Honestly Des, I think it's a great idea, the only one that makes sense to ME, but I don't have much hope for it.

They're talking about Sebelius, which seems rather uninspired to me, and this guy Mark McClellan, who is apparently a markets-can-fix-health-care kinda guy, so...

It seems like everybody I like is named Dean. Howard Dean, John Dean and James Dean.

Howard Dean's numbers are high in the Democratic Party. He remains a respected man in our country and we have not heard the end of him by any means.

A. Plans for single payer are already on the table in the Congress.

B. If Obama is now really listening to the people, he should choose someone committed to single payer.

C. Dean is fine with me. Sibelius is fine with me.

D. This should be about health care, not about personalities.

E. If Obama stands for change, let's see single payer health care.

Interests me how so few of the big horses that've been imagined in an All-Star Cabinet, have now gone - Gore. Kerry. Richardson. Daschle. Edwards. Looking at the Cabinet now, striking how little POLITICAL weight they have, as individuals. If this is a Team of Rivals, it may be intellectually, but it's not looking like a big clash of political forces or constituencies. Other than perhaps one notable exception.

In ways, looks to me like the action's going to be in Obama & Rahm's work with the Economic Team, the Foreign Policy Team, and so on - and that Cabinet may not be much of a center of action at all.

Oh yeah. Glad Daschle's gone. I had to root for guys like this when they were the only hope of slowing/reversing Bush & co, but they weren't really what I'd consider first class - especially considering the crisis we're now in. Plus, there was always this problem.

I'd love to see Dean. Not would he do a great job, but I think the Cabinet could really use his balance.

Very insightful comments, all. The name bubbling to the top for me is Sebelius rather than Dean after reading this discussion.

If Rahm is gonna throw little hissy fits because he isn't that gung ho on Dean, nothing is ever gonna accomplished.

IMHO

Nice post. I also would love to see Dean at HHS, I think he's been great all along. It certainly seems as if Obama doesn't favor him. I don't know why, maybe there's something there we don't know about, but my fear is that Obama doesn't like him because he's more of a fire-breather than a nice guy. Seems to me that if there's room for Republicans in this administration there ought to be room for at least one Democrat who tells it like it is.

.

Well . . .

For those who wish to see the single-player plan see the light-of-day, better think twice if you support Dr. Dean.

Dean is appealing. He is a physician with record of working at the state level to expand access to healthcare for children and low-income families. His 2004 presidential candidacy rallied opposition to the Bush-Cheney administration at a critical point and laid the communications and grassroots-political groundwork for Barack Obama's successful 2008 drive -- as did Dean's leadership of the DNC. And Dean is an independent player, who has tangled with the likes of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the past, and could be counted on to do so as a high-profile member of a "team of rivals" Cabinet.

But supporters of real health-care reform should remember that Dean long ago distanced himself from advocates for a single-payer system. Commentator John McClaughry -- a critical observer of his fellow Vermonter -- noted in a 2005 column for The Wall Street Journal that upon assuming the governorship in the early 1990s, "Gov. Dean quickly distanced himself from the single-payer idea he had supported, favoring instead something called 'regulated multipayer.' Translation: Hillarycare."

Dean's statements about healthcare reform continue to stir concern among single-payer advocates, including the doctors who are involved with a group the Vermonter should have aligned himself with, Physicians for a National Health Care Plan.

The point here is not to condemn Dean, who this writer has interviewed often and generally written about positively.

Rather, it is to suggest that those who are serious about reform should go into the discussion with regard to who will be Obama's point person on healthcare reform with eyes wide open.

Compete article at:

Would Dean Be Best at HHS?
John Nichols on 02/03/2009

thenation.com/blogs/ ... /would_dean_be_best_at_hhs?

And I appreciate a lot of the hard work that Dean has accomplished, but he's not in the single-payer camp.

~OGD~

You guys are speculating Rahm still has a "problem" with Dean over this and is holding a grudge. Ya got any evidence for that? Or is that just what you'd like to believe? And please tell me again why I should specifically hate Rahm.

First, I started the speculation. I think it's entirely fair, for reasons laid out below. So, if there's a problem with it, I'm right here.

The speculation exists because there is no obvious reason why Howard Dean would be completely frozen out of the Adminiatration. No known grudge between Obama and Dean exists, so you look for the people closest to both. Emanuel is a rather obvious choice.

Reports on strained relations between Dean and Emanuel were so frequent, and frankly so obvious, that I didn't bother to cite. It's generally taken as an understood fact. However, here's an example from someone you should know well, being near Chicago and all.

You'll take notice of the date, of course, which fits directly with this comment, which was linked upthread.

The spending issue ties directly back to Dean and Emanuel's competing views on how to grow Dem numbers. The fact is, Emanuel tried to pressure Dean on the remaining money. Dean rejected him, and Emanuel, as far as I am aware, is still angry about it. I understand where Rahm was coming from in wanting to target races, but Dean wanted to specifically go after more states and more races, and felt he needed the money to do that. The money was the DNC's, NOT the DCCC's. It wasn't up to Emanuel. Dean did what he thought was best. Should've been the end of the story.

And you're not the only one who did campaign work. I didn't sign on to DFA, but I busted my ass for the DNC and the state party the last three cycles. I say that only to make the fairly obvious point that various people have various campaign issues on the local and district levels, but that's not necessarily indicative of the organization on the national level.

Finally, you throw around "you guys" pretty cavalierly. I, for one, never said you should "hate" Emanuel. Far from it. But it is pretty fair, given Rahm's well-earned reputation, to speculate on his involvement in the Dean freezeout.