As President elect Barack Hussein Obama II announces his cabinet nominations to implement his self proclaimed new era of change in the world, it is obvious that these nominations are nothing more than retreads from the Clinton administration or fiercely partisan liberals.
An overview of the announced nominations appeared on November 24, 2008 on the "Letter from the Capital" Blog.
Treasury. Timothy Geithner is, like his new boss-to-be, a hotshot at age 47. He is highly regarded on Wall Street, if unknown to Main Street. His government experience includes a stints at Treasury in three administrations, for five Treasury Secretaries. He also worked at the International Monetary Fund. As New York Federal Reserve chief, he has been in the thick of the rescue efforts.
State. Hillary Clinton is the third iconic choice for the post within this decade. Icon of State just might be a better label. Her one shortcoming is that she may not have the managerial ability to keep State's bureaucracy in line; we shall, in the event, see. But she brings many assets to the position: As "Ms. 3 AM Phone Call" Hill in effect tells the world that she is behind the new president. She has enormous Washington savvy and international star power. Her husband will have to behave--at least, to the extent of avoiding serious headlines. The GOP would be wise to climb aboard, as Hill's move out of the Senate will lead to a less powerful successor there, and take her out of the health care debate, a cause she has wanted a second chance at for 15 years. Ted Kennedy's refusal to step aside for her on this issue may have sealed her decision to leave. Attacking Hill will only undo some of the good Sarah Palin's VP nomination did for the perception of the GOP among women. By the way, does anyone think that Joe Biden, selected as VP nominee for his foreign policy smarts, is going to step between Hillary and President Obama?
Attorney-General. Eric Holder is a partisan player, whose hand in the pardons of Puerto Rican FALN terrorists and of fugitive financier Marc Rich, plus his helping bypass an inconvenient judge to enable Janet Reno's goons to kidnap Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in 2000 (photo here) & send him to his hitherto absent father, toadying to Fidel Castro (thus sealing Al Gore's fate in Florida) make him a poor candidate. But taking after him would be a huge error, for what would likely be the Lani Guinier Effect: as with Guinier, Holder would likely be followed by an even worse pick--quite possibly, the person who succeeded Guinier, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Also, attacking a prominent African-American nominee at the start of the first African-American presidency would be a cinch to backfire. Note, however, Holder's 2002 statement to CNN that presents a refreshingly realistic view of the limits of using Geneva Convention rules to govern treatment of unlawful combatants held in detention. Perhaps Holder can persuade his new boss on this.
Homeland Security. Janet Napolitano brings experience as a successful state governor (Arizona) whose immigration policy has the support of her state's constituency, plus having been a U.S. Attorney. She has never held a Washington post, but no doubt has the savvy to catch on quickly. She is surely no Rudy Guiliani, but is probably the best the GOP can expect from this administration.
Health & Human Services. Tom Daschle is a hard-nosed partisan who fought the GOP tooth & nail as Senate Majority Leader & then Minority Leader during the first Bush II term. He will do less damage at HHS then he would have done in the White House as chief of staff. HHS has a tendency, like quicksand, to swallow its nominal chiefs.
Commerce. Bill Richardson brings extensive government experience, having held the Secretary of Energy and the UN Ambassador portfolios during the Clinton years, and pays off Hispanic voters for their support. Commerce usually is a backwater, a place often given to cronies. The last superstar Commerce Secretary was the late Malcolm Baldrige, who held the post for seven years during Reagan's terms, until he was killed in a rodeo accident. Baldrige was a real dynamo. Richardson will be pushing exports in an administration that leans towards protectionism. Why BR would give up the governorship of New Mexico for this is a mystery, from a standpoint of his career, so I will presume he was asked and decided "yes" for reasons of patriotism, seeing his country in trouble.
Non-Cabinet Key Posts. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has Daschle's sharp political elbows, but got 60 or so Democrats--mostly moderate and some even conservative--elected in the past two cycles, giving his party strong Democratic control. Gregory Craig, slated for White House counsel, is a top Beltway lawyer, best known for playing key roles in fending off the conviction of Bil Clinton in his 1999 Senate trial, and also for pushing for the return of Elian Gonzalez and opening up to Fidel Castro. Lawrence Summers will head the National Economic Council, a Clinton advisory group established to bring policy focus within the White House--while the Council of Economic Advisers offers economic analysis, less related to day by day policy. Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, is brilliant and justly highly respected.
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