November 3, 200422 yr It seems like these elections couldn't have gone any worse for the Democratic Party. Tom Dashcle was one of the biggest icons and leaders of the Democratic Party. Tom had the put the brakes on Bush but it seems now with Republicans being the majority in Congress, Bush is going to go all out and full speed in these next 4 years. Be afraid my friends. Be very afraid... Top Democrat Tom Daschle goes down in defeat Associated Press SIOUX FALLS, S.D. ? In a political seismic shock, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle went down in defeat Tuesday, edged by former U.S. representative John Thune after a bruising, $26-million contest in which Republican leaders went all out to depose the country's top-ranking Democrat. With almost all the ballots counted, Thune edged Daschle by less than 8,700 votes out of more than 383,000 cast. Congressional leaders like Daschle rarely face such challenges at home but the White House made the three-term senator its prime target after grumbling he has been the chief obstruction to President George W. Bush's initiatives the last four years. The last time a Senate leader was unseated was in 1952, when Barry Goldwater of Arizona turned Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland out of office. Daschle and Thune spent $26.3 million, more than $50 apiece for each of the state's 502,000 registered voters, as of mid-October. That does not include the millions of dollars being spent by outside groups, most of them opposed to Daschle. Campaign spending by the national parties and outside groups was so heavy South Dakotans were bombarded for months by attack ads. Many households received stacks of mailings and several telephone calls a day in the campaign's final month. South Dakota is a heavily Republican state but has traditionally sent Democrats to Washington. Daschle's rise to the top levels of government has given the sparsely populated rural state a lot of political clout, a point the 56-year-old senator made throughout his campaign. But Thune, 43, said Daschle had lost touch with South Dakotans, particularly on social issues such as abortion, gay marriage and flag-burning. The contest in many ways was a rerun of Thune's first try for the Senate in 2002, when he lost by only 524 votes against Democratic Senator Tim Johnson. That race was seen by many as a surrogate battle between Daschle and Bush, who helped recruit Thune. Daschle won a partial victory Tuesday after a federal judge granted his request to limit the activities of Republican poll-watchers. Daschle accused his opponent and the Republicans of intimidating Native American voters -- a crucial voting bloc for the senator. Daschle wanted the ruling to cover the entire state but the ruling applied only to one native reserve county. As part of the ruling, Republican poll-watchers in the county were prohibited from following native voters out of polling places and taking down their licence plate numbers. Republicans said they were looking for voter fraud.
November 3, 200422 yr Ding dong, the witch is dead! Which old witch? The wicked witch! 607656[/snapback] To have most of the senate republican is bad. Same thing if most is democrat. There should be a balance. This is going to be bad. If it wasn't already. Oh well.
November 3, 200422 yr Maybe this isn't as bad as thought. Now we can get a real minority leader with balls, someone who knows that the majority will not rest until the minority has been subjugated. Possible leaders will be Kerry (honorarily) and Feinstein.
November 3, 200422 yr Daschle is probably my least favorite politician, so I'm glad to see him go down....
November 3, 200422 yr Daschle losing is even sweeter than Kerry losing. I think it's absolutely hilarious.
November 3, 200422 yr Daschle losing is even sweeter than Kerry losing. I think it's absolutely hilarious. 607705[/snapback] I agree.... :thumbup :lol
November 3, 200422 yr The senate can still be an effective tool for dems using fillibuster. There's not a cloture vote proof republican majority. 607720[/snapback] Yeah, gaining on a majority but not having 60 is just insurance, nothing special. Sixty is the magical number.
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