THE PATH TO POWER

Hillary To Replace Daschle? (Fox News, June 26, 2003)

Democratic lawmakers and aides said Wednesday there is growing interest in tapping Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as the Senate Democratic leader if Sen. Tom Daschle retires next year.

Sources said elevating Clinton - in the Senate for only two-and-a-half - would be the best way to raise the party's profile in the face of a popular president and at a time when both houses of Congress are ruled by Republicans.

For the former first lady, the powerful post could offer her a high-profile platform from which to pursue the White House in 2008, as many believe she wants to do.

"It makes perfect sense," said one source. "Some people may have a hard time with it but it would be a perfect fit."

This begins being interesting with its assumption that Tom Daschle is in such tough shape back home that he won't even bother running for re-election. Even more interesting is the degree to which Democrats and Clintonites are kidding themselves.

The Party can't afford her as its public face any more than the GOP could afford Newt Gingrich. Such figures of intense controversy are necessary to a political party and can even make effective leaders nationally, but are seldom suited to leadership of legislative bodies.

From Ms Clinton's perspective, the position makes no sense because it makes it almost impossible for her to run for President. You'll recall that Bob Dole quit the Senate entirely in order to run and Mr. Daschle determined he couldn't run from the position. JFK is the last Senator elected to the presidency and he was hardly a leader of the party, let alone a Senate officer.

You really have to wonder if the folks running the Democratic Party these days understand politics and history at all. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 26, 2003 5:14 PM