How much of the Cabinet will turnover? Will/should he cross the aisle on a big position? If so, is Lugar viable for SoS? I’ve always thought he’d be perfect for the job, and hey, he’s got nothing else going on.
There’s usually a fair amount of turnover and you can already find some pretty solid reports on who is likely to leave and who may replace them. Replacing Geithner is supposed to be the top priority, and the leading candidate is reported to be Jacob Lew, the White House Chief of Staff. If the Times’ description of his experience is accurate he sounds like a good choice. Clinton and Panetta (Defense) are likely to leave. Ray LaHood (Transportation and one of Obama’s Republican picks) is also going to leave. Eric Holder (Attorney General) may leave. I hope so, and I hope Kerry does not replace Clinton. They may be right that Rice wouldn’t survive the confirmation hearings in the wake of what happened in Benghazi, although I don’t think there is much to that “scandal.” I don’t see why he would choose Lugar. As far as choosing another Republican: I suspect he will, but historically that seems to be an act of tokenism for the most part.
Kerry for State seems relatively likely. There’s rumblings Holder may step down - Napolitano may be in line for that post. I’m not sure who would take Homeland Security at that point - Powell?
John Huntsman for SOS? Not sure I believe it.
Why don’t you like Kerry for State?
Thanks Marley. Too bad aisle crossing is only tokenism now.
andy-I think the worry is Kerry’s Senate seat.
He’s certainly qualified for the job. Would the GOP view this as an olive branch or a middle finger?
If Kerry’s the best candidate for Secretary of State, then I think it’s worth that risk.
Apparently not David Patraeus. Chris Cillizza just reported on FB that he’s resigned due to an affair.
Anyone see anything?
Yes he did. Can you imagine a CIA Director not being able to hide an affair? Good riddance!
I don’t see what he brings to the table other than time on the relevant Senate committee, and his presidential campaign* convinced me that he’s a loser in general. It’s an important position and Clinton leaves huge shoes to fill.
It’s never been anything else. Bush and Obama even appointed Republicans to the same cabinet position- Transportation, which nobody except the appointee’s mom really cares about. (Obama also kept Robert Gates from Bush’s administration.) Which is not really surprising. If the Republicans want to reinvent Medicare and the Democrats want to expand it, it’s hard to justify appointing a Republican to HHS.
Giving Scott Brown another opportunity seems kind of stupid, but no, it’s mostly Kerry.
*Everything looks different in hindsight, but still: is it me, or in hindsight did Democrats get extremely lucky when Kerry lost? They weren’t very excited about him to begin with, and if Kerry had been elected in 2004, where is Barack Obama right now? If you assume other things stay the same, Republicans definitely would’ve won the White House in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis that happened “on the Democrats’ watch.” Assuming VP Edwards was still brought down by his own dick as he was in real life, that gives you a possible 2012 Clinton-Obama ticket running against a Republican incumbent in this economy, and that’s the same extremely difficult position Mitt Romney was just in.
Not a cabinet-level position, but David Petraeus just resigned as director of the CIA. He’s admitting he had an extramarital affair. His deputy is being promoted to replace him and that move may become permanent, so it might not cause a lot of other job-reshuffling.
Perhaps, a middle finger from Huntsman to the GOP? He’s been criticizing the Republican party ever since he backed out of the race. I’m not sure Huntsman has (or wants) any chance to ingratiate himself back into the GOP.
Then again, maybe Obama would be offering the appointment to neutralize another Huntsman Presidential run in 2016. Though, since Obama wouldn’t be running against him in 2016, that theory doesn’t have much weight. Not to mention, I highly doubt Huntsman could ever get the Republican nomination.
Perhaps, Huntsman is just a good candidate for the job? And appointing Kerry leads to the whole open Senate seat quandary.
I doubt Obama is going to appoint a guy who was campaigning for his job a year ago. Huntsman was an Obama ambassador, quit, and then ran against him (although he wasn’t particularly critical on foreign policy as far as I know). I don’t see how that would be a good working relationship.
Enough of this crossing party lines to only be betrayed. No more Judd Greggs. There are plenty of fine Dems to fill all these positions. Maybe a GOPer that has some character but talk about a rare breed.
Regarding Kerry, no. We need him in the Senate. Appointing Napolitano to Homeland Security handed Arizona to the terrible Jan Brewer. And considering her for AG? NO! Leave bad enough alone.
Extend a hand to the GOPers and it gets bitten. They have shown who they are and their capacity for compromise and cooperation.
Eh, Robert Gates and Ray LaHood seem to have worked out alright.
Gregg was kind of embarrassing, but mainly for Gregg himself. I don’t think it hurt Obama any. And having a few GOP officials looks good to the voters.
Plus, if the example of Huntsman is any guide, it apparently means the end of that persons political career in the GOP. So I doubt Obama has to worry about giving someone a stepping stone to run against a Dem later.
Plus there are a lot of decent moderate GOPers who are out of work because they’ve been primaried by the tea-party. Giving them a prominent job with the Dems is probably a good idea for political and practical reasons.
That’s why I said “Maybe a GOPer that has some character but talk about a rare breed.” Lincoln Chafee, Lugar. Not many, especially for the stature of cabinet positions.
No Colin Powell, McCain, Condi Rice pleeeze!
None of those are even on the table. There’s no sense in worrying about stuff that is not even possible. Condi Rice endorsed Romney, McCain has had nothing but bile for Obama since 2008, and while Powell’s endorsement of Obama was used in some ads, Iraq sunk him and he knows it.