American Spectator - Prowler

Tom and Dick Smothered Despite having advanced copies of President George W. Bush's address to Congress, minority leaders Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt were both shocked by the speech's tone and the warm greeting their adversary received from Democratic colleagues before and after the speech. "They were absolutely stunned," says an aide to the Democratic House leadership. "The speech was great and they expected a warm reception for the president, but when they saw people like [Democrat and Black Caucus member] Sheila Jackson Lee kissing him afterwards, they sensed something had happened." Daschle and Gephardt delayed their live response to the congressional address to insert several additional conciliatory lines about "wanting to work with the president."

"Both men thought Bush was going to just give this speech his usual treatment, and they anticipated being able to just hammer him in their own address -- they called themselves a tag-team. But after the speech, they held everyone off, regrouped, and tried to put a warmer face on their own speech. They were devastated."

They felt even worse a little more than an hour later when initial DNC focus-group numbers from surveys in Michigan, California, and Florida came in showing that better than 75 percent of those Democrats taking part liked what they heard from Bush's speech. "The numbers were awful. But we need to see what they look like a week from now. Still, Daschle and Gephardt are worried."

The Democratic leadership is concerned about Bush's seeming ability to build bridges. So much so that Gephardt and Daschle have asked aides to come up with a plausible way to enforce a ban on White House meetings with Democrats. "The leader doesn't want the atmosphere to be too friendly," says a Daschle aide. "But he doesn't want the press to spin it that Democrats are refusing meetings with the president. He just wants all those photo-ops of Bush meeting with us to go away. If some of our people actually buy into this era of good feeling, we're dead."

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

Answers

Same source -

Talk Back Dead Sen. Hillary Clinton's ego apparently hasn't taken much of a hit lately. According to an aide to the Democratic Senate leadership, Mrs. Clinton has asked to give the next Democratic response to a Bush speech. "She understood she couldn't do the response to the State of the Union address," the leadership aide says with a straight face. "But she requested dibs on the one after that. I think it's safe to say that such a request, while being taken under advisement, isn't being taken seriously."

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

Talk about political shit-for brains. Hillary should be lying (no pun intended) very very low right now.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

When I first read this, my reaction was "who the hell does she think she is?" She is the jr senator and only been in office a few weeks that she can upstage more senior dems??

Otherwise I like the idea the the head dems are running scared (at least a little).

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

It's a very good question. Who the hell DOES she think she is??? If we knew the answer to that really important question, we would know how to handle her. I'm reminded again of the Hungarian's astute observation that the Clintons have a lot in common with the Ceaucescius.

Re the Democrats' "stunned" reaction, I'm deliriously happy. If that report is only half true, I'm still extremely happy. If they don't realize how badly they've been hurt, then they haven't yet got a strategy to deal with it. But, as has so often been pointed out, how can ya badmouth a guy who calls ya by a neat nickname?

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2001

Rather than commit thread drift, I'll open a new one.

"Bush's tax plan: what are the facts?"

Stay tuned.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2001