A read of The Wall Street Journal’s Bookshelf column, “In Praise of the Political Insider,” a review of the Lott/Daschle collaboration, Crisis Point, by Mark Salter will give you a totally different perspective than mine posted here yesterday.
Salter, a former administrative assistant to Sen. John McCain, who collaborated with the senator on several books, certainly presents a myopic view of former senators Lott and Daschle. It’s what you would expect.
Salter makes the case for insiders, bipartisanship, compromise and comity, and writes of the “authority” Messrs. Lott and Daschle acquired over a combined six decades as career legislators. In my view they got too comfortable in their positions of leadership in Washington and stopped listening to voters.
“(They) have made an astute case for a model of public service that is professional and principled, attributes that distinguished their former service. Now and then, they deserve our gratitude,” wrote Salter glowingly. I disagree.
