News

Daschle post-Congress: TV gig, Wall Street

by Albert Eisele - 12/15/04 12:00 AM ET

Is there life after the Senate for deposed Minority Leader Tom Daschle?

The answer is definitely yes, but it doesn’t include running for office again, following other former colleagues to K Street or returning to his native South Dakota after his 26-year career in Congress ends in January.

Is there life after the Senate for deposed Minority Leader Tom Daschle?

patrick g. ryan

Don’t look now, but the mysterious bulge that appeared in President Bush’s suit coat during the first presidential debate has turned up again, this time on the backs to Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, at the White House Medal of Freedom ceremony yesterday.

Instead, Daschle will hit the speaking circuit, write another book, become a television commentator or even star in his own television show, join several corporate boards and ultimately land a job at a Wall Street investment-banking firm, according to a person privy to his thinking.

“The world is his oyster,” a Washington lobbyist who is close to Daschle said Tuesday. “The only option he’s ruled out is that he’s not going to be a lobbyist because Linda [his lobbyist wife] has a big, thriving practice of her own.”

The Daschle confidant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Daschle will join a speakers bureau — where he probably could command fees in the $15,000-to-$25,000 range, and join several corporate boards. “A few, not a lot,” because of the increased liability faced by board members as a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Daschle also plans to write a sequel to his 2004 book, Like No Other Time, but he’d better get a good advance since it’s not likely to be a best seller, judging from the earlier book. The hardcover version is No. 284,375 on Amazon.com, while the paperback trails 690,885 other books in sales.

And the departing Democratic leader hopes to emulate former Reps. Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) and John Kasich (R-Ohio) by becoming a regular commentator on network or cable television, or by hosting his own TV interview program,