Thomas Daschle: “each year, I travel through South Dakota, talking to people where they live and work, in the cafes where they meet, the…”

“each year, I travel through South Dakota, talking to people where they live and work, in the cafes where they meet, the schools where they send their children, the ranches and sale barns where they hope that this year will bring better prices than the last, the farms where they raise their crops--anywhere people gather to discuss what matters to them. Every year, I get to all 66 counties, and every year, I marvel at the incredible range of opinions and perspectives I encounter along the way. But there is another thing that was striking to me this year--and that is the fact that wherever I was, I heard from different people from different backgrounds a lot of the same hopes, and a lot of the same concerns. People have a sense of uncertainty. They are uncertain about the progress in the war on terror and the war in Iraq, and they are anxious about the economy--not just about their own jobs, and their own health care, but also about whether their communities and their way of life are going to survive.”