Change The Candidate Had Not Quite Believed In

Ezra Klein has a poignant take on Daschle's defeat - Obama himself had not internalized all his campaign posturing about changing the culture of Washington.  Hmm - start out outsmarting the rubes, end up outsmarting yourself.

Daschle was doomed not by atypical corruption but by normal, even modest, conflicts of interest. But this time, in this administration, due to an odd confluence of circumstances, that was enough to scuttle his nomination. Part of the reason was Timothy Geithner and Nancy Killefer, both of whom also had "tax issues." Individual errors became a collective problem. Daschle received extra scrutiny. That was when most of his ties to the health industry emerged. The other factor, however, was words. Obama's words.

There is no evidence that Obama wanted Daschle to withdraw his nomination. There is no evidence that Daschle's paid speeches or consulting gigs crossed Obama's ethical lines. As recently as last night, Obama was asked if he stood behind Daschle. "Absolutely," he replied.

But if Daschle's actions were forgivable in the eyes of President Obama, they still stood in sharp contrast to the rhetoric of candidate Obama. And that turned out to matter. In explaining his decision to withdraw, Daschle pointed to two New York Times articles. One was an editorial that concluded, "Mr. Daschle is another in a long line of politicians who move cozily between government and industry...[and] could potentially throw a cloud over health care reform." The other was a front page news story that said "Obama's ethics rules face an early test" and noted that "Mr. Obama on his first day in office imposed perhaps the toughest ethics rules of any president in modern times, and since then he and his advisers have been trying to explain why they do not cover this case or that case." It was this coverage -- not a word from Obama or an attack by the Republicans -- that drove Daschle to withdraw his nomination. And this coverage would not have existed had Obama not run the campaign he did.

There was always something studiedly vague about Obama's insistence that he would battle a culture in which “our leaders have thrown open the doors of Congress and the White House to an army of Washington lobbyists who have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play.” Obama could not remake Washington anew. His administration would certainly face unwanted scandal and welcome proficient rogues.

But it turns out that Obama's words, well, mattered. They made it harder to ignore scandal, as the Bush administration had done.

Hmm - does "harder to ignore scandal" refer only to real scandals, or also to imagined ones?  I have no doubt that Dems who know Daschle have complete confidence in his integrity.  Yet somehow I suspect that the same Dems have serious doubts about the integrity of Republicans with a similar lobbying background.  Oh, well - Krugman is Ground Zero for the "Everyone who disagrees with me has been bought off" school of argumentation but he is hardly alone on the left with that view.

Comments

[hit and run]

Pass

[bad]

1 2 3...

[bgates]

I have no doubt that Dems who know Daschle have complete confidence in his integrity.
Really? Dems don't all seem that stupid to me.

Speaking of a notable exception, I'd really enjoy hitting Ezra Klein in the face with a howitzer.

[hit and run]

Ezra above:

It was this coverage -- not a word from Obama or an attack by the Republicans -- that drove Daschle to withdraw his nomination. And this coverage would not have existed had Obama not run the campaign he did.

Oh, but it wasn't just the way Obama ran the campaign, or the words Obama used that created this kind of coverage.

There were evangelical pundits who created, nurtured and preached the message that Obama was a political messiah.

Pundits like . . . wait for it . . . http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=01&year=2008&base_name=obamas_gift#103509>Ezra Klein:

Obama's finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don't even really inspire. They elevate. They enmesh you in a grander moment, as if history has stopped flowing passively by, and, just for an instant, contracted around you, made you aware of its presence, and your role in it. He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I've heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence.

The blood of Daschle is on your hands, Klein.

[Pofarmer]

O.K.

This pagination is a friggin nightmare. I think I commented on this on another tread, but now, I can't easily find it. A POX on typepad and all their houses.

Anyway. I heard today where Congress INCREASED the S-chip program by 32 BILLION. That will be ongoing spending, subject to increases, I'm sure. Couldn't that count for about 120 BILLION or so of stimulus if you take it out over 4 years???? Shoot man, a little more of this and we won't need no more stinkin stimulus. We'll be all stimulated out.

[Danube of Thought]

Thanks for resurfacing that Klein quote, Hit--how well I remember the sharp taste of vomit in my mouth when I first read it.

I think it's fair to say that Klein is more full of shit than a Christmas turkey.

[bad]

I blame Klein..and question the timing.

[bgates]

more full of shit than a Christmas turkey.
I hope that guy didn't contribute any recipes to the book.

[bad]

lol bgates

[Sue]

Which cabinet members in the Bush administration were scandal plagued that Bush ignored?

[hit and run]

DoT, did you follow the http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmNhYzdhOTVmZTc3MDMwYTFmMWViNWNiNzViZTYyOTA=>martini discussion over on NRO's the Corner today?

Made me think of you. Apparently I am a martini apostate with my taste for olives.

Judge Bork considers my martinis a salad or I do or something...

Oh well.

bgates:
I hope that guy didn't contribute any recipes to the book.
No, but DoT totally should have a martini recipe in there.

[kim]

You know, the really sad thing is to think that he truly believes all this carp.
==================================

[CofImporLop]

Hi, I've just registered on this forum)) Want to share a cool vodafone commercial, here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Cuq-BueEs Esta these guys know how to make a great ad))

[centralcal]

Yeah, Hit. A Martini salad. There goes the olive industry! Who knew an olive stuffed with a pimento equalled a salad?

On second thought, I think it would make a wonderful diet.

Is the party at DOT's?

[clarice]

Ezra is a doodoo head. There I said it. And I don't regret it.

[bgates]

Kim, that's the only happy thing. It means I can look forward to Klein collapsing with Obama.

Let me taste your tears, Ezra.

[Soylent Red]

Let me try a different translation...

Obama himself had not internalized all his campaign posturing about changing the culture of Washington.

He was bullshitting the electorate the whole time, and had every intention of doing so.

[Jor]

This whole thing reminds me of the cop in American Gangster, who wound up heading a DEA sub unit to bring down Frank Lucas. I just don't think there are that many people out there with the experience that aren't susceptible to modest corruption.

Anyway unlike the last president -- Obama just admitted he was wrong and dropped Daschle out. I'm sure we all remember the millions of times Bush did that.

[Pofarmer]

So Obama and Hillary crapped on ZINNI???? Man, how left wing loon do you have to be for these people?

[Pofarmer]

I'm sure we all remember the millions of times Bush did that.

So, it shouldn't be hard to point one out?

[Sue]

Once again, who in the Bush administration was scandal plagued that Bush didn't drop?

[centralcal]

The Zinni story is curiouser and curiouser.

[Old Dad]

Obama, Daschle, Geithner, Klein, et al have been playing Integrity Poker.

They were bluffing.

[bad]

Sue, DUH, Cheney and Rove, hellooooooo...

dark clouds, frogmarching, perp walks....

[centralcal]

More Zinni.

[centralcal]

"You know YOUR President?

The one with the big ears?

He ain't MY President."

Etta James, At Last.

Take that Obama! Take that Beyonce!

[Jane]

Hi, I've just registered on this forum))

You have to register? I never knew.

Is there a whole different crew behind the registration desk? Now I am intrigued!

[Amused bystander]

That Zinni shows waht chaos the WH staff is in, and the fact that they do not know how things are done.

Way worse than Carter or Clinton.

Worst Dem administration ever.

[Sue]

bad,

Cheney? Rove? That's all they've got?

[Amused bystander]

Clinton cr@pPED on him, just because she could and she does not like him. HAs noting to do with his politics, that is a given.

[Danube of Thought]

I had not seen the Martini item; thanks for bringing it to my attention. Actually, I enjoyed a number of Martinis with Judge Bork during the course of a week in the early 1980's. I did not recall that he was a gin-only man; I myself cannot stand gin in any form, and am strictly a vodka Martini man. I also use an olive, but generally don't eat it. I do share his belief that it absolutely must be straight up.

As for the vermouth, my father's theory was that it was sufficient simply to wave the cork from the vermouth bottle an inch or so above the surface of the drink. Others I know pour a small amount into the glass, twirl it and dump it out. I do mine by seaman's eye, but my guess is that mine are about 12 to 1. It's essential that it be served ice cold, and you can meet that requirement by shaking no fewer than forty times.

One technique that I think is essential is to pour the ingredients into the glass, and then and only then put the ice in the shaker. Immediately pour the contents of the glass into the shaker and begin shaking without delay. Once it's shaken, pour it immediately--the reason for all this is that a Martini abhors water. Few things upset me as much as a bartender who places the ice in the shaker, and then sets about building the drink at his leisure while the ice is melting. That kind of lout usually takes his sweet time about pouring the thing after it's shaken, thus further polluting it with the dreaded water.

[clarice]

I just pour ice cold vodka in a glass and add olives which I do eat..Peasant girl to the core.

[bad]

Cheney? Rove? That's all they've got?

I always name our Dark Overlord and the Magnificant Bastard whenever someone whines about President Bush. Habit I guess. By the way, I heard there are multiple signed indictments and something about time....

[bad]

I used to add olive juice with the olives to the vodka. Then ate the olives in the drink plus half the jar...

[centralcal]

I like Vermouth! I use it to deglace chicken and pork dishes. I like Vodka Martini's with a "drop" of Vermouth - shaken, not stirred.

I love to eat vodka soaked olives! Who need dinner after two Martini's and two monster olives?

[bad]

I love a gin and tonic with Bombay Sapphire... ah memories... they still smell good.

[Rick Ballard]

AB,

The Zinni deal highlights your estimate of Emanuel's true capabilities. President LePetomane requires a rock solid minder and Emanuel isn't up to the task so far. It would probably be helpful if they could find a tasteful shock collar for the President - something not quite as noticeable as the teleprompters and set just at 'tickle' so the flinching would be minimized.

[Soylent Red]

I used to add olive juice with the olives to the vodka.

Dirty vodka martini. Mmmmmm...

When it gets warm, switch to a Hendrick's Gin martini with a cucumber slice. Those things hit me so hard that by about two I'm speaking in tongues and adding you to my will.

C-cal:

Wow. When Foreign Policy outs Democrat incompetence you just know it's a colossal screw up. I'm no fan of Gen. Zinni, but right is right. Professionals don't leave people twisting in the wind like that.

[peter]

You don't have to be conservative to like traditional cocktails. Here's a KOS kid who blogs about traditional mixed drinks. LUN

[verner]

I just pour ice cold vodka in a glass and add olives which I do eat..Peasant girl to the core.

Posted by: clarice | February 04, 2009 at 10:28 PM

Grey Goose + Three olives = perfection

[clarice]

List of Madoff customers embedded here.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02042009/news/regionalnews/full_list_of_madoff_victims_released_153545.htm>Mr.PUK, Visit these folks with our new SCAM brochure

[Soylent Red]

Re: vermouth in martinis

Use a small spray bottle. One of the ones that atomizes. Give it one squirt and it will film the glass without putting too much in.

If you like vermouth in your martini.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

I don't much drink any more, but I used to love genever at 0°F.

[Sue]

I don't like martinis. I do like olives.

[bad]

Olives are good in a Bloody Mary.

[Ceboonnammalm]

Hi, I've just registered on this forum)) Want to share a cool vodafone commercial, here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Cuq-BueEs Esta these guys know how to make a great ad))

[bad]

Is that a double smile after forum or a stomach roll?

[peter]

What a cigarette will tell you about a man. LUN

PS Bulldog Gin is pretty good, but Tangeray is my favorite

[PD]

Anyway unlike the last president -- Obama just admitted he was wrong and dropped Daschle out. I'm sure we all remember the millions of times Bush did that.

Or, looked at in a different light: Obama, for the first time ever, took responsibility for one of his decisions. Bush, never once shirked his responsibilities.

[Danube of Thought]

Jor is too dumb to take part here. Those who cannot distinguish between "their" and "there" are to be shunned.

[Soylent Red]

Shorter Jor:

"Bush is teh suck. LOL."

Man I love Trollblocker.

[Hank]

Anyway unlike the last president -- Obama just admitted he was wrong and dropped Daschle out. I'm sure we all remember the millions of times Bush did that.

I can't remember the one time that Obama did that, since the WH insists that Daschle dropped out on his own.

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,
"It would probably be helpful if they could find a tasteful shock collar for the President - something not quite as noticeable as the teleprompters and set just at 'tickle' so the flinching would be minimized."

How about a jubilee clip round his scrotum,operated by a small electric motor?

[PeterUK]

"Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence."

I picture Klein,shaven headed,clad in a rough habit,lashing his own back whilst writing this.
"Mathster Mathster!"

[daddy]

Well if you needed a reason to start drinking all those martinis... http://reason.com/blog/show/131496.html

"One cannot underestimate how widely admired Tom Daschle is in Washington for his integrity."

David Gergen, 04 Feb 2009.

[SMEMELYMN]

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[hit and run]

Well, I have to admit my disappointment. When this post was first out up by TM, it had the word "testing" as the only text. And look at the URL which ends in "test-post.com".

I got excited, hoping TM was testing out a fix for the pagination purgatory we've been stuck in. I hoped, finally, that we were going to be delivered out of the wilderness.

Alas, that apparently is not to be.

The moral of this story?

Hope is dead.

I Blame Obama.

[bad]

The Obamas are at a national prayer breakfast. Televised of course.

Have they made it to church yet on Sunday morning?

[Captain Hate]

Who's more annoying: The Valentine spammers (nice how Typepad, with all its great features that keep screwing up the discussion, can't detect and delete spam), the illiterate Jork or Ezra Klein? Jork and Ezra both have mancrushes on President 666 so that puts them below the spammers. Ezra is annoying because TM insists on starting threads based on his lunatic articles and Jork just shows up here to remind us how stupid he is. I'm saying that twatboy Ezra is the most annoying because if he wasn't published by some online idiots, Jork might not show up so much.

[verner]

Really really bad sign. OBAMA is going on TV monday with a press conference to bypass the media and speak directly to the AMur-kin people!!! WOW less than 3 weeks and he's already throwing hail marys over the heads of his own minion of sychophants to speak directly to the unwashed!!!

This should be good! Wonder what the message is going to be? The one he's telling on youtube, or the one he's passing on to bluedogs like Jim Cooper.

Here's my bet: "Support my "stimulating" package, or your house will fall down, and your baby will drown" or something like that.

Change you can believe in!A chicken in every pot, and a condom on every....

[bad]

The Zinni article has a big update:

"The [vice]* president called and congratulated me," Zinni said.

Sloppy reporting, faulty memory, or is Slo Joe the fall guy ..... LUN

[bad]

OBAMA is going on TV monday with a press conference to bypass the media and speak directly to the AMur-kin people!!!

Will he take questions from the press? Or are they a distraction...

[verner]

That does it. Zinni is Hillary payback for Biden's diss on Oprah. She's pulling an alpha bitch, in case Biden tries to get uppity again.

[clarice]

daddy, I can't quite figure out what that jerk Gergen was saying--Does he mean that the opinion of Daschle is so low, you can't imagine anything lower? Is it me or is it George?
If he meant Daschle is so well regarded, wouldn't the proper expression be"one cannot overestimate the high regard with which he is held"?

[Jane]

I think this is funny - sad but funny. A friend just called and said his grandmother - a big Obama supporter her called him after the Daschle resignation and said: "How could George Bush have allowed Daschle and all those others to get away without paying taxes."

Luckily she is not a citizen so she can't vote. No word on if I can get her deported.

[verner]

It's like Sodom and Gomorrah isn't it Jane...if we can find just one honest democrat!

[Jane]

Pretty amazing Verner. And I intend to bang them over the head with it for the next 4 years.

[verner]

If you're not careful Jane, you're going to end up as a mega host on clear channel.

Just promise that you'll remember the little people!

[verner]

John Mccain blowing a gasket per fox...

[clarice]

Jane, you have a winner there..in the No. 1 best BDS story ever.

[Sue]

bad,

Don't you love the comments after articles like the Zinni article? "Why is he airing dirty laundry?" "He is just whiny". But when he was ratting on Bush he was a true patriot.

[bad]

Speaking truth to power is such a tricky proposition. Now they luv ya, now they don't... Zinni is currently a don't.

Of course, if he criticizes O'a war handling at anytime in the future it will all be characterized as sour grapes. The dude is nuetralized as a critic.

[Sue]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403174.html>Obama on the pages of WaPo.

Forgetting how weird it is to see a president writing an op-ed, look at what he says:

[...]

And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs.

[...]

That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years,

In Obama's plan, 2 million people are going to be without a job no matter what he does.

[Sue]

And while I'm at it, he is complaining of partisan gridlock. The damn bill passed overwhelmingly in the house. There are enough democrats to pass it out of the senate (I doubt republicans could mount a filibuster). Why is the most transparent presidency ever trying so hard to convince the American public that republicans are killing his bill?

[Sue]

And continuing on that thought, Obama, with his op-ed, owns this baby. I hope he pays child support after the divorce.

[bad]

But he's so bipartisan in blaming the Republicans...that's all that matters.

[bad]

PUK, scrotum with our breakfast? Have a heart....

[bad]

I see O has gone from "This is the moment" to "Now is the time."

Although I thought the moment was fixing all of our ills.

Guess we need more time.

[verner]

OK Sue, I read the whole damn thing, and I still don't know what the hell he wants.

Does he want the Senate to pass Pelosi's junk in the trunk, or should we support gasket busters like Mccain in the senate?

here's a taste:

"So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time."

OBAMA is giving new meaning to the words HOG WASH. By the way, who on earth is writing this crap?

[Sue]

verner,

Blasphemy! Can't you just hear the soaring words roll off his tongue? He wrote that drivel and he owns it, just as he now owns Pelosi's stimulus package. When it does nothing to help the economy, he still owns it.

As to what he wants, he wants to go back onto the campaign trail, where life was so much easier and people adored him instead of making him make hard decisions.

[Barney Frank]

Luckily she is not a citizen so she can't vote.

Jane, Barry's nuts at ACORN would beg to differ.

[bad]

Verner, he can always blame the Hillary boob grabber..

[jimmyk]

OBAMA is giving new meaning to the words HOG WASH.

Yes, but the Republicans are failing to make a very strong case against the whole thing, even as public support for it is diminishing. They're saying "We want a stimulus plan too, just a different one." That's no way to make a comeback.

[bad]

Speaking of Pelosi, she repeated the "500 million jobs lost each month" in a Fox News interview.

[Ranger]

Posted by: Sue | February 05, 2009 at 10:33 AM

Sue, I just posted something about that in the other thread. That Oped is just terrible. All they did was publish a stump speech. No real specific about how much what he wants to do will cost. No justification for the size of the bill except "This is a crisis!!!!"

[Sue]

Ranger,

I saw your post at the other thread. I wonder if he wrote this op-ed so he could pretend he is Lincoln? Who had to communicate with the public through newspapers. Just a thought, but he has a strategy that includes pretending he is Lincoln.

[Sue]

Ranger,

Capt'n Ed over at Hot Air fisks Obama along the same lines we took.

[Sue]

Ranger,

Uh, nevermind. My last comment makes no sense considering your first line over at the other thread links to Ed's post.

[Ranger]

Ranger,

Uh, nevermind. My last comment makes no sense considering your first line over at the other thread links to Ed's post.

Posted by: Sue | February 05, 2009 at 12:01 PM

No, actually I got mine off of the Hot Air Headlines before the good Capt. posted his take. I should have waited, as his is better and more detailed.

Some commentators at the Corner are also pointing out what I missed. In this OpEd, Obama basically admits the Republicans are right, and this bill is a lot more than emergency stimulus. That gives the Rs a chance to come back with a "pure" stimulus plan much smaller, and demand the rest be subject to the normal policy debate process. I think the general public would side with the Rs on that one.

[MayBee]

OK Sue, I read the whole damn thing, and I still don't know what the hell he wants.

Feature, not a bug.
What he wants is Republican votes on a stimulus/spending bill.
He was elected on changing things in Washington, not on this stimulus bill. If he can't get Republicans to vote for a bill- any bill- then he hasn't changed anything.
He could try to make it look like it's the Republican's fault for not supporting this bill, but the public hates the bill.
So all Obama wants to do is save our nation. Won't someone work with him? Please?

[MayBee]

About Ezra- apparently being a wonk is akin to being a "model". All you have to do to be one is call yourself one.

[drjohn]

"Daschle was doomed not by atypical corruption but by normal, even modest, conflicts of interest."

When is tax evasion a "conflict of interest"?

In a narrow sense it could be, I guess.

[bad]

drjohn, paying taxes conflicts with my interests.

[Daddy]

You are correct Clarice,

On a second read through I now see that the lugubrious Mr Gergen's statement actually makes no sense. I am still confident that he was trying to complement Daschle, but that instead of using the correct words he just choose their second cousins. Otherwise we would almost have to credit David Gergen with witty humor which I consider an impossibility in this Universe.

[Cypetriestebis]

Information from http://gold-collection.biz
LONDON – World stocks advanced Wednesday, with Tokyo's index up nearly 3 percent, as better-than-expected news about the U.S. and Chinese economies raised hopes the global downturn is stabilizing.

By noon in mainland Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 4,182.28, Germany's DAX added 0.7 percent to 4,406.72 and France's CAC 40 jumped 1.0 percent to 3,013.24.

Despite the improvements in the data, investors remained cautious ahead of central bank announcements later this week.

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Europe's two major central banks will announce their rate decisions Thursday — the Bank of England is expected to cut aggressively to combat the deepening recession, while the more cautious European Central Bank holds off.

Investors will also be looking ahead to Friday's publication of U.S. payroll data, with a forecast of the figure due Wednesday by the ADP research organization.

In Asia, the upward swing followed Wall Street, where investors breathed a little easier after a surprise jump in home sales in December suggested the battered housing market might soon stabilize.

Asian investors also were heartened by Wednesday's report pointing to possible recovery in Chinese manufacturing. While manufacturing shrank again in January, the contraction was less severe than in recent months and seen by some as a sign China's stimulus measures might be taking hold.

But with the global economy and company results still in dire shape, the move higher was likely to be temporary, analysts cautioned. Amid the hopeful signs came more gloom Wednesday from corporate bellwethers such as Australian mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. and Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp.

"It's a fictitious rebound. The figures are better than we thought, but they're still bad," said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong. "It's encouraging of course, but it's far too early to say we're seeing a revival in the global economy."

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 2.7 percent to 8,038.94, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 2.3 percent to 13,063.89. South Korea's Kospi was up 2.8 percent.

In Shanghai, the main index gained 2.3 percent to 2,107.75 as traders welcomed news the purchasing managers index, a key gauge of manufacturing activity, rose to a four-month high.

Elsewhere, markets in Singapore, India and Taiwan also advanced.

In Europe, shares in telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent gained 4.0 percent despite reporting a massive euro3.89 billion loss in the fourth quarter after it took its largest ever charge to write down the value of assets. Hughes said there was "nothing really unexpected" about the writedown.

Shares in pharmaceuticals maker Roche Holding AG plunged 8.2 percent after it said its net income for 2008 fell by 5 percent — missing expectations — because of the strong Swiss franc, falling sales of its anti-flu drug and a drop in income from investments.

Its disappointing results dragged down other pharmaceutical stocks, including Sanofi-Aventis and AstraZeneca, which fell by 1.1 percent and 3.8 percent.

Reinsurer Munich Re AG saw its stock plummet 2.4 percent after it reported a euro100 million ($129 million) profit for the fourth quarter — just a sixth of earnings a year earlier.

Dow Jones industrials futures were up 10 at 7,996, or 0.1 percent, and Standard & Poor's 500 futures gained 1.8, or 0.2 percent, to 831.50.

In Tokyo, exporters raced ahead on optimism that the worst may be over for the U.S. economy, a vast market for their products. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 4.5 percent and Honda Motor Co. rallied 6.3 percent.

South Korean carmakers also surged, helped by overnight data showing Hyundai Motor Co. posted a 14 percent increase in U.S. sales in January, one of the few companies to eke out gains in a dreadful auto market. Hyundai shares vaulted 7.6 percent.

Among tech shares Panasonic rose 1 percent in Tokyo despite tumbling to a loss of 63.1 billion yen ($709 million) for the fiscal third quarter.

Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.8 percent to 8,078.36, galvanized by figures showing a key index of pending sales for preowned homes rose 6.3 percent in December from the previous month.

Any sign the U.S. housing market slide is slowing is likely to help sentiment, as many analysts argue the recession in the world's largest economy won't end without some improvement in home prices.

Broader stock indicators also rose, with the S&P 500 index up 1.6 percent to 838.51.

In oil, crude prices rose slightly in European trade, with light, sweet crude for March delivery up 62 cents to $41.40 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract overnight rose 70 cents to settle at $40.78.

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