Nominees for Obama’s Cabinet

I have thought with interest who would be strong nominees for an Obama cabinet.  Here’s a few that I feel would be best:

Attorney General – Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal

Secretary of State – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

Secretary of Interior – Soon to be Former Utah Congressman Chris Cannon, Arizona Congressman Trent Franks (another open seat in Dem hands), or Sen. Gordon Smith (if he is defeated)

Secretary of Agriculture – Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsak

Secretary of Transportation – Port Authority of NY/NJ Vice-Chairman Henry Silverman.

Secretary of Health and Human Services – Minnesota Dept. of Health Commissioner Dr. Sanne Magnan

Secretary of Education – Montgomery County (MD) Supt. of Schools Jerry Weast or Prince George’s County (MD) Supt. of Schools Dr. John Deasy (both are large school districts and consistently have the highest graduation rates for African-American and Latino students in the nation).

Secretary of Defense – Senator Chuck Hagel

Secretary of the Treasury – New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine

Secretary of Commerce – Congresswoman Jane Harman or Former US Senator John Breaux

Secretary of Labor – Ohio Dept. of Job and Family Svcs. Director Helen Jones-Kelley or Wisconsin Dept. of Workforce Secretary Roberta Gassman.

Secretary of HUD – Boston mayor Thomas Menino

Secretary of Energy – California Energy Vice-Chair Commissioner James Boyd or Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld.

Secretary of Homeland Security – Former NYPD & Boston Police Commissioner/Current LAPD Chief of Police William Bratton or Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs – Congressman John Murtha or Illinois Dept. of VA Director/Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth.

**Note that all of these individuals come from the Northeast, Midwest, or West.  Unfortunately, the South continues to be last in Education and Health (therefore it would be ridiculous to choose someone from there as has been done in the past two administrations).

Also, for Housing it should be a nominee from an area where housing costs are fairly high.  Transportation should be based on where there is infrastructure of all aspects (ports, bridges, airports, etc).  Interior has traditionally come from the West and Energy also makes more sense for the West.  

In the end however, I believe that qualifications, not diversity should be the determining factor in creating a sensible cabinet.

Which individuals would you nominate for these positions or which one’s do you not agree with?

21 thoughts on “Nominees for Obama’s Cabinet”

  1. Very heavy on qualifications, which is great. But a massive “NO!!!” from me on appointing any Republicans at Interior to plunder our parks and wildlife any further. Anyone you put there needs a SOLID Sierra Club rating.

  2. fairly standard conservatives forth for the important position of Secretary of the Interior and don’t mention the one truly environmental Republican who was consistently endorsed by environmental groups, and who I think will be appointed, former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee who ran a ranch in like Montana I think, for a long time before going back to Rhode Island.

    Tim Kaine will probably end secretary of Transportation, Bill Richardson for Secretary of State.

    John Edwards would be unlikely for Attorney General but a possibility, also a possibility is former four term MS AG Mike Moore who was a leader in the Cigarette litigation. Moore would be a good moderate choice and is a very experienced lawyer and would buy Obama some kudos in the deep south. I like Tammy Duckworth’s chances, and popular former Superintendent of Education for South Carolina Inez Tenenbaum, she was a very effective SoE. Jon Corzine could likely end up Secretary of the Treasury, as Goldmansach people seem to have a knack for ending yp their. Then, maybe New Jersey Democrats would have the sense to allow Dick Codey to run for reelection and give the state competent, ethical leadership.

    But, on another note, and I hate to be the mr. snickity here, but you’ve made five posts today. There is an unspoken rule that you canonly make one post a day, two maybe. You’ve put all the other posters off the list, and, truthfully, three of the posts could have been combined into one, and there was no way to split them. I hope I don’t come off badly, but I just thought someone should tell you.

  3. Anyone who thinks that Edwards is more qualified than Blumenthal for this job, obviously has no idea of who Blumenthal is.  If I’m not mistaken, he is the longest serving Attorney General in the county.  He’s also liberal (which a lot should love) and he has gone after tobacco and energy companies, even going after the Bush administration right now on it’s desire to drill in Long Island Sound.  

    Also, to somehow think that conservatives like Cannon or Smith would be dictating policy as Sec. of Interior is ridiculous.  I’m sure that former conservatives would learn to moderate their positions in an Obama administration.

    If I read correctly, Edwards was recently caught in a LA hotel with another woman engaged in a secret rendevous.  Why even give him an opportunity for any cabinet position.  I just don’t find him as qualified as some here seem to believe.  

  4. You cannot be serious about MoCo’s Dr. Weast.  He is not about children in schools.  Have you heard his “cream of the crap” comment?  See http://www.examiner.com/a-1492

    He calls his district “cream of the crap.”  After 9 years as the MCPS leader and 40 years in education -that’s the best that he can do?  He needs to clean up his act, and find another profession where he will stay far away from kids.

  5. Weast fits in perfectly with some of your other nominees: Breaux, and Murtha, fat cats who made a bundle on our taxpayer dollars.  Please get him out of our school system!

  6. “Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast is making strategic, and perhaps ethical, errors by meddling in the special District 4 County Council race, the president of the county civic federation and a councilman said this week.”

    http://www.gazette.net/stories

  7. “At the behest of schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast, the county school board changed its transportation policy to give the administration emergency powers to make students walk farther to their schools.



    Frankly, we find it troubling that school officials are even considering the possibility.”



    http://www.washingtonpost.com/

  8. I would choose Jerry Weast over any administrator from Houston or South Carolina, two locations with very low high school graduation rates.  Obviously, Mr. Weast is doing something right because his school district is consistently rated high (in the 70% range) for high school graduation rates for minority students.  The only thing Mr. Weast may not be doing is giving into liberals, which quite frankly is the best thing any school administrator could do.  Liberals demand more and more spending.  This is not the answer to fixing a school system.  It’s about finding effective teachers and encouraging students, not just about throwing out more money.  Liberals and conservatives are equally destructive to this nation.  

  9. Most school district budgets double in less than ten years for various reasonings, including student population growth, new teacher hirings, school construction, etc.

    Let’s see.  Montgomery County, MD is the 17th largest school district in the nation with some of the highest scored on AP exams.  And while other districts are closing schools, Montgomery County is opening new one’s.  So what if the school district asks parents to pay for textbooks and towels.  The good thing is that we don’t have the PTA confirming the next Sec. of Education because if that was the case, then our nation would be screwed up.  Mr. Weast obviously is doing something right in Montgomery County, yet most importantly, so are the teachers and students.  If you leave it up to parents, they will only make matters worse.

  10. BEWARE OF THE MYTH CALLED JERRY WEAST!!!

    http://www.wjla.com/news/stori

    He is the laughing stock of the media.  He will get blown away because of his business dealings and shady deals.  Under his watch, Montgomery County has dropped from number 1 in the state to number 11 – that is truly cream of the crap.

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