According to the AP, it appears that former South Dakota Senator and Senate Democratic Party Leader Tom Daschile is considering a run for the White House in 2008.
ABERDEEN, S.D. – Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, accusing the GOP of spreading a message of fear, says he is considering a 2008 presidential bid.
“I haven’t ruled anything out or anything in at this point,” Daschle said in an interview Saturday night after a hometown dinner in his honor.
“I’m encouraged by the strong support many people have voiced for my candidacy around the country and in South Dakota. I’ll make a decision at some point later on this year,” he said.
Daschle said President Bush and Republicans have overemphasized the importance of the war on terror, and he said the U.S. is no safer now than it was before the
Iraq invasion.“This country is not more secure when a president infers that he is above the law and can wiretap and eavesdrop on average citizens,” he said. “We’re not more secure when we turn ports over to foreign countries.”
If nothing else, this confirms something that has been apparent for sometime; that the Democratic strategy for 2006 and 2008 is to attempt to run to the right of President Bush and the Republicans on the issue of security and terrorism. That’s what the blowup over the ports deal was really all about. Given that the candidate who gets the Democratic nomination will have to appeal to a base that is outside of the mainstream when it comes to security issues, it seems difficult to believe that this strategy can actually work.
Whatever happens, though, I think I can confidently state that Tom Daschle will not be that nominee.
Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, 2006 Election, Democrats
