Article: Dems sketch Obama staff, Cabinet

[Perky]

Fascinating reading,

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/15142.html

Highlights

White House chief of staff: Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.); Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.); or dark horse candidate Bill Daley, Commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton and now an executive with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Deputy chief of staff: Pete Rouse, chief of staff in Obama Senate office; Ron Klain, former chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore; longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett; Jim Messina, campaign chief of staff

Senior adviser: David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Steve Hildebrand

Outside adviser: Abner Mikva

Ambassador at large on climate change: former Vice President Al Gore

National security adviser: Jim Steinberg, the deputy under Clinton; Gregory Craig, special counsel to Clinton; Susan Rice; retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni; Samantha Power of Harvard’s Kennedy School

White House counsel: Bob Bauer, campaign counsel; Chris Lu, Obama legislative director and member of transition staff; Heather Higginbottom, campaign senior policy strategist and longtime aide to Sen. John F. Kerry; Mike Strautmanis, congressional affairs for campaign and former chief counsel in Senate office



Counselor: Robert Gibbs; Anita Dunn; Valerie Jarrett; Jon Favreau

Communications director: Robert Gibbs; Dan Pfeiffer, who has that post in the campaign

Deputy Communications Director: Josh Earnest

Press secretary: Robert Gibbs, Linda Douglass, Bill Burton, Stephanie Cutter


Defense secretary : Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.); Richard Danzig, Navy secretary under Clinton; John Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS and former deputy secretary of Defense; President Bush’s incumbent, Robert Gates — would be for at least a year so he wasn’t a lame duck.

Attorney general: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine; Eric Holder, who was deputy AG under Clinton and is now with Covington & Burling and led Obama’s vice presidential search; Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

Supreme Court nominee: Washington superlawyer Robert Barnett; legal scholar Cass Sunstein; Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor of New York; Elena Kagan, dean of Harvard Law School. Consensus is it would most likely be a woman.

Secretary of State: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.); Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)

Deputy secretary of state: Gregory Craig

Director of State Department policy planning (internal think tank): Samantha Power

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations: Susan Rice, senior campaign national security adviser and State Department and National Security Council official under Clinton; Caroline Kennedy

Treasury secretary: former Clinton treasury secretaries Larry Summers and Robert Rubin; FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Blair; New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, former Treasury under secretary and Assistant Secretary; former Federal Reserve hairman Paul Volcker.

Deputy Treasury secretary: Jake Siewert.

Secretary of Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle; Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, a physician; John Kitzhaber, medical doctor and former Oregon governor.

Health care czar in White House: Tom Daschle.

Education secretary: David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma and former U.S. senator and former Sooner State governor; Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean (R), who was chairman of the 9/11 commission; Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)

Environmental Protection Agency administrator: Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.); Kathleen McGinty, former head of the Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Agency

Commerce secretary: Penny Pritzker; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Homeland Security secretary: Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Col.); William Bratton, Los Angeles police chief and former New York police commissioner; former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), a member of the 9/11 Commission; Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.); Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

CIA director: Former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.); Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)

Director of National Intelligence: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett; Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.)

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.); Tammy Duckworth, the director of Illinois Veterans’ Affairs, Iraq veteran and former Democratic House candidate; Bush’s incumbent, James Peake

Secretary of the Interior: Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.); Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Secretary of Energy: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R); Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)

Secretary of Transportation: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.); Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.)

Secretary of Labor: Former Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.); Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union; Kay Hagan of North Carolina (if she loses her challenge to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole); Jeanne Shaheen, former New Hampshire governor (if she loses her challenge to U.S. Sen. John Sununu)

Secretary of Agriculture: Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack; Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)

Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy: William Bratton

Director, Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (Obama's renamed faith-based office): Josh DuBois, campaign's director of religious affairs

[LSparkle]

1. Good choices for the most part ... but where are the Clark(e)s?

Wes Clark and Richard Clarke are both worthy
of National Security/Intelligence post(s) ...

[davepc]

2. NO MORE REPUBLICANS AS SEC OF DEFENSE!!!!

Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...Democrats are weak on defense...

over and over and over and over again since fucking JIMMY CARTER and what did Clinton do with William Cohen, what is the Obama campaign floating out there...a fucking REPUBLICAN as Sec of Defense.

STOP PLAYING TO THE GOD DAMN FALSE STEROTYPE!

Democrats are just as able to run the Military as any god damn Republican, and probably are better at it to boot.

[Perky]

3. Well the rationale for Gatis that we are at war

and we need a smooth transition and someone one who knows what is going on. I can buy that argument foir a couple of years as ling as he has an understudy,

[davepc]

4. Fuck that. Gen Clarke can jump in there with both feet on day 1

just off the top of my head.

[Perky]

5. apparently Pentagon Culture Frown;s on People swapping theuniform for civies.

Its not the experience thing. It about Chain of command and military cuture....apparently.

I do not know of an General who has ever been in the upper eschelon on the civillian side pof the Pentagon. They go to State or the CIA (eg Powell and Stansfield Turner and the guy whoi is at CIA now), but they don't become civilain leadership at the Pentagon.

Even if they have been retired for a few years.

[elleng]

10. Law PROHIBITS

active > civie w/in 10 {?} years.

[Perky]

11. Well there ya go

[davepc]

8. Fair enough. Jim Webb.

Already been in the Pentagon as Sec of the Navy. Currently on the Armed Services committee in the Senate.

Tim Kaine can name his replacement to the senate.

[Bucky]

9. Thank you. While it's not a good idea to play politics with a job like that...

...there's more than enough qualified SecDef candidates out there to select a Democrat for this post.

Let Hagel be Ag Secretary or AG. An inclusive cabinet is a great move when the usual suspects unveil "Arkansas Project v2.0"--and you know it's gonna happen. The more the extremists are isolated, the better the government will function and the more problems can be solved.

[nickinSTL]

6. interesting...

But...Schwarzenegger for Energy? :wtf:

I'm not against competent Repubs in the Cabinet - not thrilled, but not against - but SCHWARZENEGGER?

Don't get it.

[Perky]

7. He actually hs gotten pretty green