by Jerome Armstrong, Tue Feb 03, 2009 at 10:35:46 AM EST
Tags: Howard Dean (all tags)
Is anyone listening?
No.
Do the netroots get a seat at Obama's table?
No.
This is a moment of truth for Obama. But I have to laugh. I had nothing against Daschle, really, I liked his thoughts throughout the campaign and he's a great guy ...
But man. Seriously. Is there anyone better qualified that Uncle Howie?
Depends on what you mean by "qualified" - and on what President Obama is intending to do with the position of HHS Secretary.
Qualified to run a large federal bureaucracy? Sure, Dean is as qualified as any other former governor, and as a former medical professional probably has something to bring to the table.
Qualified to take point in the press and on the Hill for comprehensive health care reform? Nope. There are many people who have more experience working both (a) with the press and (b) with Congress (and particularly the Senate) than Howard Dean. If I'm picking someone to shepherd health care reform through Congress and public opinion, Howard Dean isn't my choice.
So it depends on what the Administration intends to do with the position... will they want an HHS secretary who just runs the department, or will they want HHS to take the lead on health care reform? If it's the latter, they would be well served ignoring the Netroots and picking someone other than Howard Dean. (If it's the former, they might still be well-served ignoring the Netroots and picking someone other than Howard Dean, but the decision matters a bit less.)
Who do you think would be best? I don't know the players so well in this area. Is there someone particularly astute with regard to both policy and politics?
Interesting. I would think Podesta a bit to the center of Klein. He's certainly smart and on top of the policy debates. Experience as Clinton's CoS doesn't hurt either. My hope is that Obama takes a call from, or makes a call to Hillary. Her input and experience on this issue would go a long way.
my sense is that he will choose someone he likes who will be competent, but not much of a game changer. This seems to be his pattern rather than someone for whom he feels will really think boldly and ouside of their historical box while also being competent. i have had time to think of his picks in more detail- and all of them fall into this category of not particularlly innovate with maybe the exception of the labor and energy picks. everyone else, even dascle, comes out of this early 1990s mentality. It's as if the party has been frozen in time since then. I am not sure how clinton would help either way.
Agreed. The Chu and Solis picks are by far the most interesting. I'd like him to talk with Hillary because she screwed it up once (or was beaten, depending on your perspective). I wonder whom Teddy Kennedy would push for?
I don't know. I do remember that he heavily influence the Baucus white paper released after the election in which Baucus seemed to move substantively leftward. but my sense again is that the conservatives are in control of Obama's white house right now. You could see that when Nadler (??) was on TV discussing his approach to meeting the progressives. That the aides were short with the progressives in a meeting so that they could so somewhere else, and it turned ou tlater that they were going to see GOP members. That's the mindset. I also see no reason given the a) conservative democrat offensive online or b) the subset of obama supporters who don't care what he does because they love obama that things will matter regarding this pick. Thus, I must conclude that it will probably not come down to what a Clinton or Kennedy have to say on the subject.
There are many people who have more experience working both (a) with the press and (b) with Congress (and particularly the Senate) than Howard Dean.
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Huh? He was Gov of VT for 8 years and ran for President...I'd say he has plenty of experience working with the press. Working with Congress, not so much, but he did work with the VT State Legislature for many years.
Come see Howard Dean at the 6th Annual DemocracyFest! http://www.DemocracyFest.net
Confused. Are you saying that because there are trolls out there, A sitting president will not listen to his people? Or that Jerome won't be taken seriously because there are a few trolls around?
When I was playing around on Raging bull as a stock trader I happened to notice a few of them there on the discussion boards. People seemed to take them in stride.
By the way, just had to notice the markets rallied when Daschle announced he's withdrawing...
Remember when they rallied when Obama spoke in Dec.? Reminded me of that. Maybe its just a coincidence..
I thought there was some good financial news today: Home sales and (I think) good drug earnings.
Man, I'd hate to be like the Repubs, treating the Dow like some kind of crazy oracle that we can cite whenever it seems to coincide with something we did or didn't do.
Says the guy who wants to redefine New York as a conservative enclave.
That can be said in reverse of conservative areas of the country. No one walks around saying those areas are ultra progressive.
It's a shellgame. "Look over here at this parsed out part, and thus I prove my point."
Except you don't prove your point. You prove you ability to parse out what you want to see. Thus, I question your perception here on the subject you choose to discuss.
Hey, but don't worry the conservative dems re winning- for now. They problem they face is the same that Wall Street faced a few years ago because most of them knew this mess we see now was coming down the pike. The problem is that their approach is ultimately bad in the long term. This country can not survive with these approaches, and either a) we will figure that out or b) other countries will surpass us because of bad investment on our part.
Not all of wall street right now is doing bad. Many people hedged in favor of the conditions we are seeing now. They did not ignore the behaviors and the fact they were wrong. Most of them are now making a lot of money off of our short sightedness. I see the same happening more broadly with the mentality of the Democrats (especially the conservatives).
I seriously wish you would knock it the fvck off.
I dunno, I too grow weary of the "the people I know say __, so therefore I am the ultimate authority on everything" act.
It's like nrafter thinks he's the only one that knows people. Eight months ago my man was convinced Reverend Wright was Obama's Waterloo based on a couple of IM conversations.
I don't think there's any question that the netroots are extremely pro-Dean. That said, it takes like 1 or 2 recs to make the rec list on this site!
If Team Obama is gauging netroots opinion by quickly scanning the rec list at MyDD (I'm pretty sure they aren't) it's actually a little scary to think about what they would see on a typical day.
Need to think about this one. Gov Dean should certainly be on the short list.. But I remember his mixed record with the Dems in the VT legislature. Some MDs aren't very collegial when dealing with folks they view as less knowledgeable. But he certainly grew in stature as DNC Chair..and learned to work well with very differing viewpoints..
Actually, either is acceptable... sceptic is more commonly an English spelling, like flavour, grey, or tambourine.
This would the first and only truly progressive member of the administration that has a proven track record of success at organizing a large operation, in Dean's case, the DNC. Think back to the time BEFORE Dean took over and then imagine how the Democrats would have done in the 2008 elections. His 50-state strategy was an astounding success.
It's important to me that any health-care solution is not COMPETELY beholden to special interests. Daschle would have been an outstanding choice. but I trust Dr. Dean's committment to real committment to progressive ideals even more.
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