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Daschle's speech: A new approach
By Dana Bash (CNN Washington Bureau)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Wednesday's fiery speech by Tom Daschle marked a key turning point in the majority leader's approach toward the White House about Iraq. Up until this week, Daschle, D-South Dakota, had been very cautious in his public remarks. Despite the strong resentment of many in his caucus about the timing of the Iraq issue, he refused to accuse the White House of playing politics by beating the war drums just before an election. But the frustration inside his caucus with Republicans had built up enough that it was clear Daschle could no longer hold his tongue. Complicating matters -- Senate Democrats were starting to turn their frustration toward Daschle himself for trying too hard to work with the White House on an Iraq resolution. The Bush administration wants Congress to pass a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. "There has been increasing grumbling in the cloakroom and hallways," said a senior Democratic senate aide, that Daschle was letting the Iraq issue move too fast. Democratic aides say some questioned whether Daschle was out of step with his caucus, many of whom felt emboldened by former Vice President Al Gore's speech Monday, historically on the hawkish side of his party, who said he would vote 'no' on the president's resolution. Tuesday afternoon, after his regular caucus meeting, Daschle displayed a hint of his shifting strategy towards the White House on the war politics. He came to the cameras and lashed out at Vice President Dick Cheney for what he believed was Cheney's efforts to use the war as a campaign issue while stumping for GOP congressional candidate Adam Taff in Kansas. The Bush administration disputes that characterization. Wednesday morning, Daschle's growing frustration boiled over. As he walked into his regular staff meeting, he was seething about the President Bush's remarks in The Washington Post, which featured an article about the administration's increasing focus on Iraq. By 10 a.m., the usually mild mannered Democratic leader still had not calmed down. And when he joined about a dozen of his colleagues for a weekly message meeting, It was clear, sources said, the article and the president's remarks were very much on his mind. According to sources in the room, Daschle walked in with a copy of the newspaper "folded four square." After listening to a presentation from a pollster describing the how the Hispanic vote will play out in November, he launched into an emotional tirade about Bush's remarks, which he perceived as the last straw in the GOP attempt to politicize the war. The Post quoted Bush as saying that the Senate -- controlled by Democrats -- was "not interested in the security of the American people." This time, Daschle told colleagues, the president was questioning their patriotism. The White House pointed out that Bush was talking about the fight over the homeland security legislation at the time -- not Iraq -- but Daschle would later say there was "no context" that could justify such a comment. "He was angrier than I have ever seen him," said one staffer in the room close to Daschle. The Democratic senators in the room started encouraging Daschle to go public with his outrage. Daschle said maybe he was "too hot," but Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, quipped that in New York, Daschle's anger would be considered "cool," not hot. Another Democratic senator suggested perhaps Democrats should shift strategy and refuse to vote on the Iraq resolution until after the election. Daschle posed the idea of holding a special Democratic caucus to discuss how to deal with what Democrats see as increasing politicization of national security issues by Republicans. But Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, told Daschle not to wait. He told him to go right to the Senate floor with the emotion and anger he was expressing in private. After about 15 minutes of discussion, Daschle went back down the hall to huddle with his own staff again. They quickly called down the war veterans of the Democratic caucus, including Hawaii's Daniel Inouye who fought in WW II, to come to the Senate floor to back up Daschle. By 11:30 a.m., the Democratic leader gave what observers like to call a true Senate "moment." In uncharacteristic fury and emotion, Daschle, took to the Senate floor and lashed out at the president of the United States and demanded an apology. The war of words between Democrats and Republicans, the White House and the Senate, then raged for the rest of the day.
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