This Halloween, Baker Donelson is getting the treat: former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is joining the firm, by way of newly created policy affiliate The Daschle Group.

"Bipartisan consensus appeals to me a great deal," Tom tells us, "and I think I can look for it with greater success and even more enthusiasm as the founder of my group." Baker Donelson was home to former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, a friend and mentor to Tom for decades, he tells us, with whom he created the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The Daschle Group starts at Baker Donelson after the midterm elections. It'll be a full-service advisory firm, dealing with issues from healthcare to transportation to energy. To get bipartisan consensus in Washington these next few years, Tom tells us there are three important factors: 1) a willingness to compromise, 2) a substantive middle ground, and 3) presidential leadership, particularly in the last two years of this presidency.

The Daschle Group will work closely with Baker Donelson's government relations group, which is headed by Sheila Burke. (Some may remember when it was headed by Tom's wife, Linda Hall Daschle; he tells us he got to know the firm through her.) Sheila and Tom met years ago on the Hill; she was the chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole for a decade. "We're thrilled," she tells us, "I couldn't imagine having a better person in the office."