Politics usually reaches our daily lives through the media, and not a book. This is the first political book I have read, and I admit I bought it because I like Senator Tom Daschle’s fearless, small-town heart. He has long been a proponent of alternative fuel and anti-drilling bills, which are close to my heart.

Daschle pushes for bills that don’t include special-interest kick-backs. For example, in the Homeland Security Bill, republicans wanted to give the Secretary of Homeland Security unlimited authority to shield companies from lawsuits by designating their products as anti-terrorism technology. Maybe this is where Daschle’s obstructionist nickname comes into play—he won’t allow a bill to pass until all the small things have been worked out. If he has to delay it for more research, then this is a good thing.

In his book, Tom Daschle touches on many events that transpired during 2000-2002 that shaped America forever: The first presidential election decided by judges and not by voters, the first time in history the Senate was split evenly between parties, and how the decision of republican Senator Jeffords to switch parties caused a significant switch in the balance of power (and how the republicans tried to smear his name because of it). Senator Jim Jeffords said he was “growing discontent with the Republican Orthodoxy… their strong-arm tactics… and the tone of petty vindictiveness”.

Daschle also wrote deeply about the horrific events of September 11, 2001, the anthrax attacks only a month later in his own office and many other places, the war with Afghanistan and the Taliban, and the new war with Iraq and Saddam Hussein (which was supposedly based on legitimate intel about WMD, which we now know to be false). Not to mention problems at home with our dreadful economy, devastated by September 11th and crippled more by massive corporate corruption (Enron and WorldCom were the two largest U.S. bankruptcies in history).

To worsen that, republicans asked Americans to reward the rich with tax breaks, even though middle America was losing their jobs and half their retirement savings. A federal judicial system was packed by Bush, with “strict constructionists” who are pro-life and anti-gay.

President Bush even appointed Charles Pickering to the Federal Court of Appeals while Congress was out of session in January 2004, even though Congress had repeatedly blocked him because of his anti-civil rights views.

Daschle mentions his many dealings with the president’s politics over policy practices, and the White House’s strategy to “maximize the value of war for political purposes.” Daschle believes in the purpose behind the recent wars, but it seems he does not like the White House’s way of getting to that point.

With faulty intelligence and failure by the president to initiate an independent inspection into September 11th, and Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction intelligence, we can only hope that the leader of our country has nothing to hide.

As Senate Majority Leader for 2001-2002, Tom Daschle looked at the democrats as the last line of defense against a republican president and republican House of Representatives. Daschle is not afraid to voice his concern for the state of our country in the hands of President Bush. He wrote this book as a record for the future about the choices our leadership made and as a proponent of not letting it happen again.

As Daschle states, “Our choices will effect our future in profound ways. And the choice lies with what kind of representation and leadership we want in government.”

Kristi Spurrier