Like No Other Time The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever

Setting the Stage It is hard to overstate the disappointment and, yes, the despair that wemy Democratic colleagues and Ifelt the morning after that 2002 election. Never mind the fact that of the seventy-seven million ballots cast across the nation that Tuesday, a scant forty-one thousand (nineteen thousand in New Hampshire and twenty-two thousand in Missouri)less than 6/100 of 1 percent of the entire votedetermined the difference between our party retaining control of the Senate and the Republicans seizing it. Perception, as they say, is reality, and the perception of this defeat, reflected in newspaper and magazine headlines across the country in the days that followed, was of an unmitigated disaster. The headlines arrayed on that week's newsstands echoed the theme: IT'S HALLELUJAH TIME IN THE WHITE HOUSE FOR BUSH AND GOP: A MANDATE DEMORALIZED DEMS A NEW LEADER IS NEEDED The term "shellacked" was used more than once in these reports, and despite the narrowness of the results, that's just how we felt. I knew when I went to bed that election night that I'd awake to a barrage of blame and recrimination that was going to continue for some time, both from outsiders and, more consequentially, from my colleagues within the Democratic Party. And understandably so. I knew we were in for a period of soul-searching and self-flagellation the likes of which few of us had ever experienced. I had doubts and questions myself. As the saying goes, "Success has a thousand parents; failure is an orphan." The morning after that election, I felt pretty alone. How had this happened? That question kicked at us all in the wake of this defeat. Everyone, of coursethe press, the pundits on radio and television, my colleagues, our opponents-had their own answers and were eager to share them: We Democrats "had no message." We "ran without new ideas." This was a "Seinfeld election"it was about nothing. We offered "no difference between 'us' and 'them.' " We had become victims of "centrist caution." In the name of political expediency, we had "compromised our party's identity" and become nothing more than "Republican Lite." We had "pandered to the Republicans." We had "surrendered on issues of defense and foreign policy." We had "attacked the President's economic policies but offered no real alternative." Our campaigns had been marked by "caution, vagueness, niche issues, and sloganeering." We had lost our "soul." We were "leaderless." I knew that we needed not to panic. But neither could we deny that the consequences of this defeat, as narrow as it might have been, were disastrous, not just for the Democratic Party, but for the American people in terms of where they might now be led. House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt shared my deep frustration and was shaken by what had transpired. As Congress returned to Washington in December following the elections, Dick came to visit my personal office in the Hart Building, and we had a good long talk. First, we met with staff to discuss the aftermath of the election and the legislative schedule for the final weeks of the 107th Congress, that period of time traditionally known as a "lame duck" session. Then, at the end of the meeting, Dick asked if staff could be excused so that he and I could talk privately. As we sat alone, we talked again about our disappointment with the election and our need to regroup and move forward. Dick then said that he had come to the conclusion that for him the way to move forward was to move onand, hopefully, up. He told me he intended to give up his House leadership role and run foDaschle, Tom is the author of 'Like No Other Time The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever' with ISBN 9780375432835 and ISBN 0375432833.