Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Don't Mourn for Daschle

A Democratic scandal? Surely Tom Daschle lied to President Obama, or Obama did not do a thorough jog in checking out Daschle's background.

I like this opinion piece by John Nichols at The Nation. Click on the link to read the whole article.

Tom Daschle has, under his usual cloud of scandal, withdrawn as President Obama's nominee to serve in the critical Cabinet position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Republicans think they have dealt the new president a blow.

In fact, by opposing Daschle so strenuously, and appropriately, Republicans and a handful of principled Democratic senators (who had quietly let the White House know they were not going to back the nomination) have done the new president and the nation a favor.

The scandal over Daschle's lavish lifestyle and failure to pay taxes simply emphasized why the former Senate Majority Leader was exactly the wrong choice to serve in the administration of a Democratic president who aspires to make a break with the worst of the compromises that characterized his party during the Bush-Cheney era.

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