Happy Happy Joy Joy !!
I know I’m not in the mainstream but except for Senator Clinton (who isn’t a done deal so I retain hope) I’m pretty happy with President-Elect Obama’s hiring thus far. The latest pick makes me joyful. 
Janet Napolitano is a really solid thoughtful pick. She can present in public without seeming hysterical, a real problem in the past administration. More important, the Department of Homeland Security has been a chaotic dysfunctional place ever since W created it. She has managed a state decently and I hope she can bring some order to the place
And there is the fact that I had no idea how totally fed up I was with Chertoff (or “The Skull” as we refer to him at my house). It is starting to feel like The Bad Guys are fading away.
But enough about me.
Unlike many, whether due to his transition team or his own instincts, I think Obama’s hiring thus far is quite nuanced. Mr. Holder, in spite of a mistake or two, is a solid worker who knows his way around the bureaucracy. He will replace a series of AGs who plainly didn’t do their job. He has to work both ends of the job. Recreating a functional infrastructure is no small job. And he has credibility with the public and the hill.
Senator Daschle has a different job to perform. It seems to me that his selection is about getting through health care reform and, when obtained, making it work as quickly as possible. His excellent relationships on the hill should help with the former; the fact that the bureaucrats have no reason to hate him should help with the latter.
It is early in the process but overall Mr. Obama seems to know where he is headed and is tailoring the folks around him to get there. I, for one, am glad to see a little competence and focus coming into the White House.
UPDATE: How could I have forgotten Robert Gibbs? He did a wonderful job during the campaign, being open and informative but not taking shit from the fundies and wingers. He would call people on their crap to their face. I love that. But he is smart and helpful.
Posted: November 20th, 2008 under Obama, The New Administration.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: November 20, 2008, 6:20 am
This is what I expected. A new face a Treasury, someone other than yet another Goldman Sachs exec, and Hagel at Defense, and I’ll be happy. The State Department Clinton thing continues to smell bad with Bill in the shadows and his fingers in foreign pots serving HIS interest. And I don’t understand why we need to big personalities in foreign policy, Obama and Clinton. I just don’t see the wisdom there. But if she goes there, Richardson is out of the big stuff, it looks like, unless Obama makes him Energy Czar and gives him a big budget and interagency power. Richardson going back to Energy Dept. would be insulting.
Alternatively, I’m also guessing that Biden might be given the energy czar role, something of substance to keep in “out” of foreign policy.
Comment from bdr
Time: November 20, 2008, 7:11 am
I wonder if this had been in the can until McCain declared whether he’d run again for Senate in 2010. I heard she had planned to run for the seat if he announced he was retiring, and I can understand not wanting to run against him in what must surely be his last campaign.
Comment from Sasha
Time: November 20, 2008, 8:35 am
She could always leave to run.
As far as Richardson goes, I’ll be happy as a clam if he remains shut out. All of the rumors about him being a party boy with a girlfriend won’t serve Obama well.
Comment from Nosebetter
Time: November 20, 2008, 8:57 pm
Napolitano is red meat for the Hispanics. She has fought tooth and nail against border enforcement both as US attorney (appointed by Clinton) and as Governor. Her business plan for economic growth in Arizona was to bring in as many illegal immigrants as possible by hook or crook. Of course, McCain was one of her many partners in crime. One reason she might not want to run against him.
I think Homeland Security is one of the biggest wastes of tax payer money in DC. Abolish the entire dept I say.
Comment from JerryA
Time: November 21, 2008, 12:32 am
Nose, I’m with you all the way with ” Homeland Security.” Just the name sounds evil. Seems to me it’s kinda like a cross between the Mossoud, the SS, and the Ghestapo. Seedy characters approaching you on the street, asking to check “Your Papers.” Next thing you know a bag is slipped over your head and you’re on the next Gulfstream to Gitmo. Homeland Security, Fatherland Security, call it what you want. It just isn’t the American way to be poking into citizens private and personal affairs.
It will of course be interesting to watch Obama’s cabinet unfold. Some where along the line he’ll have to make an ooops. But he sure has been ON TRACK so far.
Comment from Forceformat
Time: November 25, 2008, 2:47 pm
I believe that our country is at a stand still; and the last thing we need is a obama nation. I don’t understand why the American people would elect a Muslim for president. A man who did not say the pledge of allegiance a man who did not wear the American Lapel until he was criticized. I also believee that we should have a leader who has had more then four years of leadership before accepting the postion as the the Commander and Chief
Comment from Sasha
Time: November 25, 2008, 5:39 pm
Forceformat you need to change where you get your news. The president-elect is not a muslim. John McCain never wore a lapel pin. And it isn’t true that he ever refused to say the pledge. Wherever you get your news, they’re lying to you.
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