Sen. Tom Daschle responds

Hundreds of Yahoo! readers wrote in with questions and comments for former Sen. Tom Daschle. Thank you to everyone for participating and to Sen. Daschle for taking part in the dialogue.

The interview took place in Washington, D.C. Questions were presented by Talk to Power producer Ilyse Veron.

Many readers had questions about last week's midterm elections and what the Democrats' victory in Congress will mean for the country going forward. 

Iraq and the Middle East, as always, were frequently raised topics, along with health care and energy questions.

A question-by-question breakout is offered below with Sen. Daschle's video responses. The complete transcript of the interview is at the bottom of the page. 

The voters' message

A reader wrote:

"I am a Republican-leaning Independent who voted mostly Democratic this time. [While I agree with many Democratic positions, I reject many of the "big ones", such as abortion, the economy... But I abandoned my usual Republican leanings in response to the Bush administration's assault on our civil liberties and an inane war that has nothing to do with fighting terrorism.] I guess it would be naive to think the Dems would not take advantage of this opportunity to advance their agendas, but I also wonder if they will see this as what I see it as; a call by the people of the US for some moderation. Are we now going to swing as far left as we have been right?"

See Sen. Daschle's response or read the transcript below. 

On Congressional oversight 

One reader asked:

"Do you think having Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) as House Speaker will hurt the Democrats in 2008, if she starts all sorts of investigations and impeachment proceedings?"

Other readers wondered how the Democrats would work with Republicans to get things done, instead of fighting against each other on every issue.

See Sen. Daschle's response.

On the next step in Iraq

Yahoo readers wanted to know how the troops will be kept safe and whether they are already operating within a country in humanitarian crisis:

"The Democratic call this election was to bring our troops home. Once we announce to do that, all hell will break lose on our troops in the hopes it will speed up the plan. What is the plan to bring them home and what in the interim is the plan to keep them as safe as possible. I fully support the removal of our men and women, and wish them a SAFE return."

Another wrote: 

"...It looks to me as if there already IS a humanitarian crisis there that we are powerless to stop and that our presence may be making worse. Why should we stay there?"

See Sen. Daschle's response.

On energy and health care

"Senator Daschle: Where does the high medical cost, the high energy costs, the high cost of bare needs come into the Democrats agenda for the working and poor class of people?"

See Sen. Daschle's response.

On the crisis in Darfur
 
A reader wrote:

"Dear Senator Daschle, Will the new Congressional Majority have the courage to do something about the genocide in Central Africa? "

See Sen. Daschle's response.

On nuclear weapons in

Iran

After meeting

President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister had tough words for Iran regarding nuclear arms. One reader noted:
 
"In view of the fact that Iran and

Syria are known to have taken in arms and other weapons from Iraq prior to the war, what would you propose to do to help

Israel? Although I am a Democrat, I see much weakness by the Democrats in Israel's defense."

See Sen. Daschle's response.

* * * * *

Below is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Daschle

MS. VERON:  Senator Daschle, thank you so much for joining us on Talk to Power.

The Voters' Message

Yahoo readers have written in on all sorts of topics, and, not surprisingly, the Democrats' victory in Congress was a dominant theme on our boards.  Essentially, readers asked what segment of the political spectrum won and how governing might take place in a divided government.  On TV over the weekend, you probably heard Senator Lieberman say that "this is an election which may be called the return of the center."

This sentiment was offered by a Yahoo reader as well.  I quote:  "I am a Republican-leaning Independent who voted mostly Democratic this time.  I guess it would be naive to think the Dems would not take advantage of this opportunity to advance their agendas, but I also wonder if they will see this as what I see it as, a call by the people of the U.S. for some moderation.  Are we now going to swing as far left as we have been right?"

MR. DASCHLE:  I think it would be a big mistake if the Democrats swung as far left as the Republicans were right.  I think what the American people were saying is that they want the parties work together.  They want to see more evidence of good governance.  They want to be able to be more confident that we can address the many challenges we face as a country and solve some of the problems in health care and energy, with the tremendous problems we have in the disparity between the rich and the poor. Education, climate change, there are so many issues that have to be addressed, and the only way we can address them successfully is from the middle.  It's why so little got done in the last few years, because very few solutions were discussed that involved the middle.  If we go back to the middle, we'll not only govern, but Democrats will be in a very good position to continue to win elections.


Congressional Oversight
 

MS. VERON:  Some people have written in about the upcoming 2008 election.  People are thinking about it already.  I'm sure you are as well.  "Do you think having Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker will hurt the Democrats in 2008, if she starts all sorts of investigations and impeachment proceedings?"  I'm quoting from a reader.

MR. DASCHLE:  Well, Nancy Pelosi has already indicated that she has no intention of beginning impeachment proceedings.  So, I think there's very little likelihood of that.  I don't know that investigations per se are necessary, but I do believe that one of the failures of Congress in recent years has been lack of adequate oversight - over the war in Iraq, over our many domestic policy issues, over the wiretap policies, and issues involving the prisoners at Guantànamo and whatever happened at

Abu Ghraib.  So, there are many shortcomings with regard to Congress and the intention and the responsibility they have for oversight.

So, I'm hopeful that Democrats will be balanced, will be prudent, will recognize their constitutional responsibilities of oversight.  But I hope that they're smart enough to understand how, how ill-advised it would be to begin impeachment hearings.

The next step in Iraq

MS. VERON:  You mentioned the war in Iraq, and of course that's not only been a driving factor in the election, but it was a constant theme in our conversations with various elected officials on Talk to Power.  Numerous questions were raised about how the Democrats propose to handle the war.  Of course, the President was meeting with the Iraq Study Group today.  I understand you have proposed a two-phase approach to bring home troops from Iraq - 80,000 by the end of 2006, and the remainder by December 31, 2007.

Yahoo readers wanted to know how the troops will be kept safe and whether they are already operating within a country in humanitarian crisis.  One said, "It looks to me as if there already is a humanitarian crisis there that we are powerless to stop and that our presence may be making worse.  Why should we stay there?"

     MR. DASCHLE:  Well, that's really my point in making the proposal that I did.  I don't know that we can keep to that time frame any longer, obviously, since we're just about at the end of 2006, but over a period of time, I think it is important to begin the phased redeployment of troops to where they're needed even more.  We need more troops in

Afghanistan if we're going to be successful there.  We need our National Guard troops home, oftentimes to deal with natural crises here.  We have to understand that if we're going to fight the war on terror, making sure that we use and strategically deploy the troops where they can do the most good is something we have to keep very uppermost of our minds.

But I don't believe this conflict in Iraq will ever be solved militarily.  It's going to be resolved diplomatically and politically on the ground.  It's going to involve far more effort at democratization, but that can't happen until basic services are restored, services like water and sewer, electricity.  Those services have still yet to be restored in most parts of Iraq, and that has been one of the big problems.

We have to demand more of our allies in the region.  We certainly ought to be more willing to involve ourselves in international cooperative effort and reject the unilateralism that this administration's proposals have largely meant.

Health Care and Energy
 

MS. VERON:  You mentioned earlier in this interview energy and health care.  One person had another person write in:  "Senator Daschle, Where does the high medical cost - the high energy costs - overhaul the high cost of bare needs come into the Democrats' agenda for the working and poor class of people?  Thank you.  h. adams."

     MR. DASCHLE:  Well, I've been very gratified to hear that in virtually every one of the victory speeches given by the candidates who were successful just a week ago, I heard references to the importance they place on changing our health care system and creating a new energy policy that would allow energy independence.  I think to a person, they mentioned these two priorities as two of the most important domestic agenda pieces that they are supportive of.

     We have a health care system that's completely broken today.  We spend too much.  We're not getting the quality we deserve.  And it's getting worse not better.  Far too many people are uninsured, and the level of quality continues to decline.  So, regardless of whether it's health care or our dependence upon foreign sources for energy, we need to see leadership.  We need to see consensus.  We need to see people who are willing to change course.  That's what the American people voted for, and I'm very confident the Democrats are determined to provide that change in direction for our country.

Crisis in Darfur 

MS. VERON:  One Yahoo reader wrote in about another kind of leadership, in international policy.  This person wrote:  "Dear Senator Daschle, Will the new Congressional majority have the courage to do something about the genocide in central Africa?  When my grandfather's family were being killed by the Nazis in their brand of genocide, the United States got involved and, in the end, prevailed.  Three generations later, I ask myself, ‘what will the grandchildren of today's Senators and House Representatives say that their grandparents did, or didn't do, about a genocide that has already taken 3-4 million lives since 2004?'"

     MR. DASCHLE:  Well, it's such an incredible tragedy to think that here we are after Rwanda and after Cambodia, not to mention of course the Holocaust itself in the 1940s.  We find ourselves doing it all over again.  Civilization hasn't advanced all that much if we continue to see the genocide with the magnitude that we're seeing it today in the Sudan.

I think there is one thing in particular that has to be insisted upon by the Democratic leadership, and that is the Bush administration continue to abide by the UN resolution and put as much pressure as we possibly can on the Sudanese government to allow UN troops and a presence in the Darfur region.  That isn't enough alone, but it has to be the very basis, the foundation upon which we begin to address the genocide more successfully.

Nukes in Iran

MS. VERON:  As you know, today the President met with the Israeli Prime Minister, and both had tough words for Iran regarding nuclear arms.  One reader noted: "In view of the fact that Iran and Syria are known to have taken in arms and other weapons from Iraq prior to the war, what would you propose to do to help Israel?"

     MR. DASCHLE:  Well, I take a different tack than this administration.  I don't think that isolating countries like this works.  I believe that there is a tremendous opportunity for us to move much more successfully by engaging the Iranians, not by isolating them.  I think by engaging them, as we did with China - that took a lot of courage, but we can only begin to appreciate the magnitude of the benefits we have derived from our engagement with China.  If it worked there, I'm confident that it can work as well in Iran.

     Not to do that continues the same old path.  We've tried it.  It hasn't worked.  In fact if anything, things have gotten worse.  I think it's time for changing course in that particular challenge as well, and I'm hopeful that we do so soon.

MS. VERON:  How does it feel to have the Democrats in power again?

     MR. DASCHLE:  Well, it's very sweet.  For someone who has experienced a lot of victories as well as at least one loss, personally I'm delighted to see that my party has come back and that we're in a position of responsibility.  We now have a responsibility to govern and to prove that the confidence of the American people is warranted.  And I'm confident that Senator Reid and Congresswoman Pelosi will do just that.

MS. VERON:  Senator Daschle, on behalf of Judy Woodruff and the NewsHour and Yahoo, thanks so much for joining us.

     MR. DASCHLE:  My pleasure.
 

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