Then, he met individually with Dick Gephardt, the House Democratic leader from Missouri, and then with Tom Daschle, the Senate Democratic leader from South Dakota. The Republicans say they spent most of the discussion talking about tax cuts and energy policies, and things that the new administration should do to keep the economy going. There's a great deal of concern the economy may be softening. It would also make it easier to get through this divided Congress. Bush came out afterwards and said the reason he believes he was elected president is because of the things he campaigned on, including his tax-cut proposal.
Democrats disagree with that analysis.
They argue that the election was a tie and that Al Gore got more votes. With that said both Gephardt and Daschle pledged to meet Bush halfway and talked about the importance of governing in the center and of staying away from the extreme sides of both parties. It was a very cordial atmosphere. These are professional politicians. All the meetings were described as very polite and very cordial.