Interesting

Maybe this is just a coincidence. Then again, I can’t recall three nominees for positions in an incoming administration (or two nominees and a rumor) all withdrawing on the same day before.

Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, has told network officials will not leave his television career to become the U.S. Surgeon General, according to sources familiar with his decision.

Gupta, who had been described as the leading candidate for the public health post, withdrew his name even as President Obama hosted a health care summit at the White House today that Gupta did not attend.

The decision means that the often low-profile job will not get a mass-media jolt from appointing the well-known television celebrity. Gupta, a neurosurgeon who continues to practice medicine, has become ubiquitous on CNN, where he hosts a half-hour show called “House Call “and appears on numerous other programs.

Gupta was never officially nominated, so he is the rumor. Now, what to make of this:

Two candidates for top positions at the Treasury Department have withdrawn from consideration, according to people familiar with the matter.

Annette Nazareth, who was expected to be tapped as deputy secretary, has taken her name out of the running, these people said.

In addition, Mr. Geithner’s pick for undersecretary for international affairs, Caroline Atkinson, has also withdrawn.

One has to wonder about this. People are, apparently, disassociating themselves from the Obama administration. Maybe it is just a huge pay cut for Gupta as the first article implies. Maybe it is just the protracted vetting process as the other article implies. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

On the other hand, the best way to avoid being accused of deserting a sinking ship is to avoid getting on it in the first place.

Via Memeorandum

Popularity Contests

Peter Wehner, writing at NRO, points out an interesting tidbit of data. Obama is actually less popular at this point in his presidency than George W. Bush was at a comparable stage.

Here’s an interesting data point comparison: Barack Obama’s approval rating in the Gallup Poll today is 61 percent, with 28 percent disapproving (the Real Clear Politics aggregate of polls has his overall job approval rating at 59.8 percent). A March 5-7, 2001 Gallup poll found President Bush’s job approval at 63 percent as well, with only 22 percent disapproving. So George W. Bush, at a comparable time in his presidency, was in marginally better shape than Barack Obama is right now, at least based on the Gallup Poll survey.

Not that these types of popularity contest polls mean a lot this early on in any President’s tenure. But it is an interesting bit of information. The press is spinning – hard – about how popular Obama is. This casts their spin in another light.

I wonder what Carter’s numbers looked like at this stage.