Day: August 23, 2008

Thinking ahead to the possibility of President Obama and Vice President Biden makes one want to project who might be appropriate in his cabinet and as top advisers. I  have some interesting thoughts on this that I wish to share!  🙂

Secretary of State–Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico
Secretary of the Treasury–Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City (Independent)
Secretary of Defense–Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska (Republican appointment)
Attorney General–Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
Secretary of the Interior–Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana
Secretary of Agriculture–Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Secretary of Commerce–Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Secretary of Labor–Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Independent Socialist)
Secretary of Health and Human Services–Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development–Congressman John Lewis of Georgia
Secretary of Transportation–Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon
Secretary of Energy–Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada
Secretary of Education–Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York
Secretary of Veterans Affairs–Congressman Chet Edwards of Texas
Secretary of Homeland Security–Congresswoman Jane Harman of California
White House Chief of Staff–former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota
National Security Adviser–former General Wesley Clark of Arkansas
United Nations Ambassador–former President Bill Clinton of Arkansas

You will note this list includes eight Senators or former Senators, two Governors, one Mayor, five House members, a former General and a former President ( to keep the peace between the Clintons and President Obama 🙂 )   It includes three women, one Hispanic, one African American, six Jews and represents all sections of the country–four from the Northeast, four from the South, five from the Midwest, and five from the West.  I invite commentary on my proposed cabinet and advisers to President Obama and Vice President Biden!  🙂

Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for President, now faces a major dilemma regarding his choice for a Vice Presidential running mate.

McCain, it seems to me, MUST pick a nominee with the ability and knowledge of economic and domestic affairs that the Arizona senator lacks by his own admission.  He must also balance the issue of trying to keep the backing of the right wing conservatives while appealing to moderate Democrats and independents.  He also, by every indication, wants someone he feels personally comfortable with and yet also a person who could be President of the United States were McCain unable to finish his term, a possibility accentuated by McCain becoming 72 on August 29, the day he will announce his choice of his running mate.

The names bandied about include some that seem presposterous.  I see no advantage to Sarah Pallin, the governor of Alaska; Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas; Rob Portman, former congressman from Ohio and budget director under Bush; and Joe Lieberman, the independent Democratic senator from Connecticut who ran with Al Gore in 2000.

Others make more sense including Charlie Crist, governor of Florida; Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania and Homeland Security Secretary under Bush in the first term; Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota ( a totally new face on the national level); and Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and the strongest competitor of John McCain in the primaries.  All of the above are close personally to McCain, except Romney.  But each has his disadvantages too:  Crist is a moderate who could help guarantee Florida for McCain, but his personal life could become a problem theoretically;  Ridge is pro choice on abortion; Pawlenty is mostly unknown and while making a nice appearance only won re-election in Minnesota by a small margin and probably cannot carry his home state for McCain; and Romney, acknowledged as understanding economics, really denounced McCain in the primaries and his attacks on McCain could be used by the Democrats in the fall campaign, to a much greater effect than Biden’s statements that Obama was not ready to be President.

Therefore, I propose someone else who I think could be a greater asset to McCain and would fill the needs of a running mate who could also be President if called upon.  That is Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who is close to McCain and liked by McCain; has great experience in state government and in the Senate and understands economics better than McCain does; would be acceptable on the abortion issue and other issues that the right wing conservatives see as crucial to their supporting McCain; a person who moderate Democrats and independents might find acceptable if they are unhappy with Obama; and being a woman would certainly draw many women to consideration of supporting McCain.  It must also be pointed out that Hutchison is certainly better qualified than Geraldine Ferraro who ran with Walter Mondale in 1984, and also more experienced than Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who were both thought of as possible female running mates with Obama as alternatives to Hillary Clinton.  I am not personally endorsing Hutchison as I want the Democrats to win, but I do believe that IF she ran for VP with McCain, she would offer McCain the best hope possible to win the White House.

Needless to say, I am ecstatic over Barack Obama’s choice of Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to be his Vice Presidential running mate.  There is absolutely no better choice he could have made!

Joe Biden is a national treasure, a man who should have been the Democratic presidential nominee on qualifications and personality alone, but unfortunately he could  not compete in the big leagues financially or on national following with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and even John Edwards.  This is an example of the problems of our whole election system, that the BEST candidates never have the opportunity to be elected President, sometimes even when they are fortunate enough to be the nominee of their party.

Among such examples would be Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Al Smith, Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Birch Bayh,  Frank Church, Nelson Rockefeller, Howard Baker, Bob Dole and Al Gore.  Clay would have been better than William Henry Harrison in 1840 and could have spared us John Tyler’s succession.  Daniel Webster was the stateman of his generation along with Clay.  Al Smith would have certainly been better than Herbert Hoover. Stevenson was too good for us against a war hero named Ike.  Hubert Humphrey was certainly better qualified than John F Kennedy on his record in 1960 and could have saved us from Richard Nixon.  George McGovern was a man of vision who could have spared us the downfall of Nixon and the stewardship of Gerald Ford.  Birch Bayh and Frank Church were better,  more experienced choices than Jimmy Carter.  Nelson Rockefeller was certainly better than Nixon and Ford, with Ford at least recognizing that and making Rockefeller his Vice President.  Howard Baker was someone who should have been favored over Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush, and Bob Dole also should have had an opportunity over both Reagan and Bush, but was too advanced in age by the time he ran against Bill Clinton.  Al Gore–well, is there any need to say he was better qualified than George W Bush and might have saved us from a lot of the grief  that has occurred in the past eight years?

A criticism that might be leveled is that Biden is better qualified than Obama to be President.   On paper, the same could be said about Lyndon Johnson over John F Kennedy.  Kennedy could not have won without LBJ. My answer is so what?  As long as a candidate recognizes his limitations, I give him credit by recruiting the best running mate he can find.  No President can do it all alone and having an excellent, sometimes better qualified Vice President is a mark of both leadership and lack of egotism getting in the way.  I think the same can be said of Gerald Ford showing no ego problem in picking Nelson Rockefeller, Jimmy Carter selecting Walter Mondale, Ronald Reagan choosing George HW Bush, Bill Clinton turning to Al Gore, and even George W Bush calling upon Dick Cheney.  I would argue all of these cases are examples of the Vice President being BETTER QUALIFIED than the President.  It certainly was better for the country than Nixon picking Spiro Agnew and the first Bush selecting Dan Quayle. So I do not fault Obama for recognizing his limitations and feel assured that his selection of Biden is a sign that he will, when he is elected President, which I am now sure he will be on November 4, choose the best and the brightest among both Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents, to staff his cabinet and close advisers. 

Remember one thing.  The cabinet and close advisers of the President of the United States DO MATTER, and I see Obama as doing much like Abraham Lincoln, who it could be argued was NOT the best choice on paper of the competitors for the 1860 presidential nomination.  That is, Lincoln made sure to gather around him the best and the brightest of his rivals and party leaders, and that had a lot to do with his successes and greatness.  Franklin D Roosevelt was also thought to be not as outstanding as he turned out to be, and he also recruited outstanding cabinet members and advisers.  The greatness and accomplishments of a President are not be be judged by the person himself, as the wisdom and judgment of the man in the people he gathers around him.

So I salute Barack Obama and see bright days ahead as he faces the challenge of the future with Joe Biden at  his side.  HOORAY!  🙂