Tom Daschle

While I realize it must be the equivalent of going to see Benedict Arnold speak for certain members of our esteemed readership, I thought I'd mention that we have higher brow taste than Gallagher around here, too. Last night Dara and I went to hear Tom Daschle talk as part of the Peninsula Speakers Lecture Series. Okay, so someone gave us the tickets, but that's beside the point. You know, it must be like a drowning man coming up for air for a (former) liberal politician from South Dakota to visit someplace like the SF bay area. I mean, what can the guy say wrong around here? Probably his biggest round of applause was when he spoke about the NSA wiretaps and the Congressional authorization provided to the President right after 9/11 -- and the fact that they explicitly limited the extraodinary powers to use overseas, and refused domestic authorization. In spite of that, this reporter has to say that the Republicans are in no danger of being swept out in a fever of Daschle supporters. John Kerry is definitely Mr. Charisma compared to Daschle.