Daschle Backs Obama

ABC News’ Jake Tapper Reports: Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told ABC News Wednesday that he’s supporting the presidential bid of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. — the only Democratic Senator running for President that Daschle never served with in Congress.

"He personifies my hopes for the next generation of political leadership," said Daschle. "He has the same unique ability to inspire that I witnessed as a youth watching John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King."

Elected by Senate Democrats to lead them in 1994, the year of the Republican revolution, Daschle served with Obama’s rivals including Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Joe Biden of Delaware, and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. (It was Dodd whom Daschle beat in his 1994 leadership race.) As a member of the House from 1978 until 1976, Daschle served alongside another presidential candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson, D-NM, then a member of the House. The South Dakotan was defeated in his 2004 re-election contest on the same day the junior senator from Illinois was elected.

Nonetheless, Obama seems to have wowed the former Majority Leader. "It has been a long, long time since I have seen this level of personal charisma," Daschle said of Obama.

Daschle is a special policy adviser at the Washington law firm of Alston and Bird and a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.

Several staffers working for Obama once worked for Daschle. Key Obama campaign adviser Steve Hildebrand once served the same role for Daschle. Pete Rouse was Dasche’s Senate chief of staff and is now Obama’s. Dan Pfeiffer was Daschle’s campaign communications director in his 2004 race and is now Obama’s traveling press secretary.  Julianna Smoot was Daschle’s campaign finance director and now serves the same role for Obama.