MANHATTAN, Kan. - Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle decried Monday what he called the "startling meanness" of American politics.
| Was he flagellating himself as he did so? |
The South Dakotan, who has been Senate Democratic leader for nine years and is seeking re-election in November, said campaigns were especially ugly in 2002 and that the ugliness continues. "Today, enormous new challenges confront each and every one of us," he said. "We will not meet those challenges or seize those opportunities if we indulge in the brutal politics of division, if we attempt to silence those who have other ideas."
| So when are you going to STFU? |
Daschle spoke to about 500 people at Kansas State University as part of the Landon Lecture series. The series is named for former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 1936, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won the second of his four terms. Daschle noted that Landon's daughter, former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, while a proud Republican, worked with Democrats in 1996 to pass health insurance legislation.
| She was a good one. You should learn from her, Tom. |
"There are things that matter more than political parties," Daschle said. "There are lines we should not cross regardless of the advantage we think it may give our party at times." He continued: "Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does not resolve differences."
As examples of the meanness in politics, Daschle noted that two Democratic senators, South Dakota's Tim Johnson and Georgia's Max Cleland, were compared in television ads during the 2002 campaign to terrorist Osama bin Laden. Cleland, a decorated veteran who lost three of his limbs in Vietnam, was defeated in his bid for re-election.
| You knew that was coming. |
Daschle said the political left is responsible for some attacks, too. He cited a recent ad on the Web site Moveon.org that compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler.
| Too bad he didn't say so at the time. |
"America has real enemies in the world," he said. "Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer, it makes us more vulnerable. And trying to bully and intimidate others into silence or compliance does not lead to progress. It leads to increased polarization and eventually paralysis." |