I think Steve Clemons gets this wrong. 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..."
