The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> PANIC CITY br> House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will probably get together with Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe in the next couple of days, based on the alarming polling that the Democratic Congressional leaders are seeing. /p>

"This past week may have been the worst for the party in a long time," says a staffer on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "We're just getting hammered."

The polling indicates that Democratic voters contacted early in the week gave highly unfavorable ratings to the Democratic Party in general, and when asked to give examples why, listed the now infamous error-filled memo written by singer Barbra Streisand, and the appearances of Reps. David Bonior and Jim McDermott on national TV last Sunday from Baghdad. Al Gore was also mentioned as a negative. Overall, nearly 40 percent of those Democrats polled had a negative view of the party and its positions on Iraq.

In meetings this week with colleagues, Gephardt has been especially harsh in this comments about Bonior and McDermott, both of whom stood on a rooftop in Baghdad and lobbed verbal missiles at the United States. Bonior, who is a lame duck member after an embarrassing loss in the Michigan gubernatorial primary, accused the United States of being responsible for just about every illness suffered by a child in Iraq, while McDermott claimed that he knew George W. Bush would lie to the American public so he could go to war.

"Gephardt is so pissed off at those two," says a House leadership aide. "He didn't give a damn about what Bonior did, he's not his problem anymore, but he did care about McDermott's behavior. The leader asked him not to spout off on TV, but even after he's back and seen the controversy, McDermott can't keep his mouth shut. It's amazing."

And while Gephardt tried to make light of the memo faxed to him by the singer/Democratic fundraiser Streisand, he privately was embarrassed by its tone. "He's afraid people will think he gets pulled around by the nose by that woman," says one of staffers.

topics:
Economics, Iraq, NATO