The Politico on Tuesday examined the "five ... crucial harbingers of where insiders see the health care reform debate headed." According to The Politico, the economy likely will "play an outsize role in health care reform," and the "bad news for reformers is that, no matter what it does, it could spawn trouble." An improvement in the economy could allow members of the House Blue Dog Coalition and other fiscally conservative Democrats to "cause mischief as their party leaders work to pass what are sure to be expensive reforms," and a lack of improvement after the passage of an economic stimulus package could leave President Obama without the "political capital needed to pass tremendously complicated reforms," The Politico reports.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who last week withdrew his nomination as HHS secretary and resigned as director of the White House Office of Health Reform, was "widely viewed as uniquely qualified to handle both the political and policy challenges of health care reform," The Politico reports…