Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Endorses Giffords
TUCSON €“ Thomas A. Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader who stood up to the Bush Administration and denied it the legal authority to conduct wiretaps of U.S. citizens, has endorsed the campaign of Gabrielle Giffords for the U.S. House.
“Gabrielle Giffords is a dynamic leader with the commitment to fight for a change in Washington,” said Mr. Daschle, who represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate for 22 years, and was the Democratic minority and majority leader for 12 years. Prior to that he served in the U.S. House for eight years.
“As someone who was elected as a progressive from a fairly conservative state, I know what it takes to win over moderate and conservative voters,” said Sen. Daschle. “Voters want someone who will help to reform our health care system, fix our broken political system, and find solutions to such long-term problems as social security and our dependence on foreign oil. Gabrielle Giffords has the right priorities to represent the people in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.”
“Senator Daschle is someone I have long admired, so it is wonderful to win his endorsement,” said former State Senator Giffords, who served five years in the Arizona Legislature and has been designated as a “Democrat Worth Watching” by Gannett News Service. “He is a courageous figure and a role model for good leadership. I aspire to follow his example.”
In December, Sen. Daschle revealed in a Washington Post Op Ed that as Senate Majority Leader he blocked an effort by the Bush Administration to obtain Congressional authorization to conduct warrantless surveillance of telephone conversations involving U.S. citizens. Since then, the administration has asserted that it has such powers despite the lack of authority from Congress.
A copy of a Dec. 23, 2005 Washington Post article on Daschle’s op ed, can be found at the following link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122202119.html
“Tom Daschle is a true hero who stood up for the Constitutional rights of every American,” said Sen. Giffords. “I consider him a role model for the type of leadership I hope to offer the people of Southern Arizona.”
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