Three reasons for Sanjay Gupta

Leave it to the Economist to succinctly summarize three reasons why Sanjay Gupta is a good choice for the Surgeon General position:

First of all, he is not merely a pretty face. He is a qualified neurosurgeon who practises his craft and holds a post at Atlanta’s Emory University. Second, doctors with roots in the subcontinent are greatly over-represented among the country’s medical establishment but have long felt neglected. Elevating a prominent Indian-American may help Mr Obama court America’s medical lobby, which has traditionally been hostile to reform.

But the biggest reason to think Dr Gupta may succeed is the fact that the only real power the surgeon-general has is the use of his bully pulpit to promote public health goals, such as healthy eating and stopping smoking. Some previous holders of the post were vocally so clumsy that they lost their effectiveness or their jobs: Joycelyn Elders was sacked by Bill Clinton for encouraging the teaching of masturbation. Others have been grey men who failed to get media attention. That, at least, is a problem Dr Gupta is unlikely to have.