I should confess that I am an unabashed Leavitt fan. For a decade, I have looked forward to interviewing him at these summer meetings of the association and to seeing him occasionally on his visits to Washington. He is one of the rare politicians from whom you always learn something new, because he is out front of most public officials in identifying and thinking through emerging policy problems.
Now:
Maybe Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and his staff are just in denial. Or maybe they don't read the papers, thus missing the sad news that Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) died Monday, seven months after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Whatever the case, Leavitt's office called Thomas's office late Thursday afternoon to request a meeting with the late senator.