Advice and consent

I’m sure I won’t be the first to paraphrase Oscar Wilde in saying that Obama’s loss of one Cabinet nominee may be regarded as misfortune, but to lose two looks like carelessness.

Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, has withdrawn from the nomination to head Health and Human Services. Daschle has apparently failed to pay $130,000 in taxes. This comes weeks after Bill Richardson withdrew from the Commerce post. What does this say about the administration that Obama is running? It is probably to early to question the President’s ability to judge character given that Daschle, who is a multi-millionaire, had been guilty of at most making an error.

Had Daschle not been due to play a key role in guiding through important healthcare reforms, then it is likely Daschle would have ridden the media storm. For more on the withdrawal and the vetting process view an excellent transcript of an online interview with Larry Sabato in the Washington Post.

Post hoc this is BBC Newsnight’s take. See 28:50 for my prediction about Oscar Wilde