February 4, 2009 10:49AM # The Audacity of Spin By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE Regarding Tom Daschle’s withdrawal from consideration to be the next secretary of Health & Human Services, [a front-page story](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020300912.html) in this morning’s *Washington Post* pulls off one of the most ingenious feats of political spin I’ve ever seen: > But some observing the debacle wondered if the capital’s ways were changing. The story of how \[Daschle\] fell in with the monied elite and out with the popular mood involves a longtime Democratic financier, Leo Hindery Jr., and his keen interest in currying influence with powerful politicians. The outcome caught many in Washington off guard. > > > “I think it’s possible this is some sort of bridge between an old Washington and the new Washington,” [David Arkush of Congress Watch](http://www.citizen.org/congress/about/articles.cfm?ID=9160) said of the initial backing of Daschle and the sudden reversal. So you see, Daschle’s withdrawal is actually a *victory* for President Obama! He’s changing Washington already! Brilliant! Actually, the brilliance is Arkush’s for getting the *Post* to adopt his spin both in the article and the subtitle (“[Some See Failed Nomination as Harbinger of Change](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020300912.html)”). For the record, I hope Arkush is right. I hope Obama does something about the revolving door that lets people like Daschle write complicated laws and then make millions of dollars helping people navigate and alter them. Of course, as they say, [the only way to reduce the amount of money in politics is to reduce the size of government](http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/467459). ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).