The Last 20th-Century Election?

Back in February 2002, some colleagues and I sat down to lunch with Tom Daschle, who was then the Democratic majority leader of the United States Senate. This was in the months just after the fall of the twin towers and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, when most of America -- and at least publicly, most Democrats in Washington -- seemed eager to support the president. On this day, however, Daschle, a mild South Dakotan whose idea of being confrontational is to interrupt without saying ''excuse me,'' seemed to have lost patience with George W. Bush and his entire administration.

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