Ezra Klein, a Daschle affectionado, on why the former senator was dumped:
The Obama administration didn’t move because they thought Republican senators would defeat his nomination. They moved because they, and the left, thought Daschle’s presence would harm the administration’s image and degrade their credibility on health care. It was too easy to write the attack ads "Tom Daschle took $220,000 from the health industry…"
I have no inside knowledge of why Daschle punted. But the combination of the tax errors and the general perception that he had become Washingtonized in the bad way strikes me as the critical two-fer.
Oh, and those horrible glasses. They ooze money and hubris. Maybe the glasses did it.
The Dish 