Today's open thread bears the news that is so hurtful for the ears of kos: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is under consideration for HHS Secretary.
While this is definitely an upgrade from the possibility of industry-tried Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, I am not alone in thinking that Governor Sebelius, as good of a Secretary as she could be, still isn't the best choice.
That choice would be Howard Dean. And below the fold, I'm going to share some activism tools that you can use to influence the Obama administration toward making the right choice.
Before I do, however, you should know some of the reasons that Howard Dean is the best qualified person for this position:
- His record as governor of Vermont is something we all wish could be brought to the entire country. As a result of his tenure:
- 96% of Vermont children have health insurance.
- Vermont was ranked the healthiest state in the country in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
- Teen pregnancies dropped 49% under Governor Dean, and child abuse cases declined by 45%.
- Vermont now ranks second in child immunizations, with 97% immunized before kingergarten.
- Political skills. Dean showed during his Presidential campaign and during his tenure as DNC chair that he is a world-class political organizer. Putting Dean in charge of HHS provides a perfect opportunity for the Dean movement to work together with the Obama movement (which sometimes don't intersect or interact as much as they should) to finally bring universal coverage to this country.
- Howard Dean already has the support of a handful of prominent lawmakers, including Iowa Governor Tom Harkin, Tucson, AZ Congressman Raul Grivalja, and most recently, Dean's home state Senator Bernie Sanders.:
Now, a lot of people may feel that the nomination of Governor Dean might sound too overtly partisan, and we should shy away from it in the hopes of not attracting stringent opposition. But I ask you this: has the fight over the stimulus shown you anything? Has the hold placed on Hilda Solis' nomination shown you anything? The Republicans will lead a fight to the death to keep the money flowing to the corporations and their CEO's who fund their campaigns and IE ad buys, and putting in someone who doesn't appear "quite so partisan" will do nothing to mollify a Republican legislature controlled by Rush Limbaugh. Not to mention: how many of our freshman and two-term lawmakers owe their victories to the organizing done by Governor Dean? Quite a few, I would imagine.
Those are the reasons why. Now here's how you can help:
- The most excellent people at FireDogLake have put up a petition that you can sign. The more, the better! Signatures will be delivered to Senator Max Baucus, whose committee is responsible for moving the nomination forward to the full Senate.
- Join the Dean for HHS Facebook group. With 5,000 members already and more joining every day, it's becoming a hub for organizing around this idea.
- Visit the brand-new Dean for HHS website to get more information and figure out other ways you can help.
Govenor Dean has too much talent to be allowed to ride off into the Democratic sunset. He needs to keep working, and he needs us to provide the momentum.