Governor Kathleen Sebelius will be a fine secretary of Health and Human Services, but President Obama needs to also utilize Governor Howard Dean, who revitalized the Democratic Party and helped Obama get elected. Why not put Dean in the White House as the Health Care czar that Tom Daschle was once to be (double duty was planned.)
Running HHS is enough to keep Sebelius super busy. It will keep her plate overfilled. Let medical doctor Howard Dean campaign for health care reform.
The administration faces a daunting goal: to get healthcare reform passed by year's end. Like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Obama is taking on healthcare at a time when Democrats enjoy majorities in both the House and Senate. However, we all know how that story ended. For this reason, Obama is looking for someone who not only understands the labyrinthine world of healthcare, but commands respect on Capitol Hill.
President Obama -- use that great brain of yours and see the wisdom in using Howard Dean, himself a doctor who has delivered on healthcare reform. As Governor of Vermont, Dean expanded healthcare coverage for children and pregnant women. When he left office, only 9.6 percent of Vermont residents were uninsured (in contrast, about 15 percent of all Americans are uninsured). Not surprisingly, the Wall Street Journal just listed Dean as one of the main contenders for HHS.
We hear that, as DNC Chair, Dean butted heads with future Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other Beltway insiders. Why? They bitterly opposed Dean's 50-state strategy -- the farsighted blueprint that enabled the Democrats to retake the House and Senate in 2006, as well as made Obama's landslide victory possible. Well, what about the big tent of Obama? Is the tail (Emmanuel) wagging the lion (Obama)? If President Obama can reach out to Republicans, why not also reach out to Democrats who see things differently? Especially one that played a key role in your election. Dean was right by the way, and Emmanuel was wrong.
It is sad that some of the great Democrats who carried water for Obama, like Wesley Clark and Howard Dean, have been overlooked by the Emmanuel-driven White House. Where is the gratitude? Are you really utilizing the best the Democratic Party has to offer?
Howard Dean is exactly what Obama needs to get health care reform passed: a policy expert and populist who knows how to get things done.
Health care reform cannot wait. Please call the White House (202.456.1414) and ask President Obama to give Howard Dean the job of championing health care reform. Sebelius will need all the help she can get.
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