Posted on 04/24/2002 6:03:55 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
WENTWORTH, S.D. (AP) -- President Bush, at the dusty epicenter of this year's battle for control of the Senate, politely shared a stage Wednesday with political nemesis Tom Daschle -- then turned to scoop up $350,000 to put him out of the Senate majority leader's job.
``Tom, I'm honored you'd come,'' Bush told Daschle in a pulled-punches speech that had the president thanking the South Dakota Democrat who more often takes White House blame for Senate inaction on the Bush agenda.
The Democrats' one-vote grip on the Senate has frustrated Bush on everything from drilling for oil in the Arctic wilds to putting conservative judges on the federal bench.
Wind-whipped rural Wentworth (pop. 200) was the unlikely stage bringing together four players in overlapping political high drama: Bush, Daschle, Democrat Sen. Tim Johnson and GOP Rep. John Thune.
There was Bush, who recruited Thune over a White House dinner last year to run against Johnson and, in one of the nation's hottest political contests, maybe tilt the Senate back into Republican control. ``He's a man with whom I can work,'' Bush said.
There, too, was Daschle. He is putting his own considerable statewide muscle behind Johnson and weighing a run at Bush's job in 2004.
After a warm handshake and pat on the back from a smiling Bush, Daschle told reporters in the Dakota Ethanol warehouse: ``He said he'd kiss me but people would talk.''
Bush joked to the crowd of South Dakota agriculture leaders about the ``quality time'' he and Daschle spend together.
``I invite him to the Oval Office for breakfast. He doesn't eat much, I want you to know, which is good for my wallet,'' the president said.
He called for swift Senate action to deliver him a farm bill and enhanced powers in negotiating free trade deals -- and also thanked Daschle for having promised as much.
Bush, who won the White House on a campaign to ``change the tone'' of Washington politics, also credited Daschle for his work getting an ethanol-promoting provision into omnibus energy legislation destined for Bush's signature.
The most demanding Bush got was when he said, ``We need to put aside all the posturing, all the noise, and for the good of American agriculture, get a trade bill to my desk and get a farm bill to my desk.''
``The more markets that are open for U.S. farmers and ranchers the better off our economy will be,'' Bush said.
Earlier this month, he demanded that the Senate pass the trade measure by Monday, a deadline that came and went with no action -- and no presidential comment.
Daschle and Johnson arrived at Dakota Ethanol, surrounded by vacant dirt fields, well after Bush was already behind closed doors talking with local farmers. The two Democrats took stage-right seats in the audience and, along with everyone else in the front row, got a presidential handshake before Bush continued on to Sioux Falls and the real business of the day.
His fund-raising reception for Thune at the Sioux Falls Convention Center set a state record. ``We've got a lot on our plate and I hope to have this good man beside me in the United States Senate,'' Bush told some 300 donors. ``We've got a war to win.''
Johnson was dismissive of the impact Bush could have on the Senate race. ``I wanted to be here to personally welcome the president and make sure that he understands that our hospitality is really right there for him,'' Johnson told reporters.
The president stopped in South Dakota en route to a long weekend on his Texas ranch, where he was meeting Thursday with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and, over lunch on Friday, stroking the Republican Party's biggest financial supporters. On Monday, Bush continues on to New Mexico and California to raise money for Republicans there.
He appeals to better nature of people, not the vindictive part.
Don't get me wrong. When he makes up his mind to take someone out, you can bank on it. He has stated on the record that the administration has decided that Saddam must go. So he will. He's a dead dictator walking.
But don't look for Bush to stoop to Daschle's level. He won't do it.
The only way to get Daschle out of the way is by having many people send small contributions to John Thune's campaign. As with all politics, complaints do nothing but money has a profound effect.
Bush seems to have mastery of this technique; a subtleness which escapes many strident conservatives. The technique works, too.
Tripod hosted picture (click here)
Also note how the photographers are shooting upward...
Dasshole is one shrimp who doesn't need a booster seat or a step stool to compensate for his lack of stature. He is so full of hot air that he needs ballasts to keep him floating a foot off the ground, rather than zooming into orbit.
Wonder why he is pushing ethanol rather than breaded shrimp? Either could be a boon for wheat farmers.
What is obvious, is that Daschle is part of the problem. None of us like Daschle. Repeating it over and over to ourselves accomplishes nothing. What is not so easy, is to change the situation.
Best way to rectify the situation, will be to regain a majority in the Senate. That will be done, one campaign at a time.
Wish I'd thought of that....love it!!
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