Boston Globe / Daschle opts out of presidential race

Thomas A. Daschle decided yesterday to skip a campaign for president to remain as the Democrats' leader in the Senate, only hours after telling his staff he planned to form a presidential exploratory committee and just days before he was to make his first campaign trip.

Daschle was my least favorite possible candidate. He does not have a good image on television and he has compromised too much.

Both Senator Bob Graham of Florida and former general Wesley Clark of Arkansas, once NATO supreme allied commander, met yesterday with Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to discuss the possibility of campaigns. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware is also said to be weighing a candidacy.

Wesley Clark is an unusual choice, I don't think a general who is not very famous would do well in the primaries. I am impressed by Graham.