Mark Begich Wins Senate Race, Daschle appointed Secretary of HHS

November 19, 2008

Mac Zilber

You know, Alaska really needs to follow their neighbors’ examples as far as counting ballots goes. Canada, to the east of Alaska, has their ballots counted within hours of an election. Russia, to the west of them, counts their ballots before people even vote! Regardless of tardiness, Alaska has finally counted enough ballots to determine that Mark Begich will be the first Democratic senator from Alaska since Mike Gravel, ending septuple-felon Ted Stevens’ 40-year senate career. Begich brings the Democratic senate seat total to 58, and there are two more races that are left to be decided. If Franken wins the recount in Minnesota and Jim Martin wins the runoff race in Georgia, both of which have a sizable chance of happening, the Democrats will have a theoretically filibuster-proof majority for any bills on which there is a consensus among Democrats.

In other news, and in a choice that will be given more coverage in the next edition of “Shadow Government,” Barack Obama has picked former senate majority leader Tom Daschle as his secretary of Health and Human Services. This is probably a good fit for Daschle, who will be well-received by progressives for his stances on health care, which, if anything, are to the left of Obama’s. Everybody knew Daschle would get a post in the administration, and many simply are happy that he’s not in a position where he can advocate for the warrantless wiretaps that he loves so dearly.

Daschle is the latest in a string of appointments that suggest that Barack Obama is going to be appointing a cabinet full of political superstars, as it is very rare, to say the least, to appoint somebody who once was the most powerful man in the senate (wait, isn’t that the Vice President?) to serve in the department of HHS. Raise your hands if you anything about Donna Shalala. Anybody? Obama is assembling an administration much like the Kennedy administration in the fact that everybody is dying to work for it, and, as such, he can get incredibly high-profile appointees.

Questions or comments? Email me at themuse [at] albanyhighcougar [dot] com

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