Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet? Fill in as many as you like.
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
White House Chief of Staff
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Director of the National Drug Control Policy
United States Trade Representative
Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Director of National Intelligence
Director of Central Intelligence
Great thread name. Thinking on this…
Attorney General John Edwards.
Or, Edwards for Secretary of Labor and Elliot Spitzer for AG.
That’s all I have so far.
I like Edwards for AG, RFK Jr. to head the EPA.
But after that – I like Ted Kennedy in a number of spots, but he’s so amazing in the Senate I wouldn’t want to lose him there.
I’d like to see the list of people who endorsed Barack before Super Tuesday. Those would be loyal people with some foresight of the kind who might be suited for these positions.
Ooh, are you saying reward loyalists as a prime criteria?
I don’t think he wants too many Clinton people in his cabinet.
Not exactly the Abe Lincoln approach, but I get it.
Reward SMART people who bucked tradition and took a risk on Obama.
I like RFK Jr. to head the EPA too.
See, that’s the problem. There are a lot of people I think would do a good job — like Spitzer for AG, for instance — but by and large these people are already doing a bang-up job in the positions they’re in, and it would be a shame to pull them out.
That said, there have got to be a few people who should be “promoted” out of jobs where they’re a pain in our side and can maybe be replaced with more progressive Dems. How about Joe Lieberman being our ambassador to Israel? Being an ambassador means we never have to listen to him again.
but would it be construed as a veiled attack on Israel?
I actually really like that suggestion – get him the hell out of the Senate and let him ride off into the freaking sunset.
Yeah, I had a brilliant idea just now. We should make Joe Lieberman “Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Peripatetic.” This would be diplomatese for “You can do anything you want as long as you do it in some other country.”
ambassador to Mars…
bitches…
Everyone I think of is doing a good job where they are and moving them out means special elections in some cases.
That’s a lot of positions…but a guess at a few:
AG – John Edwards
SecState – Joe Biden
SecDef – I could honestly see Chuck Hagel being put into this role. I think Wesley Clark is probably the natural choice (if it’s legal), but I could see this as one of the places where Obama puts a Republican in charge. Hopefully I’m wrong.
I don’t really have any thoughts about the other positions…I would just like to ensure that the people put in place aren’t long-time Clintonistas. I also want to see a through-and-through environmentalist heading the EPA.
Delighted to see the EPA at the top of the list. And I hope we can concentrate on more than energy use, important as it is. The living world is on the cusp of disaster, and biological conservation seems to have dropped into some dark, deep hole. Of course, our use and abuse of the planet is the fundamental issue.
Why wouldn’t it be legal to put Clark in as SecDef?
you are not civilian until you are retired ten years.
He’s retired, right? As long as he’s retired, he could do it, or would this position not be up to him? I think the question of legality arises because of issues of civilian control. So as retired military, he could be Sec of State, a la Colin Powell, but Sec. of Defense would still be off limits, right? I’m not sure about that one.
What about Colin Powell as SecDef?
You’re joking, right?
First of all:
Vice President: Kathleen Sebelius (KS)
Cabinet:
Secretary of State: Joe Biden (DE)
Secretary of the Treasury: Denise Nappier (CT)
Secretary of Defense: Jim Webb (VA)
Attorney General: John Edwards (NC)
Secretary of the Interior: Bob Miller (NV)
Secretary of Agriculture: Ron Sparks (AL)
Secretary of Commerce: Nydia Velásquez (NY)
Secretary of Labor: Patty Murray (WA)
Secretary of Health and Human Services: John Kitzhaber (OR)
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Shirley Franklin (GA)
Secretary of Transportation: Gary Locke (WA)
Secretary of Energy: Hilda Solis (CA)
Secretary of Education: Brad Henry (OK)
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Max Cleland (GA)
Secretary of Homeland Security: Loretta Sanchez (CA)
White House Chief of Staff: Tom Daschle (SD)
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Also:
National Security Advisor: Samantha Power (MA)
Some of my choices are owed to diversity but generally I’d like to think a little outside the box for some offices, running through it now, I noticed that I put women in charge of all economic positions (treasury, commerce, OMB) which would be a good change.
In the end, Obama will probably include Republicans and Independents and other people we’re not thinking about right now. It’s just about time half the cabinet is female. Hillary isn’t included as I either see her as Majority Leader in the Senate or I think she’d be a good choice for Obama to nominate to the Supreme Court.
that’s a good and pretty realistic looking list.
Yeah, but speaking as a Washingtonian I would hate to lose Murray as my senator. Gary Locke is a good choice if he’s interested in getting back into public service (I have to admit I don’t know what he’s doing these days).
I’d kinda like to see Maria Cantwell “promoted,” but I’m not sure to what. Commerce is a possibility, but I’m worried she might be too cozy with those she would be regulating (she was a VP at RealNetworks for a time). Energy maybe?
Webb for Defense sounds nice but I don’t think someone who is likely to hold a Senate seat for 24 years in a purple state should be chosen.
OTOH, getting rid of Biden would be nice, but not at the price of making him SoS. I’d like to see someone who has a neutral position in the I/P issue, but I doubt such an appointment would be made.
I had been thinking the first criteria should be that half the list be women and also a good minority component(particularly Native American) and go from there. I don’t know enough people to actually make a list out however there must be people all around the country we have never heard of, activists even who would make excellent choices and bring fresh ideas and competence to D.C. Use a mixture of known people-like Edwards with new people. I had thought Edwards would make a great AG but now I’m thinking he’d make an even better head of the Labor Dept. We need to get back to protecting workers against big business and send Elaine Chow back to hell where she belongs for what she’s done during her tenure.
What is this with Hillary as Senate Majority leader? I’ve been seeing this everywhere. Who’s floating it? I cannot remotely imagine what she has done in her Senate career to merit such an honor, or what kind of political savvy she has to do well in that position. At the top of my list for that position would be Senators Leahy or Dodd, who really deserve it and would do a great job.
Me too. But she’d make a mighty fine whip.
Except for Tammy Baldwin. Didn’t she endorse Hillary? At least RFK Jr. is more suited that role.
Paul Krugman for Sec Treasury?
not likely. he has been rabid in his attacks on Obama’s economic and health care policy proposals.
.. not until he returns booman’s beard. And apologizes for selling out his integrity to big Pharma and Hillary Clinton.
not before they’re hatched and have taken a few steps.(aka when his count is at 2025)
we went thru the same exercise with John Kerry; naming his cabinet.
Hillary says she’ll fight to have Michigan and Florida delegates seated, b/c she can’t win any other way.
Btw Obama may have a huge $$ haul this month. $50 + million figure.
No doubt he’ll use some of that to keep the delegates from being seated. As well he should; they both knew the rules well before the rogue primaries.
As time goes on I’m becoming less inclined to think that it’ll actually come to that, though.
I just posted in another diary on the AP survey that finds super-delegates are jumping to Obama.
They don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. 🙂
No, but that won’t stop Larry Johnson from using an old one to try and change the wind.
Here’s some off the top of my head
Treasury (or State): Bill Bradley
Defense: Tony Zinni
Health & Human Services: Howard Dean
Labor: John Edwards or bring back Robert Reich
Commerce: Ursula Burns (President of Xerox)
Transportation: Jim Oberstar (Chair of the House Transportation Committee, in office since 1975)
AG: Elliott Spitzer
HUD: Corey Booker (Mayor of Newark NJ)
Agriculture: Mark Kastel (co-founder of The Cornucopia Institure) Mark Ritchie (MN Sec of State) or Jim Hightower
FCC Chair: Larry Lessig
Oh and Director of CIA: Valerie Plame. 🙂
I like your ideas!
Heh. I love it.
w00t! I LOVE that!!!
Larry Lessig at FCC – also brilliant!
Thanks. 🙂 I tried to think of some reformers, folks whose brains work in different ways from the norm, and people whose appointments would make a statement.
Lessig for one in communications. And my Ag picks are all populist small farm/family farm advocates.
Where I’m struggling is with diversity. Not a lot of women or Latinos or African-Americans coming to mind for these posts. Plus I’m trying to stay away from sitting congresspeople and Senators as much as possible.
There are a few folks though who came right to mind who would bring a new perspective, mad skills and diversity to the cabinet:
Corey Booker is a young African-American reform Mayor of NJ’s largest city.
Ursula Burns is a 50-something black women with an engineering degree who is President of a Fortune 500 company.
We need to think about diversity much more though. And with an Obama administration, it might finally be reflexive.
How about Snowe for EPA.
I know she is a reupublican, but we would get rid of what is probably the last R in the north-east. At the same time as appearing to be ‘bi-partisan’ whatever the hell that is.
She has a 100 by LCV as I recall.
Secretary of State- Bill Bradley
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense- Lawrence J. Korb
Attorney General- John Edwards
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture- Sen. Tom Harkin
Secretary of Commerce- Fmr. Sen. Tom Daschle
Secretary of Labor- Rep. Raul M. Grijalva
Secretary of Health and Human Services- Sarah Sewall
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development- Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton
Secretary of Transportation- Rep. Jerry Costello
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education- Rep. George Miller
Secretary of Veterans Affairs- Richard Clarke
Secretary of Homeland Security- Rep. Bennie Thompson
White House Chief of Staff
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Director of the National Drug Control Policy
United States Trade Representative- Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
Director of National Intelligence- Fmr. Sen. Gary Hart
Director of Central Intelligence- Bruce O. Riedel
Not that John Edwards wouldn’t be a fine attorney general, but he says his focus going forward is going to be on poverty. He’d be wasted as Attorney General.
I’d make Patrick Fitzgerald Attorney General. He’d probably be a pain in the ass to Obama (especially considering he’s in charge of the the Rezko matter) but that’s what we need. An attorney general who will be a pain in the ass to the President.
I agree with you. Fitz would send a very strong message.
noooooooo, you can’t have Grijalva! He’s ours!
maybe a stint as Sec. of Labor would set him up for a senate run later.
I’d like to promote some thought about Science Advisor as well..
‘Smartest Guy in the Room’ Jeremiah Ostriker? The IPCC’s Susan Solomon or Rajendra K. Pachauri?
This is going to be one of, if not the most important position in the administration (If the next President is going to make any attempt to put off the end of life as we know it).
Yeah, Jerry would be great. Does he know Obama yet?
VP: Chris Dodd/or Russ Fiengold
AG: John Edwards
Sec.State: Bill Richardson
Sec. Agriculture: Kathleen Sebielus
Sec.Veterans Affair: Chuck Hagel
Juan Cole, secretary of state
Speaking of chickens – can’t we just get rid of the Homeland Security Dept. please?
Get Rid of that gargantuan Pork Barrel.
It’s a PROPAGANDA tool by it’s very nature. It’s a giant giveaway to “security” firms, like those 2 women in South Carolina who sold the DOD screws for $20,000 a piece or whatever the story was . . .
Thanks for mentioning this!!!!
Max Cleland for VA. He was great when I worked there under Carter years ago. Or one of the current Veterans activists.
But who will be the Secretary of Love?
What’s his name, Republican, from Lousiana who got caught patronizing hookers. Or maybe Sen. Craig from Idaho, if you don’t mind him staring between the cracks of a mens bathroom stall.
as well as the whole Office of National Drug Control Policy should be abolished. They have done nothing but suck up large amounts of cash in the past twenty years.
See my comment above and copy it here! 🙂
Gee, this was a bit tougher than I thought! This was all I could come up with for now. For HHS/surgeon general/FDA, let’s just please have a real doctor/scientist and not a crackpot, and someone who believes in public transit to head DoT. That’s all I ask.
Secretary of State: Susan Rice
Secretary of Defense: Chuck Hagel
Attorney General–Eric Holder fmr DoJ #2
Secretary of the Interior: fmr Gov. Parris Glendening
Secretary of Labor: David Bonior, fmr Dem Whip, John Edwards’ campaign mgr
Secretary of Energy: Shirley Ann Jackson, fmr NRC commissioner
Secretary of Education: NC gov Michael Easley or Inez Tenenbaum, fmr SC senate candidate
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Max Cleland
Secretary of Homeland Security: Bennie Thompson
White House Chief of Staff: Tom Daschle
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency: Rocky Anderson, fmr Mayor, Salt Lake City
Secretary of Education – Jonathan Kozol.
A girl can dream, can’t she!
Oh, that is GOOD!!! I knew I needed longer to think about it so I could consider some unconventional folks.
But do you think he’d do it if asked? I get the feeling he’d say, You know what you need to do, and I’m here to kick your behind until you do.
You know he’s a truth teller, so maybe that would be a demotion! 🙂
He’d never take the job. Aside from the fact that politicians would never let him eliminate the high-stakes testing – I’m pretty sure that he’s over 70. Of course, there’s Alfie Kohn.
Also see: Progressive Gov’t.org
There’s this fellow named Lawrence Lessig. He’s a law professor at Stanford who has done outstanding work in the areas of copyright, privacy and civil liberties. Nowadays he tracks political corruption through his Lessig Wiki and has formed an exploratory committee to consider running for the seat vacated by Tom Lantos.
There are probably areas Commerce regulates that he’s not expert in, but I think he’d fit in there pretty well someplace. One of the overlooked needs of this country (by all but us techno-geeks, it seems) is the need for reform of the copyright and patent systems, and he’d be a perfect resource for that.
But who should be the Minister for Science and Technology?
Oops — wrong country, different priorities.
Just found this over on Wikipedia — I hadn’t known about it before:
I have my resume for CTO ready. Just say the word, sir.
Secretary of State – Bill Richardson
Secretary of the Treasury – Paul Krugman
Secretary of Defense – Al Gore
Attorney General – John Edwards
Secretary of the Interior – Byron Dorgan
Secretary of Agriculture – Kathleen Sibelius
Secretary of Commerce – Nydia Valasquez
Secretary of Labor – Arlene Holt Baker
Secretary of Health and Human Services – Marian Wright Edelman
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development – Louise Blanco
Secretary of Transportation – Eleanor Holmes Norton
Secretary of Energy – Amory Lovins
Secretary of Education – Lynn Woolsey
Secretary of Veterans Affairs – Paul Rieckhoff
Secretary of Homeland Security – James Lee Witt
White House Chief of Staff – Max Cleland
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Director of the Office of Management and Budget – Richard Moore
Director of the National Drug Control Policy – Shirley Franklin
United States Trade Representative – Dennis Kucinich
Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System – Joseph Stiglitz
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration – Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Director of National Intelligence – Wes Clark
Director of Central Intelligence – Valerie Plame Wilson