Wednesday, February 04, 2009

"New Politics" Is Dead and Buried   [Peter Wehner]

The Washington Post included this rather stunning account of the Daschle Debacle:

Officials said yesterday that myriad tax questions had been posed to Daschle, Killefer, and Geithner. But the problems were largely dismissed as less important than the nominees' qualifications for the major tasks they were expected to confront in office, the officials said.

One person familiar with the appointment process said Obama and his top advisers were concerned about the possibility of political "combustion" occurring over the tax issues. "People were not unaware that might happen," the official said. But they believed that Geithner and Daschle were uniquely qualified.

"We knew he'd get punched around on this, and that he had made a painful mistake," John D. Podesta, who co-chaired Obama's transition team, said of Daschle. "But we believed he could be confirmed and that he was—and I still believe this—the right guy for the job of leading the department and finally getting health-care reform across the finish line." Some close to the process said the Obama team believed that the various tax errors were innocent mistakes and that any furor over them could be overcome.

So Team Obama apparently knew about the tax issues but ignored them because, they thought, they were minor matters. This speaks to a surprising tone-deafness and insulation on the part of Obama & Company. Do they really think it's possible for, say, Joe Biden to say during the campaign that those who don't want to pay higher taxes are not fulfilling their patriotic duty—and then offer up three (so far) nominees who didn't pay the taxes they owe? Apparently so.

Then there is the matter of transparency. The Obama team knew about these matters but hid them from public view; it was, I gather, the Congressional investigation that brought these things to light. A President and Administration that was genuinely committed to transparency and a "new politics" would not hide such matters from the public. But by now it's clear, if it wasn't before, that the "new politics" is dead and buried.

Two weeks is an awfully short period to watch one of your pillars crumble to dust.

02/04 04:23 PMShare