[hrothgar]

Here's a useful quote from The American Prospect

Quote

Daschle wasn't taken down by Republicans. No senators, to my knowledge, came out against his appointment. Major columnists didn't have time to attack his ethics. Moreover, these revelations didn't come from Republican oppo researchers. They came from Daschle's own files and admissions. This was not a GOP hit. The Obama administration didn't move because they thought Republican senators would defeat his nomination. They moved because they, and the left, thought Daschle's presence would harm the administration's image and degrade their credibility on health care. It was too easy to write the attack ads "Tom Daschle took $220,000 from the health industry..."

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezrakle..._killed_daschle

[kenberg]

I wish for the best for President Obama, whom I did vote for, just as I wished for the best for President Bush, whom I did not vote for. But his presidency is off to a very shaky start. The whole Democratic coalition is looking creaky. As the various senators lined up to state their absolute trust in Tom Daschle it reminded me of Madeleine Albright and her fellow stooges calling a press conference to announce they had absolute faith in Bill Clinton's denials about Ms. Lewinsky. Or, to go to the other party, George Bush's endorsement of Putin because he had looked into his soul. When people state with solemnity that they firmly believe total rubbish they end up paying a price in how they are perceived.

Obabma moved very slowly on this and gave every appearance of planning to ram the Daschle nomination down our throats, critics be damned. At some point it became clear that the nomination was placing his whole agenda in danger. It was this that brought about the change, not any concerns about propriety. Or so it seems to me.


Presidents learn. Mr. Bush, I think, became a more capable president as he gained experience. Too little too late comes to mind. We can all hope that Mr. Obama is a quick learner. There is some evidence for this.

But I truly do not understand why a guy who has more money than I would know how to spend doesn't just pay his *****ed taxes.

[Winstonm]

Quote

Obabma moved very slowly on this and gave every appearance of planning to ram the Daschle nomination down our throats, critics be damned.

I really would not have cared if he had. I would rather know upfront the nominee is a crook than watch more clever and deceitful nominees like Gonzales and Mukasey win approval.