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3 p.m. ET: Well, if the Obama team was looking to put the bumpiness of the Panetta and Richardson stories behind them, this is a good way: Sanjay Gupta is tentatively set to become the next U.S. Surgeon General. He narrowly beat out Dr. Phil for the post. (The joke was just sitting there, waiting for someone to make it.)
We'll surely hear more in the coming days about why Obama made this choice, but the most obvious reason seems to be this: Obama is an avowed fitness freak who is also putting a lot of stock in getting a major health care overhaul done in his first term. Clearly, he cares about this subject. So while Gupta may not have a reservoir of public health experience on which to draw, he does have something valuable -- celebrity. As in, when he tells people to quit smoking (Obama included) or to lose weight, they might actually listen. Similar logic was behind the choice, back in 1990, of Arnold Schwarzenegger to chair the President's Council on Physical Fitness. Does this mean Gupta will be governor of his native Michigan in a few years? Stranger things have happened.
Back to those other Cabinet selections. Quickly realizing what Joe Biden admits was a mistake, both Biden and Obama have called Dianne Feinstein to apologize for leaving her out of the loop on the Panetta pick. That doesn't necessarily mean she's on board with the choice, but at least now she can stop being offended by it and start seriously weighing his merits. Meanwhile, who's going to be commerce secretary? Probably not Christine Gregoire, whose mysterious absence from Washington state was cleared up today. She's not in D.C., she's in Iraq.
Roland Burris is in D.C. but not in the Senate. He was turned away from the chamber this morning, still lacking the proper signatures to get in. His next move will likely be a legal one. Perhaps he should explore a faster route into a position of power -- CNN.
8 a.m. ET: President Bush has often bragged of his disregard for polls and his "thick skin against criticism." If he hasn't already, Barack Obama will learn soon how hard it is to find a middle ground between being too sensitive to the political winds, and not sensitive enough. Too cautious, and not cautious enough.
That balancing act is on display this morning, as Obama faces questions on whether he was careless in selecting Bill Richardson for commerce secretary and whether he was -- depending on how you look at it -- either too careful or not careful enough in choosing Leon Panetta for CIA Director.
On Richardson, Obama's camp and that of the New Mexico governor are now engaged in a blame game over whether Richardson failed to disclose everything or Obama's vetters just failed to play close enough attention. Either way, it's not a good sign that Robert Gibbs was reduced to defending "the totality of our Cabinet picks" rather than the specific pick at issue.
As a window into Obama's thought process, Panetta is a more complicated choice. On one hand, the incoming president picked Panetta because he clearly bent over backwards not to pick anyone connected to or supportive of the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies. That stance essentially eliminated nearly every experienced candidate for the CIA job, including Obama intelligence adviser John Brennan. Was that an example of Obama taking a firm ideological stand, regardless of the practical consequences, or was he too sensitive to the criticisms of the liberal blogosphere?
On the other hand, the pick of Panetta could just as easily be seen as bold or even careless. How is it possible that Obama's team didn't at least ask Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller what they thought of the choice before it leaked? Having both the incoming and outgoing chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- both Democrats -- dump on the pick is probably not how Obama wanted to kick off his stewardship of the nation's secrets.
So how careful will Obama be when it comes to moving an economic stimulus package? The president-elect seemed to say all the right things on the Hill yesterday, even impressing some Republicans with his apparent willingness to bring them to the negotiating table. The GOP likes Obama's desire for significant tax cuts, though the minority may not be so excited about his proposal to allow more poor families to claim the child tax credit.
Regardless of how strong the bipartisan support for the stimulus plan ends up being, Obama is at least running the traps on Capitol Hill beforehand and showing a desire to be careful and inclusive. Maybe he should have convened some meetings like Monday's before he started making his Cabinet picks.
By
Ben Pershing
|
January 6, 2009; 8:00 AM ET
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Posted by: ccdc20009 | January 6, 2009 11:51 AM
The right has tried to peg the Panetta pick as "dangerous" in some way. I would dare say that if our protection is vested in the CIA doing a good job we are already in trouble. They let known terrorists into our country and didn't stop them before. This has been blamed on the prior administration's (Clinton) policies, but this is only fractionally true. The Bureaucracy is broken and making it bigger with Homeland Security probably didn't help. We will see. If Panetta uses an orginizational - reorganizational approach it might be a good thing. If he takes a political axe?
Posted by: star_key2 | January 6, 2009 12:21 PM
WASHINGTON NEEDS NEW APPROACH. LET US TRY THIS ONE.
Posted by: manam002gmailcom | January 6, 2009 12:22 PM
The United State's reputation in the world has been all but destroyed by Bush/Chaney. The CIA was only a part of this disastrous gunboat diplomacy but at this point it is far more important that the Obama Administration sends a signal to the World that things are going to change than to sooth the bruised feelings of intelligence insiders.
Posted by: markswisshelm | January 6, 2009 12:38 PM
What? Dr. Gupta for Surgeon General? Your kidding. That's like picking "Dr. Nick" from the Simpsons? Barack, you're scaring me.
Posted by: jevierra | January 6, 2009 3:51 PM
Well, Ben Casey is dead, so why not Dr. Gupta.
BTW, Judge Judy stands ready to head up the Justice Dept.
Posted by: AWWNats | January 6, 2009 4:22 PM
good grief. you cannot be serious....
first apologizing to the whiny difi and now this appalling choice. obama should have stayed in bed today.
Posted by: mycomment | January 6, 2009 4:43 PM
Seems like there are too many rednecks online today who can't seem to accept anyone in important positions if their name is not Tom, Dick or Harry.
Posted by: aagarwal190 | January 6, 2009 4:57 PM
Celebrity not withstanding, the man is an idiot! Interior, Ag, CIA and now PHS in the hands of unqualified hacks - my early hopes from his Justice and foreign policy appointments is fading rapidly.
Posted by: fr3dmars | January 6, 2009 7:01 PM
It seems unfair to paint Dr. Gupta as a mere TV celebrity. It's my understanding that Dr. Gupta has a longstanding interest in health policy, and that he helped Hillary Clinton craft health policy some years ago. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2009/01/06/obama_wants_journalist_for_sur.html?hpid=topnews
Posted by: VirginiaMom | January 6, 2009 8:07 PM
Dr. Gupta is also a faculty member at Emory School of Medicine. He is a board-certified neurosurgeon. While a choice of someone with an MPH and more preventative-medicine based specialty would have been better, it is true he has the most celebrity. That's really the whole point of the Surgeon General...they don't set health policy in any real sense. The NIH and FDA does that.
Posted by: abh1 | January 6, 2009 9:06 PM
Guess he's one of those guys who went to med school but then realized they made a mistake. While it makes some sense for a journalist to be Press Secy, this is silly. Unless you think Dan Rather would be a good Secy of State. Actually, Krauthammer would make a good Secy of State.
Posted by: georgejones5 | January 6, 2009 9:15 PM
What's wrong with Gupta? He's a REAL doctor, unlike "Dr. Phil." (Hardee har har -- you moron.)
Posted by: jprice2 | January 6, 2009 9:18 PM
My favorite Surgeon General was the venerable C. Everett Koop, for his pioneering stance against the tobacco industry. He brought home the need for a surgeon general to have the ability to explain public health issues to average Americans. So why not Dr. Gupta, who does this every week on CNN? His qualifications, according to the CNN website, match that role: "The Surgeon General serves as America's chief health educator, informing Americans how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. ... The service works to promote health, prevent disease and advance public health science. The office of the surgeon general is part of the ...Department of Health and Human Services.")
Dr. Gupta is a board certified neurosurgeon (top of the medical food chain) who is on staff and faculty at Emory and still operates there and at Grady, where he is associate chief of neurosurgey, in addition to his role on CNN. He was also White House fellow back in 1997. And he has experience practicing medicine with the military. "In 2003, Gupta reported from Iraq and Kuwait as an embedded correspondent with the U.S. Navy's medical unit -- and worked alongside them, performing brain surgery five times...." And experience understanding and explaining public health emergencies, "In addition, Gupta reported from Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami that swept the region in December 2004. He also helped cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2005." His education fits, "He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical Center."
Wikipedia reports he is still publishing in medical journals, in addition to his teaching, reporting and medical practice. (not to mention being the father of two small children.)
I'd add that his various series, such as "Fit Nation," are wonderful and shows his true concern for and knowledge of the health challenges facing our country, as well as his ability to communicate complex concepts in a simple but accurate fashion. Just what we need in the new administration.
Go Gupta!
Posted by: CNN-Fan | January 6, 2009 10:17 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
who really cares what Feinstein or Rockefeller say about Panetta? They are both awful on intelligence issues. In fact, having them whine is a sign this was a great pick......