Posted on 11/18/2004 6:32:12 PM PST by nypokerface
WASHINGTON - For Tom Foley, election night was a bitter replay of a moment he would rather forget.
Ten years after the former Democratic House speaker was turned out of office in a humiliating defeat, Foley watched as Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle was vanquished in a race with parallels to his own.
In each case, voters more conservative than the veteran lawmaker representing them punished a leader they perceived as more in touch with the capital than his home state.
If anyone understands Daschle's pain, it is Foley. His 1994 defeat made him the first sitting House speaker since 1862 to lose a bid for re-election. Daschle, D-S.D., was the first party leader in the Senate to lose re-election in more than 50 years.
"I think Tom Daschle did a fantastic job as leader, but he was in a state that went very heavily for President Bush, and that was a political risk that he took and did so, I think, bravely," Foley said in an Associated Press interview.
Foley, 75, represented a Spokane, Wash.-based district for 30 years before losing the seat to Republican George Nethercutt.
Foley said Daschle, who lost to former Rep. John Thune, suffered from many of the factors that ultimately felled him: Voters either did not appreciate or understand the value of service as party leader, a role that sometimes caused both men to act in ways contrary to their own political survival.
"I think sometimes there's a difficulty in understanding what a state receives from having a majority leader in the Senate or a speaker of the House — or that those things viewed as not as important as they once were," Foley said.
In Foley's case, the disconnect was so stark that he once was berated at a public meeting for having a poor voting record in the House. Traditionally, the speaker does not vote at all, Foley explained, adding that he occasionally voted on issues crucial to the district or the country.
Foley was another pro-abort leftist from a conservative district who fooled his voters for years. His two-faced representation finally caught up to him. Foley got what he deserved.
Foley was the typical arrogant Democrap back then. The people in his state voted for term limits, and Foley sued them. Within 5 years these old democrap fools will be gone.
The end of a mess started in the early 30s.
I am proud to be one of those who voted against Tom Foley in 1994.
That was a good night.
DEFOLEYATE WASHINGTON
"...a political risk that he took and did so, I think, bravely..."
If it was so brave, why did he then always pretend he was so conservative when he went back to SD? He was a hypocrite, and a liberal hack, who lied for a living. I may keep the same tagline, in his "honor," for six more years!
I guess pork barreling doesn't go as far as it used to in the good old days, hey Tom? :)
It was his oversized, panhandle ears that brought him down.
Speaking of bravery...did you read about the ad Daschle ran in which he was shown hugging President Bush?
Yep, old Daschle really stood up to those Republicans!
I guess the writer is saying that red-state voters (like me) are just too stupid to understand complex things like politics. We're too dump to know what's in our own best interests. And if we were smarter, we vote for libs.
BTTT
Yep, take care of your voters ... or face defeat. Daschle was really stupid for not learning from Foley's downfall.
The Senate has a bank? Who knew?
Yup, he did.
Somehow though, Daschle's smackdown was a lot sweeter. Daschle was an obstructionist, and in my view, one of the worst leaders of the Senate in my lifetime if not ever.
Foley? Yeah I remember him. I also remember him stealing silverware on airplanes. Cool guy.
Agreed. Daschle's demise was as sweet as it gets ... until Hillary goes down ... politically speaking, that is.
Enough with the pain angle already....will the Dimms ever grow up?
Message to modeRATS - you're next!
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