Run, Tom, Run
Let Daschle be a two-timer.

By John J. Miller, NR national political reporter
January 14, 2002 8:30 a.m.

here's a movement afoot in South Dakota to prevent Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle from running for both the White House and the Senate in 2004. State law currently bars dual candidacies in all cases except a combination that includes president or vice president — which means Daschle could swing for the fences in two years and still try to keep his current job in Washington. Republicans would be wise to let him go for both.

The enormous temptation, of course, is to block his ambition. Running in two races is only possible because Daschle technically wouldn't appear on the ballot twice: In the presidential race, voters choose electors rather than the actual candidates. Democrats fearful of life in the private sector have taken advantage of these state-law loopholes for years. In 2000, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut ran for vice president and the Senate. Twelve years earlier, Lloyd Bentsen of Texas did the same thing.

It would be nice to force a real choice on Daschle. He is currently the country's most prominent Democrat. If his party keeps control of the Senate this year, Daschle would have as good a chance as anybody at winning the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. He may very well reach for the brass ring — especially if he doesn't have to risk giving up his safe seat at the same time.

State representative Matt McCaulley, who is sponsoring the legislation to stop Daschle, told the Argus Leader (of Sioux Falls) last week that he isn't singling out the majority leader: "Congressman [John] Thune is also sometimes talked about as a future presidential possibility."

Uh, ok.

But let's not kid ourselves: Daschle is the target. Should Republicans proceed against him?

The principled, good-government answer is yes. People probably shouldn't be allowed to run for two offices at once, despite the fig leaf of "electors." But this isn't what we're talking about. The question is whether it's in the GOP's partisan interests to stop Daschle — and it's not.

South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow, a Republican, is said to have a keen interest in running for the Senate. He would enter the race against Daschle as an underdog, but perhaps not by much. That's an enticing prospect: Daschle caught between a difficult national contest and a tough challenge at home, all the while trying to juggle his responsibilities as the leader of the Senate. It's a chore Bob Dole couldn't manage.

But even if a Janklow candidacy doesn't materialize, there's a good reason for letting Daschle compete in both races. He may be liberal, but his South Dakota ties keep him from going off the deep end. Take an issue such as free trade — something South Dakota farmers certainly want. Last month, the House passed Trade Promotion Authority by a single vote. Most of the Senate also favors it, though most Senate Democrats — or Democrats anywhere, for that matter — do not. Daschle hasn't shown his hand yet, but opposing free trade in South Dakota is probably a tough sell. If Daschle wants to seek the presidency and is simultaneously unmoored from South Dakota politics by a law the keeps him from running for two offices, then TPA doesn't stand a chance in the Senate. That would deliver a solid blow to any conservative economic agenda.

Republicans don't have much to lose — except the possibility of giving Janklow a clear shot at a Senate seat if Daschle picks the White House over the Senate. But that assumes many things about decisions that haven't been made yet, by either Daschle or Janklow.

So let Tom run — it may compel him to put everything he has on the line, at little cost to the GOP.

Say What?
Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin explains why September 11 really happened: "If the lofty social and ecological goals of the [1992] Rio Earth Summit had been achieved, it is possible that the crisis of the last year would not have occurred." David Mastio exposes the fraud.

He Has a Dream
Peter Kirsanow, the labor lawyer whose position on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is currently in dispute, will deliver an MLK address at the Heritage Foundation on January 17. The event begins at noon and is open to the public.