Abstract

After Torricelli

The article focuses on the challenges facing the Democratic Party in the U.S. The decision of New Jersey Democrat Senator Robert Torricelli to withdraw from a reelection campaign prior to the 2002 elections does not guarantee that the crisis facing the Democratic party, which is affected by the scandal issue, has passed. It is still battling to keep Senator Frank Lautenberg in the November ballot. Another Democrat incumbent Tom Harkin is also scrambling to extricate himself from a scandal. Other incumbents remain vulnerable and at risk of losing to Republican rivals. The vulnerability of the party is largely blamed to Senate majority leader Tom Daschle who fails to turn the raw materials of economic uncertainty and corporate crime into campaign issues.