Inside Washington

Daschle's Dash

Although South Dakota's Thomas Daschle is barely into his second term in the U.S. Senate, he has taken a surprising lead in the quiet but intense race to succeed the retiring George Mitchell as majority leader, the upper chamber's top job. Daschle's shrewd strategy: woo influential incumbent Senators as well as rising Democratic stars who seem likely to ascend to the Senate come November. Among Daschle's targets are two of his former House colleagues, Tennessee's Jim Cooper and Missouri's Alan Wheat.