The news Wednesday evening from New York seemed to leave little doubt that President Barack Obama was set to name Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of Health and Human Services. The New York Times, citing unnamed White House aides, described her not only as a "leading candidate" but also noted that there were "no others to mention." Obama, the paper reported, had “settled” on Sebelius.

Many news sources, including Kansas Liberty, followed the Times' lead on the story and issued bulletins.

But by Thursday morning, the confident tone of the Times' coverage had begun to shift. The paper revised its story, added a second reporter to the piece, and before the sun rose in Topeka, the situation had become distinctly unsettled and Sebelius had dropped back into a pack of other contenders who had suddenly materialized.

Now, the Times reports, Sebelius may still be the favorite, but "other names were still in discussion." Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is also among those being considered to replace Tom Daschle as Obama's HHS nominee.

The Times' revision won't surprise some Kansas lawmakers. One, State Sen. Susan Wagle, said the vetting process would show a profile of Sebelius that's familiar to Kansans, but far more extreme than East Coast reporters seem to think. News reports generally portray Sebelius as a bipartisan moderate and fail to grasp the state's nuanced right-left schism in which ideological liberals (often called "moderates" in Kansas) switch from one party to another based on political expediency.

Wagle said that by themselves, the photos of Sebelius entertaining George Tiller, a late-term abortion clinic operator and active political donor, at Cedar Crest would be enough to damage, if not sink, her candidacy.

Her other credentials, as reported by the Times - "eight years of experience as her state’s insurance commissioner as well as six years as a governor running a state Medicaid program" - would not normally be considered unique or impressive enough to lead an anticipated battle to try to change the country's health-care system.

The Times noted that Sebelius "blocked the sale of Blue Cross and Blue Shield to an out-of-state company because it would have raised premiums." However, BCBS premiums have recently been raised, in many cases by hundreds of dollars a month.

The Times also praised her for resolving a state budget crisis earlier this week, even though an analysis of the facts might just as well conclude that she didn't "resolve" a crisis so much as create one. It disappeared just as quickly, and easily, as it had appeared when the governor signed the budget that had been sent to her, hesitating only long enough to add more funding for education, as many had expected her to do.

The Kansas City Star and others had earlier reported her threat to stall on the budget in order to review it for "errors." In fact, she signed it without any significant delay.

Also on Kansas Liberty

• Was the 'no-tax-return' hysteria a manufactured crisis?

Resources

• Current New York Times story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/us/politics/19health.html

• Previously on Kansas Liberty: Governor's mansion soiree with late-term abortionist causes uproar

• This is a developing story on Kansas Liberty and may be updated or expanded. To receive email alerts, click here.

Correction

An earlier version of this story reported Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas had been recently sold to an "out-of-state company." This is not the case, BCBS is a Kansas mutual insurance corporation, and owned by local policyholders. Kansas Liberty regrets the error.

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