To write a more serious post on this, Daschle has left two jobs vacant. The White House Office of Health Reform and Health and Human Services Secretary. The OHR is a Washington job. It requires knowing senators and congressmen, understanding parliamentary process, working within Obama's administration, coordinating agency efforts, aligning the work of the administration and its legislative allies, and much more. It's not a job you fill with someone who doesn't know the players or the town. By contrast, HHS is an administrative job. The Secretary oversees a vast bureaucracy that includes the Center for Disease Control, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and a couple dozen other agencies. It's not a job for someone with little knowledge of health care and no experience administering a major institution. Which is all to say that the candidates you want for OHR will likely be different than those you want for HHS. A handful could serve at both. John Podesta, say. But in general, the governors we're hearing about would be poor fits for OHR. And the Washington folks wouldn't necessarily work for HHS. So I'm going to group the current contenders into two groups. OHR: Rosa DeLauro: Rapidly coming into focus as something approaching a consensus pick on the left. She's close with labor by virtue of her long service on the Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services. That tenure has also given her a deep understanding of health care issues. She's close to the administration by virtue of having let Rahm Emmanuel crash in her basement for five years and has ties in the Senate by virtue of having served as Chris Dodd's chief of staff. Also, the glasses. John Podesta: Everyone's dream candidate because he has the direct line to the president and the statute to walk easily among the Senate. If he's chosen, no one feels health reform has been set back. Efforts are ongoing to convince him to take the job and to convince the administration to select him. Relatively few people think they'll be successful, but nor is it out of the question. Tom Harkin: I have no idea why I keep hearing his name. That's not a knock on Harkin. But he's in a safe Senate seat and not terribly associated with health care issues. Ron Wyden: Knows health care cold. Is utterly committed. Has demonstrated a willingness to spend endless time meeting with his fellow senators and hearing out their concerns and shaping legislation to suit their needs. Has demonstrated his ability to work with Republican senators on health care. The problem is that he's committed to a bill -- Wyden-Bennett, which was reintroduced today with 13-cosponsors -- that's substantively quite different from Obama's legislation. Jeanne Lambrew: The current deputy director of the OHR and a very strong shot to simply become director of the office. A stone cold wonk with long congressional experience and good political instincts. HHS. Kathleen Sebelius: Former insurance commissioner in Kansas. Successful governor of Kansas. Well-liked by labor and by health care advocates. Good relationship with Obama. Seems to be the consensus choice among lefties. But she's also polling strongly for Kansas Senate in 2010 so there are some questions as to whether she wants to leave the state. Phil Bredesen: Former HMO entrepreneur. Successful governor of Tennessee. Knows health care cold but is mistrusted by the left and health care advocates. Has potentially troublesome ties to industry (BlueCross BlueShield paid $150,000 to renovate the governor's mansion while he was living in it). Has strong advocates inside the administration. Howard Dean: Former doctor. Well-liked by the left. Proved an able administrator while at the DNC. Presided over health reform in his own state. Would be a poor fit at OHR -- imagine Dean trying to convince Republican senators to support Democratic goals -- but could be a very neat fit at HHS. And he wants it. Him and Obama, however, are reputed to have a chilly relationship, and him and Emmanuel have a terrible relationship. Jon Cohn has more on this. Debbie Stabenow:: Could fit in the OHR camp, too. But I'm hearing her in connection with HHS. Stabenow has a background in social work and a seat on the Finance Committee, which means she knows the issues on both a macro and a micro level. Well-liked by the Obama folks and endorsed for HHS by the National Organization for Women.
