Stephen H Baum Leadership

Better late than never: “Daschle withdraws as cabinet nominee (NYTimes.com, Feburary 3)” article by Jeff Zeleny.

If there is one promise that candidate Obama made that matters above all else it is the promise to restore a modicum of integrity to Washington D.C. People have become cynical: “Everybody does it.” And they have been too often right about senators, congresspeople, administration officials, bankers and CEOs.

How can Obama expect to raise us up at home and as the standard for the world if he makes exceptions in his own appointments. Why should Congress clean up its act? Or anyone else?

Worse than a flawed vetting process, worse than candidates who don’t know or don’t tell the president there is something which, when revealed or discovered will be a problem, worse than these is a president who accepts the damaged goods as the only choice for the post. It is a Signal Act.

And now Daschle had the grace to withdraw. Would that all the candidates had such grace. And would that Obama applied a strict standard of integrity.

That’s been my view. What’s yours?