11.05.2008

Political Junkies: Looking forward

The next big thing is to see who Obama taps to be in his cabinet/to help out in his administration. CNN has a good list of names that have been floated as possibilities. My money is on McCain getting something and maybe Gore. I hope Clinton accepts something, though she's also good in the Senate and says she doesn't want anything else.

Key Seats to look out for:
  • Secretary of the Treasury
  • Secretary of State (obviously)
  • Secretary of Defense
  • And I'll be curious about his pick for Homeland Security, though I think that will be less relevant under Obama and our current economy than it has been in the last 8 years
Also, waiting to hear if any of the elder Supreme Court Justices step down immediately after Bush leaves - I'm looking at Stevens (he's 88). Next oldest is Ginsburg at 75, but she hasn't been there all that long. I'm interested to see if any of them were just holding on to see if the next president is relatively safe, appointment-wise.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

He'll keep Robert Gates, I presume. He's mentioned Warren Buffett and someone else as Treasury secretary possibilities.

Secretary of State is pretty major. I would originally have suggested Biden for that, so who knows now? A Republican, maybe?

I don't think Al will take anything other than in an 'advisory' way since he commands much more respect (and money) not working for the government now.

Hillary in the Supreme Court to balance out the evil Justices still there?

Blume said...

I'm holding out hope for Kerry as sec of state, and anyone but Summers for treasury.

I like Hillary in the Senate for now. Would love it if they could find a way for proposed health care legislation to come from her (despite her relatively junior position in the Senate).

Main concern with Supreme Court picks has to be AGE. We're probably stuck with Thomas and Scalia for a good while yet, and Roberts and Alito could be there for decades still.