02/23/06 Also on CSPAN tonight
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:sSQIY4ciKD4J:www.mcradiation.com/blog/+daschle+buchanan&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7&lr=lang_en
Last night I went down to the Tom McCall Forum at the Schnitzer, featuring Pat Buchanan and Tom Daschle. It was a lot of fun. Buchanan was firing on all cylinders, and he was very funny. As my dad pointed out, he's an old speechwriter so he's well versed in timing and all of that good stuff. There was a portion where the two were debating in a conversation style, asking each other questions. Daschle got rocked back on his heels twice by Buchanan. Buchanan's first question was "So, Tom, if you could do it over again would you have voted for the war?" Daschle gave a bumbling answer that elicited boos and hisses from the audience. Buchanan also asked Daschle if he was willing to call for impeachment based on the NSA surveillance program, and again Daschle stammered and talked in circles.

Overall, Buchanan clearly came out on top at the end of the night. Of course, the event wasn't about winning or losing--it was about having a serious discussion of what is working in our democracy, and what isn't. And even in that, Buchanan did a better job of bringing out some of the flaws in the process today. Buchanan noted how spineless Congress has become as an institution, and how the two parties have failed to articulate a direction for the country that the electorate can embrace.

Daschle was too busy criticizing Bush and "the Republican Congress" to actually step back and admit that the Democrats have some serious problems of their own.

I enjoyed the event, and I'll probably go again in the future.