Dean: I Was 'Pretty Clear' I Wanted to Be Health Secretary

[Dos Equis]

Waaaa.  Why did Obama dis Dean? 

Dean: I Was 'Pretty Clear' I Wanted to Be Health Secretary
Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean talks about being passed over again for President Obama's Cabinet.

FOXNews.com

Monday, March 02, 2009

Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean is making no secret of his dashed desires to become a member of President Obama's Cabinet, after he got passed over yet again for the job of health and human services secretary

"I was pretty clear that I would have liked to have been Secretary of HHS but it is the president's choice and he decided to go in a different direction," Dean was quoted saying on Monday in the Huffington Post after Obama made clear Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was going to get the job.

Dean, who is a doctor and the former governor of Vermont, was talked about as a possible health secretary but was passed over for former Sen. Tom Daschle. After tax problems derailed Daschle's nomination, Dean got snubbed again.

Obama plans to announce his choice of Sebelius for the post Monday afternoon. She was the insurance commissioner for Kansas before getting elected governor, experience that helped convince administration officials she could handle the finer details of the debate over expanding access to health care.

Dean was not even vetted by the administration, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel did not have a working relationship with him. White House officials expressed some concern about Dean's ability to work with the administration as part of the team.

Dean, though, said health care reform is his top interest as he forges his post-Democratic National Committee career. Last month, he told FOX News that being in Washington isn't the only way to help.

There are "a lot of ways to make change in the country and one is from the inside, which is easier although in some ways harder work, and the other is from the outside, and if I end up in an outside role I'm going to be very, very happy with what I'm doing. I'm not worried. I don't like to play the inside-Washington game. I'm going to stay very active on the political scene," he said on Feb. 22.

Dean told the Huffington Post he'll be working on numerous issues including energy, education and political strategy.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/02/dean-pretty-clear-wanted-health-secretary/

[Dos Equis]

Geeze.  The man is begging for a job.   

Democrats pushing Dean for Surgeon General
Posted: 04:52 PM ET

From CNN Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry

WASHINGTON (CNN) — With Dr. Sanjay Gupta taking himself out of the mix as President Obama's choice for Surgeon General, CNN has learned that the name of former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has now emerged as a possible pick for the high-profile post.

Senior Democratic officials say that Dean, a medical doctor and former Vermont governor who championed health reform, has privately made clear that he is interested in the post. Dean had publicly expressed interest in serving as secretary of Health and Human Services but lost out, and many Democrats believe he was blocked because of a feud he had with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel back in the 2006 election cycle.

But two White House officials told CNN that while it's too early to compile an official list of candidates for Surgeon General, they believe that it's possible for Dean to get the job. "I would not dismiss it," one of the White House officials said of the possibility that Dean will be selected.

One Democratic strategist close to Dean made clear the former DNC chair would take the position if it is offered. "He'll do whatever the President would like him to do," said the strategist. "He's certainly well-suited and well-qualified for that job. It would certainly shut up a lot of Dean supporters."

But another source close to Dean said nobody at the White House has contacted him about the job and noted that the former governor has previously indicated he’s not interested in this particular position.

Supporters of Dean believe he should get some kind of reward for presiding over the Democratic party in which they scored major electoral gains in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles. But Dean famously clashed with Emanuel in 2006, who was serving as the chairman of the House Democrats' campaign arm at the time, over where to spend scarce campaign cash in the final days of the campaign in which Democrats ended up taking control of Congress.

People close to Dean and Emanuel, however, insist the two men have since patched up their differences and recently had lunch together. Those sources also noted that in recent months Emanuel reached out and offered Dean a lower-level health-related job in the administration that was turned down.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/06/democrats-pushing-dean-for-surgeon-general/#more-42873