- Tom Daschle - Health & Human Services - former Senate majority leader from North Dakota, will serve in dual role as HHS Secretary and White House health "czar" - he will be writing Obama's health care plan that will be submitted to Congress.
- Gov. Janet Napolitano - Homeland Security - current governor of Arizona, a border state with Mexico, will be key in setting Obama administration's immigration policy.
- Penny Prizker - Commerce - billionaire Chicago businesswoman who served as the Obama campaign's finance chair which broke all records for campaign fundraising.
- Peter Orszag - Head of Office of Management and Budget - worked in Clinton White House as special assistant to president and served on Council of Economic Advisers.~ ~ ~
- Sen. Hillary Clinton - State - Senator from New York and Bill Clinton's wife.
- Rep. Rahm Emmanuel - Chief of Staff - Congressman from Illinois and former aid to Bill Clinton.
- Eric Holder - Attorney General - Deputy Attorney General under Clinton, co-chaired VP Vetting Committee for Obama campaign, has long history as Washington insider with Carter and Reagan.
Since more than half of the people named so far to Obama's transition or staff positions have ties to former President Bill Clinton, some are balking at the number of "Clintonistas" - nominees with ties to the Clinton administration - that are finding their way into the Obama administration. Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist said, "I think several individuals are very frustrated to think that President-elect Obama may just cut and paste from some of the Democratic operatives from the Clinton administration and put them into his White House."
It is interesting to note that other than Bill Clinton, the only other Democratic president to draw from would be President Jimmy Carter, and most of his administration is too old to participate in 2008. Lanny Davis, President Clinton's former special council said, "Real change is about policy, not [about] people."
George W. Bush's administration was littered with retreads from his father's (George H. W. Bush) and Ronald Reagan's administrations: Dick Cheney (Vice President), Donald Rumsfeld (Defense), Colin Powell (State), and many others.
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plez sez: to get things done in washington, President-elect Obama is going to need people who know washington.
i agree with lanny davis's assessment that we voted for a change in policy, which is not necessarily tied to a change in the people. with that being said, it would be refreshing to see a few more non-clintonista assignments.
~ ~ Citations ~ ~
Read the CNN.com article about Eric Holder, nominee for Attorney General.
Read the CNN.com article about Peter Orszag, head of OMB.
Read the New York Times article about Obama's transition team vetting Bill Clinton.
Read the CNN.com article about Hillary Clinton's considered for new role in Senate.
Read the CNN.com article about Obama Cabinet selections as of November 19th.
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2 comments:
What's Going on Frat? I agree with you..It's about policy and not people. I think what Obama is doing is putting people in key positions who know what they're doing. Capable people. I think he'll do just fine and with a Democratic controlled house and senate, he'll be able to get more done than Clinton , who had to fight with a Republican controled house and senate his entire administration. It is a wonder he got as much done as he did.
Hillary Clinton's foreign policy doesn't seem to jibe with Obama's. How is she going to be a credible Secretary of State? This seems to be a bad choice. She doesn't even appear to have a diplomatic personality.
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