Dick Gephardt

WHEN IT ALL boiled over that day in September--with a red-faced Tom Daschle denouncing the president from the Senate floor--George W. Bush had already given the Democrats two very bad years. Two years of predictions that never quite happened. Two years of gotchas that never came through. Two years of hopes dashed.

Two Septembers ago, let us remember, candidate Bush appeared dead in the water. He misspoke, went off message, blew his big lead. In the debates, surely, Al Gore would finish him. Not quite. Bush won the debates.

JUST AFTER LUNCH ON OCTOBER 1, President Bush telephoned House Democratic Leader Dick Gep-hardt. Bush needed help. He wanted negotiations over a congressional war resolution to wind up quickly, so a vote could be held and pressure put on the United Nations to endorse tougher arms inspections in Iraq. A lopsided pro-war vote would have the greatest impact, the president said. But talks between the White House and Congress had dragged on for a week. What can we do to get agreement on a resolution today? Bush asked. Two things, Gephardt said.

NOT TWO WEEKS AGO, the administration publicly concluded it didn't need to ask Congress' permission to attack Iraq. Now, President Bush is poised to pop the question.
Capitol Hill should be pleased. For weeks, lawmakers insisted, loudly, that they expect to be part of any decision about Saddam Hussein's future. Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia decried "an information gap" with the White House and said that "Congress has to be a partner" to the president. Rep.

HERE'S A GOOD ONE: Liberals are now whining about media bias.

It took the form of an April 12 letter to the heads of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. "We are writing to bring to your attention an issue that has become more pronounced in recent months: the lack of television coverage of press events featuring elected leaders of the Democratic Party," wrote Tom Daschle, the Senate's top Democrat, and Dick Gephardt, the party's top man in the House.

TOM DASCHLE, the Senate majority leader, says President Bush is handling the economy poorly. His evidence? The White House now projects budget deficits for the next several years. Representative Nita Lowey of New York, who runs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, labels the economic downturn "George Bush's recession." Richard Gephardt, the House Democratic leader, insists Bush is "mismanaging the economy."

The press has played this Democratic assault as a return to sharp partisan conduct after several months of bipartisanship following the terrorist attacks on September 11.