The New York Times says that Kathleen Sebelius is "emerging as the president’s top choice for secretary of health and human services." It wouldn't be a surprising choice: Sebelius is well-liked by the activist community and broadly respected for her political and managerial in a deep red state. She knows health care well from the regulatory side, having served as insurance commissioner in Kansas. Her tenure in that position wasn't dramatic, but it was a solid performance that she smartly played for populist credibility. She refused to take money from the insurance industry or individuals connected to it and blocked a mega-merger between BlueCross/BlueShield of Kansas and an interested insurance based in Indiana. “I don’t mind standing up to the big powerful lobbies, I think that is the role you play in public office," she said. "There will always be well paid, very articulate lobbyists for industries that make money. What needs to happen is that the other side needs to be brought in, we need to bring that viewpoint to the table.” As governor, Sebelius amassed a reputation as a savvy operator with a knack for predatory bipartisanship. Republicans in her orbit have a funny habit of becoming, well, Democrats. And I don't mean simply voting with the Democrats. I mean deserting their party and becoming actual, registered Democrats. Word is also that she gets along easily with Obama and there's little doubt that she'd sail through confirmation hearings. Of the names floated for HHS so far, she arguably makes the most sense. But be clear: Sebelius is a choice for Health and Human Services, not health reform. She'd be a newcomer to Washington, with few contacts on the Hill and little knowledge of the players or the process. She's not versed in the administration's health care plan nor has she been present for the internal conversations that have sharpened in recent weeks as the coming budget forced hard decisions on the proposal. She'd be walking into a situation where various internal players and advisers have already carved out a broad role for themselves in the administration's process and she'd be facing down a Congress that's surprisingly far along in its own preparations. That's not to say that as head of HHS she wouldn't be in on the meetings and have a voice at the table. But she will not be replacing Daschle as the central figure in both the administration's health care reform effort and its health services bureaucracy.
