President Barack Obama
Barack Obama 44th President of the United States
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Feb3
Daschle Withdraws As Obama Pick For HHS!
Filed under: President Barack Obama; Tagged as: Health and Human Services, obama cabinet, Tom DaschleNo CommentsFormer South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle has withdrawn his name as the nominee for Secretary of Health & Human Services. He had been the choice of President Barack Obama to steer his new agenda on health care, and his fall from grace is viewed as a blow to the new Obama administration.
Daschle had come under severe criticism for his failure to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes. A previous Obama cabinet appointee, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, also had problems with back taxes. Daschle’s tax issues were on a larger scale, and had drawn media skepticism in the context of Obama’s campaign pledge for high ethical standards in the selection of senior White House officials.
The previous day President Obama had indicated his full support for Tom Daschle as HHS secretary. What led Daschle to pull his name out of contention is a matter of media conjecture. Barack Obama will now have to scramble to find a new pick for this important cabinet position
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Dec4No CommentsA new national poll conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corp indicates that a majority of Americans approve of the selections made so far by President-elect Barack Obama in filling key posts in his Cabinet and senior White House staff. The national polls shows in particular high levels of approval in selecting former presidential campaign rival Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. The poll also shows a strong approval rating for retaining Robert Gates as defense secretary.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows that 75% of those queried thought positively of Barack Obama’s Cabinet selections. Only 22 percent indicated that they disapproved of the Obama picks.In comparison, this is 16 points higher than the rating that President George W. Bush received with his initial Cabinet selections made after the 2000 presidential elections. This poll reflects widespread approval by media pundits, including even Karl Rove, who masterminded Bush’s two presidential campaigns.