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Tom Daschle, Lead or Get Out of the Way

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY

Dear Buzz:

The letter writer from South Dakota in a recent BuzzFlash mailbag is partially correct.

Having a Tom Daschle or a Blanche Lambert Lincoln (although Sen. Lincoln appears to be moving so far to the right at such a swift pace that I'm beginning to confuse her with Zell Miller) in the Senate is far preferable to having a Janklow or Huckabee holding those seats. And if Daschle believes he has to cast certain votes in order to be re-elected, while I might disagree with those votes on principle, we do need to face facts and concede that he's probably as progressive as we're gonna get in that seat.

The real problem with him, however, is that he is the Minority Leader. His recent behavior as such has been disingenuous at best and just downright shameful at worst. I cannot believe that he would not support a filibuster to stop the legislative monstrosities that have been foisted upon us by the republicans. His vote against the medicare prescription drug legislation was a mere exercise in futility once the filibuster failed. And then for him to go on the Daily Show and whine about how terrible it was that the thing passed was so hypocritical it makes me ill to remember it.

If he is so worried about re-election that he can't be a full-time leader of the Democrats in the Senate, then he owes it to the Party and the Country to step aside and let someone like Ted Kennedy step into the breach. As the old saying goes, "Lead, follow or get out of the way!"

A Midwestern BuzzFlash Reader

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY