics. When the discussion turned to Iraq, Van Hollen seized the opportunity to confront Rove for his failed attempt to blame the Democrats for pushing the White House into voting on the 2002 Iraq war invasion resolution. Rove’s response? Why, it was all the fault of former Democratic Senator, Tom Daschle. What?
You know Mr Rove, they have made great strides in treating dementia…Watch it.
Yesterday I wrote how Senator John Thune wants to send $1M in tax dollars a year to allow 3 passengers a day to fly out of Brookings and this morning I see that Senator Tim Johnson is looking to waste some of our tax dollars as well. Apparently not wanting to be outdone by his Republican counterpart, Johnson is looking to send another $1M to Brookings when he quietly sponsored a $1M earmark to a federal appropriations bill that would be used to help fund the Tom Daschle Center on the SDSU campus.
A massive federal appropriations bill that includes a $1 million earmark to create a center for former Sen. Tom Daschle drew heavy fire Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
The earmark would pay for the Thomas Daschle Center for Public Service and Representative Democracy at South Dakota State University. It’s among 150 pages of earmarks in a combined bill for education, health services, veterans programs, and other areas of federal government.
The legislation is more than 850 pages and emerged Monday night out of a joint House/Senate conference committee. Within those pages is more than $215 billion of discretionary spending.
Although the bill emerged Monday night, House Democrats pressed ahead Tuesday night to force a vote. That outraged fiscal conservatives, who argue the bill is overloaded with pork.
150 pages of earmarks and $215B in discretionary spending? So much for reform.
Our newest South Dakota Blog SoDa Plains Politics has posted an editorial from the Huron Daily Plainsman on the DM&E project including the economic impact it would have on the states involved but what I took out of the article is the focus on Tom Daschle and Bill Janklow’s involvement with the Mayo Clinic and the editor’s comments on that relationship.
Besides arrogance, a closer look at the opponents reveals two more reasons why they are against the project - political and personal. Former South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle told The Associate Press in 2003: “This (DM&E) project would provide important benefits to many South Dakota communities and industries.”
In 2001, former South Dakota congressman and Gov. Bill Janklow told the Plainsman: “I think no matter how you look at it (DM&E project), it is a good deal. The spin-off to South Dakota from the DM&E project is huge.” The key word motioned above is “former,” because now, neither Daschle nor Janklow have any interest in what’s best for South Dakota. In April, Janklow said, “I feel the (DM&E) project is immoral.” In May, Daschle told The AP he is backing efforts to stop the DM&E project.
Keep in mind, Daschle is a current member of the Mayo Clinic’s board of directors and lost a heavily publicized Senate race to pro-DM&E Thune in 2004. And with his thoughts of running for president, it appears Daschle isn’t thinking about South Dakota anymore.
As for Janklow, he quickly became the subject of ridicule after serving what many felt was too light of a sentence - 100 days in jail for driving and killing a motorcyclist - and then getting back his law license. It seemed many South Dakotans turned against him.
Simply, the anti-DM&E campaign is being fueled by egos, politics and personal grudges.
It appears that the talking points that Daschle used during his failed campaign just 2 years ago about how he was in the best position to fight for South Dakota was just that, talk.
On a side note did anyone catch Bill Janklow’s response to KELO-TV last night when they tried to talk to him about the story they were doing regarding the Rounds death penalty controversy? They tried to get a comment from him on how the DOC’s 3 drug procedure was drafted and put into place while he was still governor back in 2001.
His response, “I don’t talk to the news.”
How the mighty have fallen…
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