Something about as rare as the alignment of the out-er planets was under way in the Capitol last Wednesday: Tom Daschle was mad, really mad. The famously unflappable Senate majority leader had stormed into an aide's office that morning sputtering, "This is outrageous!" Then he raged some more during a meeting in which he and other Senators were supposed to be reviewing the latest Hispanic polling numbers. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin finally cooled him down: "Count to 10. Call some close friends. Wait an hour before you say anything." When Daschle took the Senate floor later that morning, everyone knew something big was coming; more than half the Democratic Senators emerged from their offices and committee rooms to see it for themselves.
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