As soon as Tom Daschle withdrew from consideration for HHS Secretary, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen's name was in the mix as one of the short-listers along with Howard Dean, and Kathleen Sebelius, to name two others.  The knock on Bredesen, from the view of some Obama supporters, is that he's a cost cutter and more pragmatic than progressive.

For what it's worth, I interviewed Governor Bredesen last June at the DLC's annual meeting in Chicago. You may remember that Obama dissed the DLC pretty badly, skipping the meeting altogether but still finding time to play hoops and get his haircut, despite the fact the event was held just steps away from his campaign HQ.

Anyway, my interview with Bredesen touched only tangentially on healthcare, but for those who are interested it does provide some additional insight into how he approaches politics and how he viewed the landscape last year.

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