Touting trade with Taiwan's economic and cultural contender, Tom Daschle's former rival in the US Senate, now Ambassador to China, Max Baucus, just returned to the US speaking in Helena at the Montana Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturing and International Trade Day banquet.
Does anyone believe he could be a force in South Dakota politics again?
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who started a public policy practice at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz last year, said he will register with the federal government as a lobbyist for the first time in his career. Daschle will work on behalf of Taiwan and plans to disclose the client later this month to the U.S. Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, he told The National Law Journal on Monday. Baker Donelson is the third law firm Daschle has worked with since leaving the Senate in 2005. He previously worked at DLA Piper and Alston & Bird, within their main law firm businesses. His practice at Baker Donelson, called The Daschle Group, is a wholly owned subsidiary that specializes in giving strategic advice. [Katelyn Polantz, Legal Times]Baucus threw Daschle under the bus during a pre-confirmation quarrel in 2009. President Obama's pick for Health and Human Services Secretary, Daschle was widely expected to push Congress toward a Medicaid-for-all health care plan as Big Pharma-backed Baucus worked to pass the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare. Daschle withdrew from nomination.
Why doesn’t anyone mention Tom Daschle when they talk about possible Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate election in 2016? The retirement of the party’s last federal office-holder, U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, last year left the Democrats without a leader. So the question remains. If not Daschle in 2016, then who? [excerpt, Bob Mercer]Tom Daschle Looks Back At 1990s Shutdowns: Here and Now.
Tom Daschle, former U.S. senator from South Dakota, was one of the longest serving Senate Democratic leaders in history and the only one to serve twice as both majority and minority leader. His new book, "The U.S. Senate," is a guide to how the institution works. [Tuesday, February 26, 2013, The Diane Rehm Show]In 1993, then-U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle requested the Government Accountability Office conduct a study of Indian Health Service employment practices, specifically in the areas of salaries and recruitment programs.
Does anyone believe he could be a force in South Dakota politics again?
South Dakota just can't let go of Tom Daschle, but he seems to have let go of it. He sold the properties he maintained in South Dakota, moved his mother to California, and established himself on the national and, now, the international levels. Thune's campaign against him was totally based upon libel and character assassination. The people bought into it. That's the reason no one of any intelligence and ability wanted to run against Thune. In fact, the top prospects that were approached have all left the state, just as those who ran against Noem did. It says much about how knowledgeable and smart politicians assess the state. When people have told a politician they no longer want him or her, the smart ones get the message. George McGovern did not leave the state, but he devoted his energies and talent to other issues, such as child hunger. Herseth Sandlin is allying herself with nonpolitical issues, and Brendan Johnson has chosen a career track that keeps him in the state, but not confined to it. What ties and affections some of we old Democrats may have for South Dakota, we recognize the character of the state has changed and that change is not something we wish upon our families. Any future they have lies outside the state. And we follow Tom Daschle in that regard.
ReplyDeleteAlumni of South Dakota universities tend to sit on boards and contribute to athletics. Daschle is chair of the Center for American Progress: any idea whether he sits on any boards in the state?
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