While I’m on about what I’d like to see lefty bloggers and columnists and broadcast personalities talk about, here’s another one. Due to an unfortunate tradition, it’s considered inappropriate for Sen. Obama to discuss possible cabinet members and advisors before the election. I’d love for him to present a shadow cabinet, but it’s not going to happen, and it would probably backfire. But there’s no reason why various of us can’t come up with our own versions.
To be cautious here, I’m not necessarily talking about My Ideal Cabinet, which would be put together to institute all of my policies and to shoot the shit with me over tea and biscuits. I’m talking about putting forward a few names of people who Sen. Obama could reasonably appoint and work with, who could get through a Senate that still allows forty Opposition members to stop a confirmation, and who would work to institute Sen. Obama’s policies, which are not my own.
Before we start, though, I’d like everybody who accepts my challenge (oh, let’s make it a meme and a challenge and all that: write about three potential members of a Barack Obama administration in 2009) to begin by describing the scene in that second week in November. Sen. Obama would be sitting down with his advisors and staff to work on that transition. Joe Biden would be there, giving him the benefit of a truly massive experience with Senate confirmations, as well as with what different kinds of people have made of different positions. Who else is there? I would guess that there would be some member of Bill Clinton’s cabinet, possibly John Podesta or Leon Panetta or possibly Bill Richardson. I would guess that there will be somebody from the legislature other than Joe Biden, perhaps Rep. Hoyer or Rep. Boehner.
Now imagine that meeting with John McCain, should he win the election. First of all, forget about Sarah Palin giving him advice on picking a Cabinet, and forget about him taking advice from her. Who else is going to be giving him advice? Joe Lieberman, sure, and Phil Gramm. Anyone else? Will there be anybody who has experience in the White House? How many of his Senate or House colleagues can stand him, and even if they can, can he stand them? Who’s going to be giving him advice, Trent Lott? Seriously, even before we get to the paucity of Republicans available to serve in his Cabinet who (a) can work with John McCain, and (2) aren’t part of Our Only President’s cabal of crooks and incompetents, and (iii) aren’t under indictment, and he needs a dozen plus another half-dozen to serve as Directors of agencies, he’s got to get together a transition team. I know it’s a lousy economy, but I think picking lettuce with a short hoe has got to be a better job than that.
Anyway. Three picks for an Obama Cabinet is my goal. The easy one is John Kerry as Secretary of State; I will make that one of my three, even though I’m not wild about it. How about Parris Glendening as Secretary of the Interior? And Jennifer Granholm as Attorney General. That’s three. As lagniappe, let’s see, Thomas R. Fitzgerald (Chief Justice of the Illinois State Supreme Court) as Attorney General. Just a guess, but I would think that Justice Fitzgerald knows Barack Obama and would get along well with Joe Biden, and would be an Attorney General choice that showed dedication to the Department of Justice rather than to the Democratic Party, and dedication to the rule of law rather than to the rule of the President.
See? Fun and easy. I tell you what, let’s all do this game on the left, and challenge the guys on the other side to pick John McCain’s Cabinet, and then we’ll set up our guys against their guys head to head and see who punts first.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.
Post Script: McCain Taps Lobbyist for Transition according to Michael Scherer over at Time Magazine.