Touchdown: Obama admits he “screwed up” on Daschle

Even when he’s getting one wrong, he’s getting the bigger thing right. U.S. President Barack Obama made no bones about his failure and that of his vetting team with respect to Tom Daschle’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Turns out Daschle has a whopping unpaid tax bill that nobody caught before his name was put forward, and he was forced to withdraw as a result. Obama accepted responsibility for the failure of scrutiny, telling a succession of network news interviewers that he and his folks “screwed up.” The President’s candour and willingness to admit a mistake was breathlessly reported by the White House press corps, due largely to the stark contrast of Obama’s actions to that of his predecessor. Which, viewed through a longer lens, is arguably the bigger message: he campaigned on changing the way things are done in Washington, and he’s personally bringing a fresh approach to the office. Now, I’m willing to bet that Obama knows full well that he can only get away with admissions of failure for so long, before they become not a badge of humility but one of incompetence – but that said, if you’re going to admit mistakes, doing so early on the job while still in the full blush of the honeymoon is precisely the right time to do it.