This is why I voted for Barack Obama.
Our nation is enduring one of the worst crises in generations. Now, more than ever, we desperately need a dispassionate and reasoned president, one able to put ego aside and assemble a dream team capable of steering the United States back on track.
The last few days have made more confident than ever -- at this defining moment of maximum risk and peril, our nation picked the best possible person for this enormous task.
This is an exceptional Cabinet in waiting. And it tells me Barack Obama is going to be an exceptional president.
Let's review the picks so far.
Vice President: Sen. Joe Biden.
Many cited Biden's pick as the first strong indicator of Obama's sound decision-making ability. It certainly was a re-assuring moment for me.
A vice president's primary job is to serve as president-in-waiting -- to take over the reins of the presidency should it prove necessary. Few people in Washington fit that profile better than Joe Biden.
Assistance in steering bills through Congress? Joe Biden's been up on the Hill since 1973. I was in Pampers when this guy first became a Senator.
Experienced advisor and consultant? See above.
He didn't generate a hundredth of the coverage of the Great Moosehunter of the North. But I'll sleep well knowing this guy's about to evict Dick Cheney from Number One Observatory Circle in a couple of months.
Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Ah, Kossacks, I know many of you are less than thrilled about this pick, for a whole variety of reasons. But I couldn't be more pleased about it.
In a nutshell, this is about the American brand. That brand is in shambles, and a pedestrian pick just isn't going to cut it if we want to rebuild our reputation and legacy.
Next to Barack Obama, who are the most popular American politicians on the planet?
That would be former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. These are the faces the world associates with a time when America wasn't reviled. If Barack Obama must send proxy representatives to the world, these are the representatives you want.
And what does this pick tell us about Barack Obama?
Consider this -- the top two Cabinet members in his administration are people he defeated for the Democratic nomination.
Says volumes about his confidence to me -- and his emphasis on selecting not yes-men, but the best possible talents for his team... even if one of those talents is one of his fiercest rivals.
Those are qualities I really like to see in a President.
Attorney General: Eric Holder.
I profess some ignorance on this pick, knowing little about Eric Holder beyond his service as a deputy AG under Bill Clinton.
So I googled a bit, and came across this snippet from Newsweek:
A New York City native who graduated from Columbia University and Columbia Law School, Holder spent years as a federal prosecutor—a job in which he earned a reputation as tough and aggressive foe of public corruption. [As deputy attorney general he] was viewed as a centrist on most law enforcement issues, though he has sharply criticized the secrecy and the expansive views of executive power advanced by the Bush Justice Department. (Emphasis added.)
Sounds like just the guy to clean the Alberto Gonzalez stench of protofascism out of the DoJ. There will be no shitting on the Constitution under this guy's watch.
Plus he'll be the first African-American attorney general in our nation's history. That's pretty cool as well.
Treasury Secretary: Timothy Geithner, New York Fed Chairman.
I doubt many of us qualify as Tim Geithner experts. But here's what I know about the guy: Those who do know Geithner love him.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6.5% in one hourafter word of Geithner's selection leaked. It takes a LOT these days to get institutional investors excited about buying stock; for the market to explode like this at word of Geithner's pick tells me volumes about the investment community's confidence in this guy. Remember -- money talks, bullshit walks. They're laying out tens of billions in anticipation of a Geithner treasury department.
Economics columnist Andrew Leonard of Salon.com proclaimed he was "delighted" with the pick:
Back in 2006, while most of the financial establishment was pooh-poohing the possibility that the global economy was at any risk from a systemic shock, Geithner was actively warning that unregulated derivatives posed a threat to financial market stability. He was also doing his best to get Wall Street financial institutions together to bring some order to the wild west world of credit swaps. He's smart, he knows the lay of the land, and he certainly won't need any coaching to get up to speed on the financial crisis.
We need to engage in a full-bore restructuring of our entire financial system over the next several years. Leading the charge is a guy who blew the whistle on the smoke-and-mirrors bullshit that once pervaded Wall Street.
Oh, and Jim Cramer absolutely hates him. By my standards, that makes him the best possible pick to take the reins of Treasury.
Commerce Secretary: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Executive experience and Cabinet experience in two departments -- United Nations ambassador and Energy Secretary. When the economy's falling apart, you want a Commerce Secretary with a long resume and a track record of getting things done.
Oh, and yet another former rival for the Democratic nomination. Obama's obviously quite enamored with Lincoln's "Cabinet of Rivals."
Defense Secretary: Robert Gates.
Ok, this one makes me a bit queasy. The Iraq War has been one of the biggest clusterf**ks in an administration with no shortage of them. Bringing over any holdover from that mess makes me uneasy.
But he shares Obama's priorities, particularly an increased focus on Afghanistan. He'd provide a smoother transition to a Defense Department contending with two active wars. And a good successor would be waiting in the wings -- former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, now a senior Obama defense advisor.
So yes, Secretary Gates, I can swallow your temporary re-appointment. You've certainly done a fair sight better than your predecessor (though doing better than Donald Rumsfeld is not exactly a high bar.)
Just don't make yourself too comfortable in that Pentagon office.
Health and Human Services: Tom Daschle.
Here's what I know about Tom Daschle -- he was the last Democratic Senate leader I liked.
If you're going to try to steer comprehensive health care reform through Congress, this is the guy you want on the Hill.
The selection of Tom Daschle tells me health care reform is a serious priority for Barack Obama. And that's tremendous news.
Homeland Security: Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.
Much of my family lives in Arizona, and they can't say enough good things about her time as governor. And that's saying something in Arizona -- this is a state that, in the last two decades, has impeached one governor and seen another convicted on felony charges while in office.
Why is this former US attorney a good pick? Here's what Matthew Leavitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy had to say about Napolitano:
Levitt said he thought it was important to have someone with executive experience at the helm.
"Clearly, they wanted someone who has experience leading a large organization," he said. "I think executive experience in a is critical in a bureaucracy like DHS, which is not only huge but young, and that's one of the things she brings.
Levitt said that the 22 component agencies that make up DHS have "old, competing cultures," and need a strong executive to bind them and plot out where the department will go in the future.
Remember, this is the organization responsible for everything from the TSA to the post-Katrina clusterf**k of 2005. It desperately needs a leader able to make a complex bureaucracy run smoothly -- like Janet Napolitano.
National Security Adviser: Gen. James Jones.
More than 40 years of military experience. Former commandant of the Marine Corps. Former NATO operational commander. Strictly non-partisan. Strong critic of Bush's Iraq strategy.
At a time of maximum danger for the United States around the world, a president needs a National Security Adviser who knows the capabilities and limitations of the U.S. military -- and knows full well the costs and horrors of war. He couldn't have picked better than Gen. Jones.
Secretary in waiting: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
I've heard Labor. I've heard Energy. I've heard Interior.
I have not a clue where Kathleen Sebelius is going to end up. But I have no doubt that Barack Obama's going to find a place for Gov. Sebelius on his team. And she's going to be another outstanding addition to one of the strongest Cabinets in memory.
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It is far too early to tell how successful a president Barack Obama will be.
But the first indications on what to expect from a presidency come as the president-elect assembles his Cabinet. And by that standard, Barack Obama is giving us reasons to be reassured as January 20 draws closer.
George W. Bush picked lieutenants largely by personal loyalty and friendship. The results were disastrous.
Barack Obama has one simple test -- find the best possible people he can find.
So far, two senators, two governors, a former Senate Minority Leader and a former Marine Corps commandant have agreed to join his team.
There's no guarantees the impressive credentials of this cabinet will result in a squad of home run hitters. Resumes only get you so far... you only really know how someone will perform in a job once they've actually started.
But if you're looking to improve your odds, you pick those who have excelled before. And that's precisely what Barack Obama is doing.
Our nation has made some boneheaded selections in electing presidents over the decades. (See: Bush, George W.) Yet in our times of maximum crisis, we have a strange knack for picking out a president up to the challenge.
In our dangerous and turbulent infancy, we found George Washington.
Facing a civil war that could have destroyed us, we found Abraham Lincoln.
Facing a depression without equal in history, we elected Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Will Barack Obama be their equal? Even in my worst Kool-Aid chugging moments, I'm not presumptuous enough to make such a bold claim. (Yet.)
But with each new cabinet pick, I grow more confident we have once again found a president who is up to the enormous challenges that lie ahead.