OK, this might be a bogus report, but the Politico mentioned Blue Dog Jim Cooper as a possible replacement for Daschle.
But some potential replacements for Daschle could include former Vermont Gov. and DNC Chair Howard Dean, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.)
Digby writes about the media's suck up to Cooper's foray into the health care debate under Clinton:
Jim Cooper is an enemy of universal health care. He will, however, work to ensure that the insurance industry and the Big Pharma gets more of your tax dollars.
Read this report and weep.
The country cannot afford another giveaway to Big Insurance and Pharma and desperately needs a complete overhaul of the system in order to get costs into line and get people covered. This recession is going to end up making more than 50 million people without health insurance, very possibly more than that. Many more are terribly underinsured. Obama cannot put some slimy Blue Dog opportunist in charge of it.
Make sure to read Digby's entire post. I Like Howard Dean very much and hope he gets the job, but what Obama cannot do is appoint fraking Blue Dogs to help pass Universal Health Care. It's going to be a tough fight even if Americans voted in Obama to do exactly that. You can be sure that the media will adopt right wing talking points and feature members from the conservatives in Congress and Gingrich types to set the tone to help defeat universal health care. The economic stimulus debate so far has been a primer for what's to come.
