It's getting hard to choose which piece of FedGov malfeasance is most worthy of a torchlit pitchfork jamboree on the streets of DC. I'd say this one's in the top five.
The fact that we're not already doing so must have out Founding Fathers spinning like a Pratt and Whitney.
His [Daschle's-ed] friends include an array of former staffers, friends and protégés who are working for Obama, among them Hildebrand, Senate chief of staff Pete Rouse, chief fundraiser Julianna Smoot, communications boss Robert Gibbs, press aide Dan Pfeiffer, and research director Devorah Adler. Rouse, who has known Daschle for 30 years, was Obama’s first and most important congressional hire.
Interestingly – tellingly – it was Obama who reached out to Daschle. In 2004, Obama was cruising to an easy victory in the Illinois Senate race, and had a lot of unused cash on hand. He gave a lot of it – some $85,000, according to Hildebrand – to Daschle, who was under White House siege in South Dakota. [Didn't work, he was ousted-ed]
Even before he was sworn in, Obama knew who he wanted for his chief of staff: Rouse. Ironically, Daschle advised Rouse, a veteran with 30 years service on the Hill, to leave the Congress and take a lucrative lobbying position. But Obama sold Rouse, and in the process began the task of wooing Rouse’s boss.An Obama surrogate
Now Daschle and Obama talk regularly – the two have had a number of quiet dinners – and Daschle will soon be playing a major role on the campaign trail, serving as a mild-mannered but well-liked surrogate among party faithful.