"ANYEFFINGBODY BUT HOWARD DEAN!!!"

The scream in the night rang out-- or could have-- from the West Wing and was very much savoured in the aeries and bunkers at 101 Constitution Avenue and up and down K Street. And no one had to guess from whose filthy moyl the geshray emanated. Rahm Emanuel is no better as a vetter than he was as a party builder. When Obama picked him as Chief of Staff, my immediate reaction was to say kadish over Obama's promise and bright hopes; with Emanuel on board it could only all come to ashes-- everything. And this week we saw how badly served Obama has been by his highly incompetent Chief of Staff, who has always confused competence with plotting, cursing, bullying and, most of all, self-serving p.r. hype. Obama was quick to claim he, himself, had screwed up the Daschle nomination. But that's what a chief of staff does. Emanuel should have found Daschle's problems, Bill Richardson's problems, Geithner's problems, Nancy Killefer's problems, Hilda Solis' problem, Judd Gregg's problems... Instead he was busy telling his pals in the media how he cracks his knuckles in Obama's ears and planting stories about how he'll be reclaiming "his" House seat if Obama fires him. He weakened the president in front of dedicated enemies, who prefer to see America fail than Obama succeed, and weakened his ability to enact his agenda and fight off the desperate and all pervasive media spin.

But, aside from protecting Wall Street and Zionism, Emanuel has no real ideological objectives. He's a process guy, not a policy guy. People who do care about policy-- like health care, for example-- might be giving the president different advice than what's he's being offered by Emanuel. We're hearing every disastrous reform-killing name you can think of from the HMO Industry's Dollar Bill Frist and puffed-out elitist Newt Gingrich to Tennessee's reactionary quasi-Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen (the worst choice of all, not counting Frist and Gingrich) or clownish Blue Dog congressman,Jim Cooper. And then there are the decent, if not stellar, candidates like Kansas Governor Katheen Sebelius and Oregon ex-Governor John Kitzhaber. And Howard Dean... the logical choice? What about him? Just Emanuel's scream in the night and threat to hold his breath 'til he turns blue (not a bad idea).

So why is Howard Dean the logical choice-- at least in the United States of America, if not the anti-United States of the Beltway? Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Senator Harkin (D-IA) endorsed him today and my friend Ilya has mounted an effort to remind everyone why Dean would be the best person to lead Obama's health care reform effort. I know in my own case, I never even understood health care reform and what it has to do with the for-profit Insurance Industry until Howard Dean, long before he became a household name, came over to my house for breakfast and explained it to me. I've written about it a few times:

The day I first met Howard Dean I didn't know much about him. He hadn't broken into double digits in the polls yet but he had offered to make it real easy for me by coming to my house for breakfast. He understood why half a papaya with blueberries, pecans and flaxseeds were way better for him than pancakes and a slab of bacon. And he told me something that turned me into a Deaniac on the spot. He told me why he got into politics and what he wanted to accomplish in politics-- basically the same thing. As an M.D., Dean was more aware of the shortfalls in the American medical system and the medical insurance system than any politician I had ever spoken too and when he talked about fixing it he talked about what he knew. Now all moderates and even relatively reactionary politicians are giving at least lip service to his ideas.

Like me, Ilya is impressed that among Dean's many qualifications it was his dedication to a practice of family medicine that drew him into politics. "As a family physician for 11 years, he delivered health care to his patients. As Governor of Vermont for 11 years, he delivered health policies to his constituents that improved the quality, affordability & availability of care. He and his wife Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean opened a family medical practice in Shelburne, Vermont. Dean continued practicing medicine while serving in the state legislature and as Lieutenant Governor. Ilya isn't the only person who's noticed that Howard Dean has gotten results:

President Bill Clinton: "Nobody did a better job on health care than he did as governor of Vermont. I thank him for that."

Vice President Al Gore: "Among the governors in America, Howard Dean is known as Mr. Health Care."

As the was the longest-serving Democratic governor in the country, Dean was the embodiment of the bipartisan spirit Obama claims to be looking for. He won 5 terms, twice with over 70% of the vote, at least partially because during his term Vermont paid off much of its public debt and he balanced 11 budgets despite Vermont being one of the few states where that is not required by law. He was also elected chairman of the National Governors Association-- as bipartisan a group as you could ever find. Here's the summary Ilya sent me about Gov. Dean's accomplishments in health care:

Ø      96% of Vermont children have health insurance and 99% are eligible for coverage under Governor Dean's Dr. Dynasaur program.

Ø      More than a third of Medicare recipients in Vermont receive state help in paying for prescription drugs.
  
Ø      Vermont was ranked the "Healthiest State" in the U.S. in 2001, 2002 and 2003 by the Morgan Quinto Press.

Ø      In 1997, Governor Dean signed a law requiring insurance companies in Vermont to provide the same coverage for mental illness and substance-abuse treatment that they provide for physical conditions.

Ø      As a result of early intervention programs established by Governor Dean, 89% of pregnant Vermont women enter prenatal care in their first trimester and 91% of families with newborns receive a voluntary home visit.

Ø      Vermont has the lowest teenage pregnancy rate in the country-- teen pregnancies decreased 49% during Governor Dean's tenure.

Ø      Child abuse dropped 45% under Governor Dean. Vermont was the first state to institute a statewide protocol for abuse investigations.

Ø      Vermont ranks second in the nation in child immunizations-- 81% of children are fully immunized by age 2 and 97% are immunized before kindergarten.

If President Obama wants real health care and wants a team leader who understands what it is he's working working on, he'll forget about Rahm Emanuel's bitterness and ego and turn to the best man for the job: Howard Dean. I'm sure if he poses for the cameras with Emanuel cracking his knuckles in his ears, all will be forgiven.