By Denise Ross

A piece out today in The Hill offers a glimpse into the complicated relationship South Dakota’s own Tom Daschle has had with the Clinton power couple.

According to the article, Daschle rebuffed Hillary’s idea to set up a permanent campaign spin office within the US Senate, but the rebuffing did not outlast Daschle as Democratic leader.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was the original impetus behind the Senate Democratic “war room,” …

The war room has been credited for revolutionizing message strategy in the Senate but also criticized for creating a permanent campaign atmosphere in a chamber that has long prided itself on collegiality and across-the-aisle relationships. …

Clinton first proposed a Senate war room while Daschle was the Senate Democratic leader, but the soft-spoken South Dakotan declined to implement her idea …

Daschle did not respond to several requests for comment. …

The war room that Reid established after the 2004 election eventually swelled into an operation staffed by 25 to 30 aides.

The piece goes on to quote senators saying the war room has contributed to a harshly partisan environment in a body that historically has been collegial.

This feeds into Barack Obama’s message that he wants to change this kind of partisan warring in Washington, and it gives Daschle a leg to stand on if he claims he doesn’t necessarily represent that despite his decades in DC.

I’ve long chuckled at the notion that Obama represented some new way of love and harmony, knowing the very skilled political operatives, formerly in Daschle’s employ, who now work for Obama. But it appears Daschle did try to hold the line, obstructionist that he is proud to have been.

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