Harkin, Grijalva push Dean for HHS

Two prominent Democrats are urging President Obama to nominate former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over HHS and sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Thursday that tapping Dean – the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and a presidential contender in 2004 – would be “a very good move.”

{mosads}Meanwhile, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), an emerging ally of the president, penned a letter to the White House Wednesday urging the same pick.

Dean, a medical doctor, would be in a position as HHS secretary to lead the administration’s push for major healthcare reform.

“While most of the public have only known Howard as a ground-breaking candidate for president and one of the most successful leaders of our party, I have also known him as [a] champion for universal healthcare,” Grijalva wrote Obama. “It has been the cause of his life.”

Grijalva has been close to Obama, endorsing him in January 2008 after his initial pick, former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), dropped out of the race. He was rumored to be on Obama’s short list to head the Department of the Interior, and was one of two Arizonans to catch the Super Bowl alongside Obama at the White House.

Harkin did not endorse any candidate in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. Five years ago Harkin backed Dean for president and stood behind him when he let out the now-famous scream during a speech, which many say ended his campaign.

Dean was said to be interested in the HHS position after he made clear he would not run for a third term atop the national party. But he was passed over for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), whose nomination imploded this week amid revelations of tax problems. Daschle withdrew his nomination on Feb. 3.

Though Dean has not actively campaigned for the position, many see his biggest obstacle as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emanuel and then-DNC chief Dean clashed over budget priorities during the 2006 election cycle, sometimes ending meetings with profanity-laced tirades.

Some Dean backers say Obama, too, has snubbed the former DNC chairman who developed the so-called 50-state strategy. When Obama announced Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) would take over for Dean at the DNC, Dean was in American Samoa instead of next to the then-president-elect at Democratic headquarters.

Former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D), Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have all been mentioned as potential replacements for Daschle. Harkin has also been floated as a potential candidate.