The Hindu : Bush, Daschle in proxy battle

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 21, 2002

International

International

Bush, Daschle in proxy battle

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

New York OCT. 20. With less than three weeks to go for the Congressional elections, politicians and pundits have already started looking at the implications of November 5 for the presidential elections of 2004.

Staying on the traditional and conventional wisdom may favour the Democrats, but bucking this trend will undoubtedly be a major boost to the Grand Old Party. For the next 15 days or so, the President, George W. Bush, will be making a hectic tour of the United States, targeting States that are too close to call in the races for Senate seats.

One of those "targeted'' States is South Dakota where Republicans are hopeful of packing home the first term Senator, Tim Johnson. The critical offshoot of a Republican win here against Mr. Johnson is that it will send a message to the Senate Majority leader, Tom Daschle, who is also from South Dakota.

The Bush-Daschle matchup in South Dakota has more than just the media pepped up for the event. Add to this the fact that Mr. Daschle is seen as a Democratic hopeful for the 2004 presidential election. That he is in the process of making up his mind is another story. The focus of the 2002 Congressional elections has for the most part been the Senate where the GOP is raring to get the control back from the Democrats. But one of the scenarios for November 5 is that there could well be a switch on Capitol Hill — the Democrats getting back the House of Representatives and the Republicans taking control, albeit very narrowly, of the Senate. Both parties will declare victory and the game will continue till November 2004.

Mr. Bush is back in Camp David for the weekend and Mr. Daschle has his first weekend of a Congressional break called for the elections. The lame-duck 107th Congress is scheduled to convene on November 12. But Democrats did not leave Washington for the "recess'' without throwing the expected punches. Calling the soon-to-end 107th session of Congress "very disappointing'', Mr. Daschle laid the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the White House.

"The President came to Washington promising to change the tone and he did. It's worse'', the Senate Majority Leader said, going on to call Mr. Bush's first two years in office a series of "lost opportunities''. The top Democrat also complained, "You have virtually no attention to domestic issues''.

The blame game on Capitol Hill is nothing new this season; for, traditionally the two parties have blamed the other for lack of progress on the legislative front. For example, this Congress has recessed for the election without finality on the Homeland Security Department; and only two out of the 13 spending bills have been cleared. The White House came back with the stock answer. "Last time I checked the Senate was controlled by Democrats. It sounds to me like an inability of the Senate Democratic leadership to get things done'', remarked a spokesman.

In spite of the close Congressional election where the stakes are simply very high for both parties, the Republicans seem confident that somehow 2002 is going to be different than the past, even if the economy is going to be a dominant theme. This apart, an argument is being made as to how popular Mr. Bush is in the run-up to November 5 — an approval rating close to 70 per cent.

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