Hit & Run Thoughts

• An activist friend of mine and I speculated over email whom President Obama might nominate as Secretary of Health and Human Services now that Tom Daschle dropped out. In a moment of delightful snark he wrote, “Maybe Obama will appoint another Republican. I don’t think we have enough of those in the cabinet.” With New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg’s nomination as Commerce Secretary, the Obama Administration will have three Republicans in his cabinet. President George W. Bush only had one Democrat in his cabinet following the contested results in Florida after the 2000 election. Think about it.
  

• I don’t agree with Republicans very often. However, I appreciated Republican Texas Congressman Ted Poe, who recently said that the new Mets baseball stadium should be called “Taxpayer Stadium” instead of Citifield. Damn straight!
  

• One legacy President Bill Clinton can be proud of is Supreme Court Justice Judith Bader Ginsburg. Earlier today it was learned that Justice Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer. Too me Ginsburg has always epitomized what a Supreme Court Justice should be: principled yet open minded, fair, dignified and low-key. How awful that such a classy lady has to endure something so painful.

• Elections do matter, even when the pace of change is not fast enough (see my previous post). Today President Obama signed The State Child Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (SCHIP). Granted it's not universal healthcare but with one stroke of the pen, Obama reversed one of the cruler domestic pieces of George W. Bush's presidency.

For Sick Political Junkies Like Me

So how many of you knew former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle announced he was not running for President last week? Unless you’re a totally obsessed political junkie like myself it probably escaped your attention.

However, Chris Cillizza who writes for the Washington Post blog, "The Fix," for political junkies like me reports Daschle’s announcement may be a lift for Barack Obama in 2008. According to Cillizza’s reporting, Daschle loyalists are experienced operatives and liberated to focus completely on Obama’s campaign. Apparently there are close ties between Obama’s inner circle and Tom Daschle. Obama is inexperienced in national politics and competing against the Hillary Clinton political machine is a tall order. Hence it is Cillizza's contention that Daschle's decision not to run may better enable Obama to construct an effective political operation of his own.

I acknowledge Obama’s charisma and compelling story but I’m still not ready to hop on the bandwagon. Our country is confronted with herculean challenges because of Bush's insipid rule. I need to know any Democrat I'm supporting is up to the job. Even so, as regular readers of this blog may recall, I wrote a hypothetical inauguration speech for Obama in October just to try him on for size. In attempting to write in Obama's voice I felt compelled to speak with religious overtones and that made me somewhat uncomfortable with him.