President Barack Obama scrambled to regain control of his political message Tuesday after a series of tax and vetting scandals forced one of his most important nominees to withdraw and raised questions about the new president̢۪s central campaign pledge to change politics as usual.

Obama said Tuesday that he accepts responsibility for the controversies, is committed to high ethical standards and won̢۪t accept a double standard for those in power versus average Americans. Obama also sought to steer attention back to the debate in Congress over an economic stimulus package that̢۪s approaching $900 billion.

“I campaigned on changing Washington and bottom-up politics. And I don’t want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards,â€Â Obama said on CNN, one of five networks that conducted previously scheduled interviews with the president Tuesday.

“This was a mistake. I screwed up.â€Â

Obama told ABC that it had been an embarrassing day.

“We can’t afford glitches, because right now what I should be spending time talking to you about is how we’re going to put 3 to 4 million people back to work. And so this is a self-induced injury that I’m angry about, and we’re going to make sure we get it fixed.â€Â

Unpaid taxes cause some appointees to withdraw

Earlier Tuesday, former Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination to become secretary of health and human services, saying that his failure to pay what eventually became $146,000 in back taxes would prevent him from operating “with the full faith of Congress and the American people.â€Â

Daschle told Obama of his decision in a telephone call. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the decision was Daschle̢۪s alone.

The White House announced the news hours after Nancy Killefer, Obama̢۪s nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget and the new post of federal chief performance officer, also dropped out because of unpaid taxes.

Those departures followed the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner despite his own controversy over unpaid taxes, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson̢۪s earlier dropping of his bid to become commerce secretary because of a federal probe into a pay-to-play scandal that̢۪s reached into his office.

Setback to socialized medicine

Obama on Tuesday nominated Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, to the commerce post.
The loss of Daschle could imperil Obama̢۪s ability to achieve comprehensive health care restructuring, one of his paramount policy goals. Daschle is a former Senate majority leader with wide connections throughout the nation̢۪s capital and expertise in health policy. He was to have led Obama̢۪s efforts to make affordable health care coverage available to all Americans.

“I will not be the architect of America’s health system reform, but I remain one of its most fervent supporters,â€Â Daschle said in a statement.

Obama had said Monday that he “absolutelyâ€Â stood by Daschle. On Tuesday, however, he issued a statement saying that he accepted Daschle’s decision with “sadness and regret.â€Â

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who̢۪s long worked with Democrats on health legislation, said the loss would make health care revisions harder to achieve.

White House spokesman Gibbs declined to discuss apparent shortcomings in Obama̢۪s vetting process for nominees. He said that Obama had confidence in the process.

“I’m not going to spend a lot of time up here today looking through the rearview mirror,â€Â but “we all take responsibility. The president takes responsibility.â€Â

By Margaret Talev and David Lightman / McClatchy Tribune