By Denise Ross

Think Tom Daschle’s first in line to be chief of staff to a potential President Obama? Think again, Daschle tells the Washington Post.

The South Dakotan said that if he and Obama came to a consensus that some formal role made sense, he would do it. But, he added, he has a sense of “ambivalence” because he has arrived in such a good place in his life that he’s reluctant to tamper with it.

“I can’t recall a time when I had greater happiness,” he said.

That’s why I’ve never been able to enthusiastically embrace the idea of Daschle as a chief of staff. The grind of the job is inescapable, and Daschle’s said repeatedly how much he’s enjoying life now that he’s away from the similar grind of leading his party in the US Senate.

I’m not saying COS wouldn’t happen, but I’d put my money more on some kind of special czar or emissary or guru in the health care arena or in some kind of hybrid between, say, agriculture, health care and energy.

Meanwhile, Daschle has hit a comfortable stride after being admittedly adrift for awhile after losing the 2004 race to John Thune. (Who wouldn’t need a little time to sort things out after 25 years in one job?)

Now, Daschle is basking in the spotlight of his newfound role as Democratic wise man and close confidant of Sen. Barack Obama. He made the rounds this week as though he had never left the limelight. On Monday, Robert Bauer, his former legal adviser, introduced Daschle to a group of election lawyers as “one of the hottest tickets in town” and someone who, even after narrowly losing reelection in 2004, has “secured a place in the party’s heart and soul.”

Here’s my favorite Daschle quote, probably refrigerator material for all of us: “Things happen, and you just have to get over it and move on. I always say, the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror.”

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