I was about to decry the news of Obama's reported desire to make Sanjay Gupta his Surgeon General as the triumph of style over substance, but then I read further into Howie Kurtz's piece and saw:
The Michigan-born son of Indian and Pakistani parents, Gupta has always been drawn to health policy. He was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton. His appointment would give the administration a prominent official of Southwest Asian descent and a skilled television spokesman.
I'm less interested in his ethnicity (see why below). But his policy chops--of which I'd previously been unaware--and his TV skills--of which I'm all too aware--make for a fairly compelling argument that he'd be a decent Surgeon General, especially if, as seems likely, Obama expects him to play a role in pursuing health care reform. He's definitely more compelling on Larry King than Tom Daschle. Now, just so long as Obama doesn't ask King himself to join his administration . . . .
--Jason Zengerle