Daschle: Too big for his britches?

“Interesting column from a South Dakota native, published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/465/5071499.html

Doug Grow: South Dakota gives sharp-dressed liberal the boot
Doug Grow, Star Tribune
November 7, 2004 GROW1107



Enough of this post-election, stuffy analysis of why Sen. Tom Daschle was dumped Tuesday by South Dakotans.

As a South Dakotan -- born there, raised there, plan to be buried there -- I understand why people from this dusty, sparsely populated prairie state fired one of the most powerful men in the free world.

Daschle got too big for his britches.

From birth, South Dakotans are taught that there's no greater sin than getting full of yourself. Every achievement by a South Dakota child is greeted by a look of concern -- "hope this doesn't go to her head" -- not a hug of congratulations.

Modesty is the state's No. 1 value. Mediocrity is all South Dakotans feel they deserve.

Real South Dakotans don't drive fancy cars -- and if they do, they make sure they never scrub the road dust off of them. Real South Dakotans don't join country clubs. They buy their suits at Penney's and sit down to dinners of roast beef and mashed potatoes.

Once upon a time, Daschle understood that. He didn't go to hair stylists and expensive clothiers.

Then, Daschle achieved power, as Senate majority leader for a while and in recent years as Senate minority leader.

"This is like the Dickens line, 'The best of times, the worst of times,' " said Jim Meader, a political scientist at South Dakota State University, of Daschle's rise to power and prominence. "For Tom, becoming a major leader was good for him and it was bad for him."

Sure, in his position of power, Daschle was able to funnel millions of federal dollars into highway and water projects in almost every county in the state.

But he also kept dressing spiffier. What looked so good on network TV didn't look so good to the people who hold two or three jobs to survive in one of the poorest states in the nation.

Not only did Daschle dress for success, he and his wife, a big-time lobbyist, bought a $1.9 million home in Washington, D.C.

Daschle's official South Dakota residence was his mother's home in Aberdeen.

(His Republican opponent, John Thune, it should be noted, has made big money as a D.C. lobbyist, too. But he remembered to wear boots when he came home.)

During one speech dug out by Republican party researchers, Daschle said he is a "resident" of D.C. A videotape of that comment became a staple of Thune's vapid campaign.

"He's not one of us," Thune said over and over.

Daschle made so many fundamental political errors.

There were rumors he drives a Jaguar.

In a state that likes to see a little fat around the belly, Daschle looks gaunt. This is a guy who obviously was jogging and eating raw veggies, not beef.

He sometimes was seen in the company of people like Hillary Clinton!

"I truly believe this isn't a conservative state so much as a populist state," Meader said. "A South Dakota politician has to appear to be one of the masses. He got the label 'silk shirt.' "

There was history for Daschle to learn from.

In 1980, then-Sen. George McGovern, a good man and a powerful advocate for the state, came home to campaign against a lightweight, Jim Abdnor.

McGovern decided to go pheasant hunting, a state pastime. One problem: He had a D.C. driver's license, meaning he had to buy an out-of-state pheasant license. McGovern lost the race to "the real South Dakotan."

Obviously, there were other factors in Daschle's loss beyond the perception he's no longer a South Dakotan.

There's the simple fact that there are more Republicans than Democrats in South Dakota.

Dave Kranz, astute political columnist for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, said that in the past, Daschle was able to pick up substantial Republican support, thanks in part to the enthusiastic support he received from Bill Janklow, a former governor and congressman. But the old Republican, a denial-filled killer driver, lives in disgrace now. Daschle's support among Republicans fell from 20 percent to 13 percent.

Kranz said Daschle also was done in by a "new South Dakotan" -- the aggressively pious Christian.

A vast majority of the people in the state always have been people of deep Christian faith. But in the past, it was a quiet faith. South Dakotans understood it was hard enough just to live one's own life; it would be sinfully presumptuous to tell others how to live.

Humility is not part of the new Christian profile. With the help of millions of dollars from outside organizations, these pious people filled the airwaves and mailboxes with anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality, pro-Thune messages.

The barrage was endless.

Daschle tried to reason with South Dakotans. But he was caught too often wearing nice suits and standing with powerful people.

South Dakotans cut him down to size, and are happily getting the mediocrity they so richly deserve.”

“Many remaining Democratic Senators have made Daschle's name into a verb. They say they intend to play ball with the Bush Administration so they won't be Daschled too, meaning they do not want to be removed from office as a result of being targeted by the National Republican Committee.
last edited: 11/07/04 7:30:20 PM”

“Clearly Daschle should have quit bathing and grooming himself.

I wish the position of minority leader had gone to someone from a safe, solidly blue state, so they could provide stronger leadership. Daschle had to don the pink tutu too often to avoid upsetting his constituency. Harry Reid appears to be a good man but he is in a situation similar to Daschle’s.”