Post by RPankn on May 11, 2004 4:43:05 GMT -5
By CARL HULSE
Published: May 10, 2004
he leader of the Senate's Democrats, Tom Daschle, today decried what he described as a "startling meanness" in contemporary politics, saying people in both parties were exceeding the boundaries of partisanship.
"Lately, I have felt almost sickened at times by the efforts of some on the right and the left to exploit the sacrifices and even the deaths of American service members for political gain," said Mr. Daschle, who represents South Dakota, in an appearance for the Landon Lecture Series at Kansas State University.
Mr. Daschle, who is in a difficult re-election fight this year, has been subjected to some hard attacks himself and has dished out of a few of his own. In his remarks today, he said that the current inflammatory tone of some political remarks was only increasing polarization among the electorate and was potentially harming United States security.
"Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy," he said. "It does not resolve differences. It inflames passions and deepens divisions. America has real enemies in this world. Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer; it makes us more vulnerable."
Mr. Daschle is a favorite target of Republicans, who blame the usually mild-mannered lawmaker for stalling their favored legislation in the Senate and just generally tying the place in knots. Mr. Daschle asserts that he is protecting the interests of the minority as well as the constituents they represent.
In his comments, he specifically mentioned the 2002 Senate campaigns run against two fellow Democrats, Tim Johnson, who won re-election in South Dakota, and Max Cleland, who lost in Georgia. Both had been the subject of ads that compared them with Osama bin Laden for their objections to parts of a proposal to create the new homeland security agency. But Mr. Daschle also criticized a recent Web site ad by the group Moveon.org that compared President Bush with Hitler.
"There is no excuse for such an outrageous attack; it damages our political discourse," Mr. Daschle said. He offered seven ways to improve the level of political debate in the country, including one to "reject the idea that civility is a weakness and compromise is a sin."
"Everett Dirksen, the great Republican leader of the Senate when Dwight Eisenhower was president, said, `I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, and one of my principles is flexibility,' " Mr. Daschle said. "The result of hardball, all-or-nothing politics is usually nothing." he added. "We need to restore respect for principled compromise."
Link: www.nytimes.com/2004/05/10/politics/trail/10TRAIL-DASCHLE.html
Published: May 10, 2004
he leader of the Senate's Democrats, Tom Daschle, today decried what he described as a "startling meanness" in contemporary politics, saying people in both parties were exceeding the boundaries of partisanship.
"Lately, I have felt almost sickened at times by the efforts of some on the right and the left to exploit the sacrifices and even the deaths of American service members for political gain," said Mr. Daschle, who represents South Dakota, in an appearance for the Landon Lecture Series at Kansas State University.
Mr. Daschle, who is in a difficult re-election fight this year, has been subjected to some hard attacks himself and has dished out of a few of his own. In his remarks today, he said that the current inflammatory tone of some political remarks was only increasing polarization among the electorate and was potentially harming United States security.
"Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy," he said. "It does not resolve differences. It inflames passions and deepens divisions. America has real enemies in this world. Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer; it makes us more vulnerable."
Mr. Daschle is a favorite target of Republicans, who blame the usually mild-mannered lawmaker for stalling their favored legislation in the Senate and just generally tying the place in knots. Mr. Daschle asserts that he is protecting the interests of the minority as well as the constituents they represent.
In his comments, he specifically mentioned the 2002 Senate campaigns run against two fellow Democrats, Tim Johnson, who won re-election in South Dakota, and Max Cleland, who lost in Georgia. Both had been the subject of ads that compared them with Osama bin Laden for their objections to parts of a proposal to create the new homeland security agency. But Mr. Daschle also criticized a recent Web site ad by the group Moveon.org that compared President Bush with Hitler.
"There is no excuse for such an outrageous attack; it damages our political discourse," Mr. Daschle said. He offered seven ways to improve the level of political debate in the country, including one to "reject the idea that civility is a weakness and compromise is a sin."
"Everett Dirksen, the great Republican leader of the Senate when Dwight Eisenhower was president, said, `I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, and one of my principles is flexibility,' " Mr. Daschle said. "The result of hardball, all-or-nothing politics is usually nothing." he added. "We need to restore respect for principled compromise."
Link: www.nytimes.com/2004/05/10/politics/trail/10TRAIL-DASCHLE.html
