# Obama's 2nd term Cabinet **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505 "2012-11-09T19:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/21 "2012-11-09T21:15:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. Obama lampshaded this at the State of the Union when praising Huntsman’s work. Honestly, I think it would fly at least as well as Bill Clinton’s selecton of William Cohen for Defense. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/22 "2012-11-09T21:28:23Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Obama lampshaded this at the State of the Union when praising Huntsman’s work. Can you explain this a bit? [I couldn’t find it in the speech.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012-transcript.html?pagewanted=all) I saw that Obama mentioned that he was bringing more trade cases against China than Bush did, but I don’t know if that counts as credit for Huntsman (whose name was not mentioned). ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/23 "2012-11-09T21:39:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Can you explain this a bit? [I couldn’t find it in the speech.](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/us/politics/state-of-the-union-2012-transcript.html?pagewanted=all) I saw that Obama mentioned that he was bringing more trade cases against China than Bush did, but I don’t know if that counts as credit for Huntsman (whose name was not mentioned). Sorry–crossed wires. The comments I was thinking of were in [a speech at the Gridiron club](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/us/20huntsman.html)a couple of months after the 2011 SotU. I remembered Huntsman in the audience, and couldn’t think of a reason for him to have attended any Obama events outside of the SotU. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/24 "2012-11-09T21:41:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Not a cabinet-level position, but David Petraeus just resigned as director of the CIA.](http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/09/15054517-cia-director-david-petraeus-resigns-cites-extramarital-affair?lite) 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. How surprising is that? I mean, the place where he was working is filled with spies! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/25 "2012-11-09T21:47:39Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > How surprising is that? I mean, the place where he was working is filled with spies! Maybe one of them loved him. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/26 "2012-11-09T22:03:48Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Maybe one of them loved him. Nobody Does It Better… ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/27 "2012-11-09T22:07:11Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Nobody Does It Better… Makes me feel safe from the rest… ---
**Author:** ![EverwonderWhy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EverwonderWhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EverwonderWhy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/28 "2012-11-09T22:24:14Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 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. Obama appointed Hilary who ran against him in the primary, no? Talk of a Huntsman cabinet position may be surprising, but not totally inconceivable. Also, Huntsman recently defended the President on Benghazi while criticizing Romney for politicizing it (of course, he still endorsed Romney). Huntsman is a person non grata to the GOP, but voters may not see that so it may look bipartisan and he’s certainly qualified. At the same time, a Huntsman appointment may really piss off the Dem base. My money is on Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/29 "2012-11-09T22:33:04Z")
> [@EverwonderWhy](#): > > Obama appointed Hilary who ran against him in the primary, no? Totally different. They’re both Democrats and she supported him after he won the nomination. Huntsman worked for Obama and then quit to try to beat him. A few Huntsman quotes from the campaign: “President Obama’s policies have weakened America and thus have diminished America’s presence on the world stage. We must correct our course.” [I’m pretty sure that by itself should illustrate that Obama is not going to make him Secretary of State.] “After three years of bigger government, higher taxes and more spending, America desperately needs a return to conservative principles: limited government, lower taxes and balanced budgets. America is more divided than ever, and for our nation to move forward together with new leadership and unite, the Republican Party must first unite.” “The American people have lost trust, first and foremost, in the president. A president who, rather than focusing like a laser on fixing our economic core, wasted an entire year jamming through a health care plan the American people didn’t ask for and can’t afford. A president who brazenly ignored the bold and creative proposals put forth by his own bipartisan deficit commission – Simpson-Bowles – whose failure to deal honestly with our debt caused the first-ever downgrade in our nation’s credit rating. A president who has employed the same crony politics he once decried; who has used public dollars to pay off campaign contributors like Solyndra; and who has been willing, through his National Labor Relations Board, to sacrifice American jobs to appease union allies.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/30 "2012-11-09T22:39:07Z")
> [@EverwonderWhy](#): > > At the same time, a Huntsman appointment may really piss off the Dem base. My money is on Kerry. Jon Huntsman is many Democrats favorite Republican. Can’t remember who here suggested it, that Huntsman could only win a Republican primary written by Aaron Sorkin. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/31 "2012-11-13T14:35:39Z")
[Reports are that the White House wants Susan Rice at State and John Kerry at Defense.](http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/11/reports-wh-wants-rice-for-state-kerry-for-defense-149345.html) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/32 "2012-11-14T08:51:05Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > [Reports are that the White House wants Susan Rice at State and John Kerry at Defense.](http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/11/reports-wh-wants-rice-for-state-kerry-for-defense-149345.html) I can see that working. For Rice at least, as they’ll be too busy slamming Kerry with all that Swift Boat bullshit (“I was in Vietnam during the same time period as John Kerry and I hope you don’t notice that’s what ‘served with’ actually means.”) ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/33 "2012-11-14T15:37:42Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > [Reports are that the White House wants Susan Rice at State and John Kerry at Defense.](http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/11/reports-wh-wants-rice-for-state-kerry-for-defense-149345.html) Kerry would be better for Defense than Secretary of State, I suppose. I mean, seriously. John Kerry? For SECRETARY OF STATE? Our “Chief Diplomat”? The man has as much charisma as a log. The Daily Show once rat a segment advertising a non-existent CD entitled “John Kerry Ruins Your Favorite Jokes.” And I say this as one of the people he REPRESENTS in Massachusetts. I appreciate the man’s voting record (mostly. He’s let me down a couple of times on key issues and I have viewed him with some aggravation ever since) but he’s not a good choice for SoS. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/34 "2012-11-15T03:01:56Z")
I spent part of the day listening to right wing hate radio, and they’re already gearing up to attack Rice. [Also, John McCain and Lindsey Graham made very public statements calling Rice incompetent.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-benghazi-attack-angry-words-from-obama-and-republicans/2012/11/14/1483153e-2e94-11e2-beb2-4b4cf5087636_story.html) The artificiality of all of this is staggering. The most they have – the absolute most they have! – is the timeline on when people called the attacks “Terrorist” attacks. This is one of the most Orwellian things ever. (It’s right up there with opposing gay marriage because we can’t permit people to change the meanings of words in our language.) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/35 "2012-11-15T03:20:39Z")
Yea, a Rice confirmation hearing is looking increasingly like a fight Obama wants to have. The GOP conspiracy-mongering on Benghazi is so over-the-top that it seems more likely to hurt their already damaged foreign policy rep then hurt Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/36 "2012-11-15T04:35:23Z")
Obama made it very clear today that if he decides he wants Rice, he’s nominating Rice. He’s not going to scare off this one, and good for him. The primary attack on Rice is itself based on McCain’s misunderstanding or lying about her initial statements about Benghazi. She never called it a spontaneous protest. That’s something McCain came up with. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/37 "2012-11-15T04:52:41Z")
If he picks Erskine Bowles for Treasury, I’ll jam forks in my eyes. But if he’s going to nominate Rice for State, then I have to think he’s in F-you mode, in which case he may be preparing to ignore all the commentators advising him against it. Which wouldn’t be the first time, his admin is rotten with Rubinites. And I agree that Obama shouldn’t risk losing Kerry’s seat in the Senate. He’s already done this once with Kathleen Sebelius. She was well-positioned for a Senate run in 2010, having served two terms as governor of Kansas, but she declined in favor of a cabinet post. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/38 "2012-11-15T05:11:17Z")
Obama is screwed on Secretary of State unless he can get Bill Clinton to do the job. Hillary was a brilliant choice initially, but anyone likely to replace her is a step down. Heads of state aren’t interested in meeting John Kerry, or pretty much anyone else. His best bet is to have Hillary stay on for around six months with a known interim replacement in line for six months after that. That interim secretary should be lowering expectations for the next person to step in. As for the rest of his cabinet, they’re nothing special. They may be competent, but they have no star power. Maybe he can put Oprah in one of the spots. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/39 "2012-11-15T05:15:27Z")
Hey, he could get Schwarzenegger to take up his position as Secretary of Fitness again; I hear he’s looking for work. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505/40 "2012-11-15T17:34:15Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Kerry would be better for Defense than Secretary of State, I suppose. I mean, seriously. John Kerry? For SECRETARY OF STATE? Our “Chief Diplomat”? The man has as much charisma as a log. The Daily Show once rat a segment advertising a non-existent CD entitled “John Kerry Ruins Your Favorite Jokes.” And I say this as one of the people he REPRESENTS in Massachusetts. > > I appreciate the man’s voting record (mostly. He’s let me down a couple of times on key issues and I have viewed him with some aggravation ever since) but he’s not a good choice for SoS. If he _really_ wants to annoy the Republicans, he should nominate former Ambassador [Joe Wilson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_C._Wilson) (the guy who is married to Valerie Plame). He had a long and distinguished career in diplomacy, working for both Republicans and Democrats, and until the shitbags in the second Bush administration decided to fuck him and his family over for telling the truth, he was dedicated to non-partisan service to his country. From his Wikipedia article: > [@](#): > > Having become fluent in French as a teenager, Wilson entered the US Foreign Service in 1976, where he would be employed until 1998. > > From January 1976 through 1998, he was posted in five African nations; as a general services officer in Niamey, Niger (his first assignment) he was “responsible for keeping the power on and the cars running, among other duties”. From 1988 to 1991, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission (to US Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie) at the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. In the wake of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, he became the last American diplomat to meet with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, telling him in very clear terms to leave Kuwait (Wilson, The Politics of Truth 107–27). When Hussein sent a note to Wilson (along with other embassy heads in Baghdad) threatening to execute anyone sheltering foreigners in Iraq, Wilson publicly repudiated the dictator by appearing at a press conference wearing a homemade noose around his neck and declaring, “If the choice is to allow American citizens to be taken hostage or to be executed, I will bring my own fucking rope.” Despite Hussein’s threats, Wilson sheltered more than 100 Americans at the embassy and successfully evacuated several thousand people (Americans and other nationals) from Iraq. For his actions, he was called a “a true American hero” by President George H. W. Bush. From 1992 to 1995, he served as US ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. Remember, this is Joe “Fuck you, Saddam” Wilson, not [Joe “You Lie” Wilson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wilson_%28US_politician%29). He would have more actual diplomatic experience than anyone who has done the job in decades, possibly ever. He is tough, principled and charismatic. And he has a deep understanding of Africa, both it’s problems and potential. Republican heads assploding would just be the whipped cream and cherry on top. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-2nd-term-cabinet/640505.md?page=3)