Former Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle will be the next the Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to numerous news reports. His task: The delicate mission of shepherding a health care bill through Congress despite punishing budget constraints. But we know, having listened to Daschle over the past few months and having read his book Critical, that health reform is the issue that motivates him these days. He was around in 1993–94 when it didn't happen, and he has decided that this time around he wants the story to have a happier ending. Pundits are already weighing in. It’s the current topic in Politico’s the Arena and the top story on the Huffington Post. The American Prospect’s Ezra Klein, to the say the least, is excited:

This is huge news, and the clearest evidence yet that Obama means to pursue comprehensive health reform. You don't tap the former Senate Majority Leader to run your health care bureaucracy. That's not his skill set. You tap him to get your health care plan through Congress. You tap him because he understands the parliamentary tricks and has a deep knowledge of the ideologies and incentives of the relevant players. You tap him because you understand that health care reform runs through the Senate. And he accepts because he has been assured that you mean to attempt health care reform.

For our colleague Joanne Kenen’s earlier posts on  Daschle and his book click here, and to see a presentation by Daschle at New America, click here.