Obama's Cabinet & Cabinet level positions

[Ender]

So now that the dust is settling, what next? Who will Obama turn to to help him govern? Obviously Biden is Veep, but what about the rest? Obama has said his cabinet will be bipartisan. Let's hear your guesses and hopes for who will fill what position.

Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veteran's Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
Attorney General
Chief of Staff
EPA Administrator
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Drug Czar
Federal Reserve Chairman
Social Security Administration
Director of National Intelligence

What do you think? I expect Hagel and Webb will be offered a job. Prior to his scandal I could have seen Edwards, but I think he is done now. Maybe Clinton gets HHS since that would be a big part of his health care package?

[Illuminatus Primus]

Chuck Hagel (R), SecState or SecDef (good chance a Bush pick, Mullins, is kept)

[Stravo]

Colin Powell.

[Max]

I'd rather Clinton fill a position in the supreme court. Although, I think she poo-poo'd that in an interview...

[General Zod]

I could easily see Al Gore as Secretary of Energy.

[Tanasinn]

Colin Powell.

I heard, off-hand, that Powell is not interested in a cabinet position.

[Melchior]

Must the grotesque "Drug Czar" position continue to exist?

[Stravo]

Colin Powell.

I heard, off-hand, that Powell is not interested in a cabinet position.

That's a real shame because he would have been the perfect bipartisan appointment. Respected by everyone and a Republican.

I hear the cabinet level posts will be bipartisan and no retreads so no one who has had a post in the past or been part of any past administration. Could be interesting.

[Medic]

Uh, I do believe Hillary Clinton's on the record as saying she's determined to stay in the Senate to help keep that in Democrats' hands.
Mind you, I don't exactly think the chances of a Republican are great of coming into her vacant seat, but I do remember that being covered on the news one day.

1st thing I saw on Google News on Obama's cabinet.

Barack Obama has lined up his Cabinet to avoid a power vacuum
In the event of victory, the Democratic candidate is anxious to make sure that there will be a smooth takeover at the top

Tim Reid

Barack Obama has already picked most of his Cabinet and if he wins tonight will be ready to name top posts within days as he seeks to ease into a governing role before Inauguration Day on January 20.

Unlike most previous presidential election winners, who spent weeks huddled with advisers before announcing their Cabinet and White House team, Mr Obama is anxious to hit the ground running and already has a list of key names he has decided upon.

The Democratic candidate is particularly anxious to immerse himself immediately in confronting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and to avoid a power vacuum over the next two months as the country slides into what appears to be a deep and painful recession.

Mr Obama’s transition team has been headed by John Podesta, a Washington veteran and former chief-of-staff to Bill Clinton. One of his priorities has been discussing with Mr Obama his choice of Treasury Secretary, a key post given the current economic climate and one he is set to announce quickly if he wins.

The leading contenders to head the US Treasury in an Obama Administration are Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Laurence Summers, President Clinton’s last Treasury Secretary, and Paul Volcker, who chaired the Federal Reserve from 1980 to 1987. Mr Volcker, in particular, has become an enormously influential economic adviser to Mr Obama in recent months.

It is understood that offices for a new Treasury team – be it John McCain’s or Mr Obama’s – have already been set aside in the Treasury Building to shadow the Bush Administration’s efforts to rescue the stricken financial sector.

History is also a compelling factor in Mr Obama’s desire to move quickly. During the Great Depression Franklin D. Roosevelt was not inaugurated until March 1933 – five months after election day – a period of relative inaction in which the US economy worsened significantly.

One thing Mr Obama’s aides say he is reluctant to do if he wins is attend the G20 summit of world leaders in Washington on November 15, convened by President Bush, to discuss the global economy. He is anxious not to distract attention from Mr Bush’s efforts, and is also keen not to have his hands potentially tied by involvement in an economic forum that might fail.

A President Obama would draw heavily for his Cabinet and White House appointments from a pool of Democratic governors, former Clinton White House officials and political veterans from his power base in Chicago.

The short list for Secretary of State includes Bill Richardson, a former presidential contender last year, New Mexico Governor and Mr Clinton’s former UN ambassador. Also being seriously considered is John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and an early supporter of Mr Obama in the primaries.

Two Democratic governors who have thrived in Republican-leaning states – Janet Napolitano, of Arizona, and Kathleen Sebelius, of Kansas – are also tipped for Cabinet posts: Ms Napolitano as a possible Attorney-General; Ms Sebelius as a potential Energy or Education Secretary.

Inside an Obama White House his chief campaign strategists, David Axelrod and David Plouffe, would get senior posts. Two men are strong contenders for White House chief-of-staff: Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader, and Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois congressman.

Both Mr McCain and Mr Obama are likely to keep President Bush’s Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, in his post. Mr McCain is also looking at two former primary rivals: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York Mayor, and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, for top positions.

Senator Joe Lieberman, an “independent” Democrat who campaigned tirelessly for Mr McCain, would almost certainly get a top post, possibly Secretary of State. << bwahahahahahaha

Robert Zoellick, the World Bank President, is another possibility for that slot in a McCain administration, or another big job. Two prominent women from the corporate world, the former eBay chief Meg Whitman, and the former Hewlett-Packard chairman Carly Fiorina, would be strong contenders for roles as advisers to a President McCain.

Actually, my favorite in the above list is keeping SecDef Gates. USAF couldn't get their shit together on nuclear security so he fired their top military and civilian leadership and is guiding a hopefully effective restructuring in the nuclear mission. The guy actually has balls and seems to be toeing a fine line between "this-war-itis" and "next-war-itis" on recapitalizing DoD weapon systems, as they age and are replaced. That sort of consistency is nice from my point of view, as a servicemember.

[Thanas]

Rahm Emmanuel will be chief of staff, he did an excellent job with the 2006 midterms as well.

[Illuminatus Primus]

I want Volcker for SecTres.

[Knife]

Powel would be a good cross the aisle pick. Sec State for the second time.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Powel would be a good cross the aisle pick. Sec State for the second time.

No credibility after the UN performance. He can never go before the world and sell them something of ours with a straight face again.

[montypython]

Powel would be a good cross the aisle pick. Sec State for the second time.

Serving as National Security Advisor for a second time would also be good too.

[Mr Bean]

Fuck Tom Daschle, FUCK Tom Daschle, FUCK Tom Daschle. Useless spineless bastard.

Want my list?
Bring in Bill Richardson(Keep the Beard Bill!) Retain Gates he knows his business as I've now been convinced. No Kerry, sorry but the man is mostly useless. However Al Gore as Energy Secretary? Hell yes please, please, please, please.

And please Obama, bring back Clinton, Bill that is, send him to the UN, he would love that once he's back in the grove and meeting and greeting world leaders. And if Hillary wants to run in 2016 it gives her a ready made use for him.

*Edit one of the biggest worries of the Democratic Campaign was what to do with a Bill Clinton who has a wife as the President and nothing to do.

[Lonestar]

Keep Gates as SecDef.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Powel would be a good cross the aisle pick. Sec State for the second time.

No credibility after the UN performance. He can never go before the world and sell them something of ours with a straight face again.

Yes. Powell has lost a lot of the respect and credibility he once had when he went to the UN and attempted to sell the world on a blatant falsehood. He is as much responsible for the current Iraq fiasco as any other high-level player in Bush's Cabinet at the time. He made up a little of that by endorsing Obama, but the only Cabinet position the man ought to hold in an Obama administration is if it turns out he's got a really good side-hobby as a carpenter.

[CmdrWilkens]

There has been a lot of call fo either Gates or Hagel at SecDef and I don't discount the fact that it woudln't be a bad pick but I do worry about something that was poitned out elsewhere: If you put a (R) into that role it will have meant a democratic SecDef for only 8 of the last 56 years...there is a reason why Republicans are able to run on National Secuirty Credentials. No Republican has appointed a Democratic SecDef and it ends up leading to the media narrative of Dems being weak on defense. Korb, Clark, or Dellums would all be solid picks and they're all Dems who can do the job.

Now Hagel as DNI, Volcker as SecTreas, Gore as SecEnergy, Levitt as FedChair those are probably the ones I coudl get behind (though maybe I would try and put Levitt back in charge of the SEC). Webb as SecVA could work as well. I coudl see one of these slots going to someone clearly on a temproary basis (Maybe SecTrans or SecEd) to keep a seat warm for Tim Kaine who is going to be without a job after next year. Maybe offer Bloomberg SecCommerce to get him out of NYC.

[Battlehymn Republic]

McCain for head of Veteran's Affairs. Token national unity and reconciliation in the face of the end of the Bush administration.

[The Spartan]

McCain for head of Veteran's Affairs. Token national unity and reconciliation in the face of the end of the Bush administration.

Except he's voted repeatedly to screw veterans over.

Fuck him. Let him rot.

[Coyote]

If Powell were interested (which I don't think he is), I could see him doing well as UN Ambassador, or a special envoy to the Middle East, or as the Veteran's Administration chief. That's about his best bets, there.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

McCain for head of Veteran's Affairs. Token national unity and reconciliation in the face of the end of the Bush administration.

Except he's voted repeatedly to screw veterans over.

Fuck him. Let him rot.

And after seeing the sorts of marginally-human people John McCain was willing to court to become President (the sorts of people sold on the ignorant, hateful rhetoric of Governor Hi... I mean Demag... I mean Palin,) it's clear that he'd be a poison pill to an Obama administration.

[Medic]

McCain for head of Veteran's Affairs. Token national unity and reconciliation in the face of the end of the Bush administration.

Except he's voted repeatedly to screw veterans over.

Fuck him. Let him rot.

Yeah... I think I prefer the GI Bill of the 21st Century, and not McCain's proposal. Now I'm locked in for another 2-6 years but considering the price a lot of servicemembers have payed, short of their life, this is a great payback. The old GI Bill gave you ~$40,000 to go through college and you had to pay in to it. (basically $1200 -- $100 for each month of your 1st year in service, and you could pay an additional year for more coverage) That won't take you far in a good college, even if you are qualified, although there were still non-DoD-based loans to go through. The new one, without going into specifics, covers all tuition and even a small cost-of-living allowance. It comes a LOT closer to actually paying for 4 years of college.

[Mr Bean]

Jim Webb would be a good man to head the VA. However as for Gates if your worried about not having a democrat in that slot why not keep Gates but give him pair of Democrats to train to replace him once we are out of Iraq?

[Tanasinn]

Why would anyone want Lieberman near the White House? That man isn't fit to clean up dog shit, let alone become a major player in Obama's administration.