I'm just enjoying watching almost-President Obama do his political maneuvering. He's so great at it. Remember this is the guy who was rated the Senate's most liberal senator (or at least close). This guy struck fear in the hearts of many a conservative (probably for good reason). But the people he's been upsetting most lately seem to be democrats, and liberal democrats at that. Obama is completely changing his image (although i doubt his substance). This guy's a genius.
First it was his more centrist cabinet choices, then all the angry blogs about him asking the Christian pastor Rick Warren to give a prayer at his inauguration (bizarre for a country which is supposed to separate church and state -perhaps i'm more of a mennonite in that), and now this latest one which interests me because it's medically related.
I've been reading about Obama's possible appointment of one of People Magazine's 'Sexiest Men of 2003' (that's wikipedia knowledge, not my own...honest), Sanjay Gupta as new Surgeon General of the United States. Surgeon General as far as I can understand is pretty much mainly just a figurehead anyway, and the person who the public see as the most authoritative person when it comes to health matters, which is handy because Gupta is widely known in the US for being CNN's Health Correspondent, and for writing a widely read column on health matters. He briefly worked in the Whitehouse as a fellow under Hillary Clinton during the days of the failed attempts at reforming health care policy.
Anyway, the reason this is a massive political win for Obama, is that again, all the press about his appointment is from left-wing democrats complaining that this guy had a big argument with Michael Moore for his film Sicko. Now, i didn't realise this fact about Gupta, and I doubt most people do. But now people who are even semi-interested in Gupta will know this. For conservatives this will put their hearts at ease; anyone who disagrees with Moore gains points in their books. So that will put the emotional fear element to rest, but actually Gupta's views are to reform health care in the US, much in line with Obama's plan, and as Obama's Surgeon General it'll be his job to try and convince the nation that it's a good idea. So who better than to get someone who most in the nation regularly welcome into their homes and go to for medical advice.
Obama (or at least someone on his team) is a political genius.
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