With those words Barack Obama acknowledged that he had erred in continuing to push for Tom Daschle's nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services even after Daschle's tax problems surfaced.
Obama explained, "I've got to own up to my mistake, which is that ultimately it's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay taxes."
Bravo.
We haven't had a President who can admit a mistake for at least sixteen years.
Sixteen long years.
All throughout the campaign, every time I heard Obama talk about hope and change, all I could think was, what a bs artist.
But the fact that he can admit fault is in fact a nice change. And it actually gives me some hope for his administration.
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I am not as impressed by Obama's admission. A day before Obama was absolutely committed to Daschle's confirmation. If Daschle's ~100K unpaid tax made Obama realize he needs to send a message to the public that "there aren't two sets of rules", then what message was sent with the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's $34K tax problem from 2001 - 2004?
Much was made of Bush's inability to admit a mistake. I remember watching a news conference where the reporters repeatedly egged Bush on to admit he made a mistake. It reminded me of a child taunting a parent, or an older sibling. My cynical side sees Obama's admission on Daschle as political opportunism. Now nobody can say Obama never admitted a mistake. And he got it done on an issue that's not too important in the grand scheme.
It will be interesting to see how many more times Obama admits his mistakes. Too many admissions, or one or more admissions on issues that are too important, and Obama’s credibility and the public trust will be lost.
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