Remember when Joe Biden told reporters that he was “not the guy” four days before Barack Obama announced him as his Democratic running mate?
Now comes the news that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who is 60, has been tapped as HHS secretary.
Sure, Daschle has been rumored for months as a favorite for the HHS post, and almost everyone in Washington thinks he has the knowledge, experience and relationships to do the job well. In fact, earlier this year, he wrote a book on health reform “Critical: What We Can Do about the Health Care Crisis,” which laid out the need for national health reform and plans for achieving it.
As secretary, Daschle’s duties would include overseeing the Centers for Disease Control and the health coverage of about one-fourth of Americans, such as those who get their care through government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and children’s health insurance. He would probably also be involved in the administration’s efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system.
But in a chat with CQ in August, he downplayed his interest. Don’t get us wrong — he didn’t say he wasn’t interested in serving in an Obama administration. He just raised doubts about his interest in the HHS job specifically.
Back then, when asked about another news report suggesting that Daschle was angling to be HHS secretary, he shook his head. “No — what I said was — certainly I’m not going to challenge how it was reported — but basically someone else suggested I might make a good HHS secretary.”
Then he uttered this statement, which seemed clear enough, given Daschle’s talent for speaking at length without revealing much: “I don’t know that I’m interested in being an administrator.”
That was then, of course, just as Joe Biden was not the guy — until he was.
— Rebecca Adams
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