Thursday, December 04, 2008

The New Coalition of the Willing

Since the beginning of the election season, one overriding question that has been on the minds of most, of course, was who would be the next leader of our country. Now that this cycle is over and we have a legitimate answer to that particular question, there is one more than remains unanswered: who will this new leader have leading with him. This is probably one of the more important decisions a leader can make, those who he will lead with(or in more specific cases, who he will lead without). And Washington D.C. is stoked and anxious over who Barack Obama selects for his administration. Of course, the first of these selections was done before the election was over with, and that was with the nomination of Senator Joe Biden to be the next Vice-President of the nation. However, since the election, President-Elect Barack Obama has been announced several key members of his administration, a team that we will assuredly see much more of and hear much more from in the next years to come.

Before I go on, there's something that needs to be addressed and redressed until some sort of apology or admission is forwarded(which I know is a vain hope). Now that Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States, there are some things that need to be said. First of all, despite what John McCain, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and the rest would lead you to believe, we will not see Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Wladimir Putin or Louis Farrakhan in the Obama administration. In fact, we probably won't see a single one of them step foot in the White House any time over the next four years. Now, the best thing the right has to complain about is that Barack Obama, the candidate who promotes change, has selected names and faces of the past, which according to them does not represent the sort of change the candidate promoted through the election.

Well, boo-hoo.

Looking at the appointments that have been announced and it is undeniably a strong team of seasoned but fresh faces, which are more than simply a departure from the current-to-previous administration we'll have, but the strength of this group is it's connection with a past with less trouble and a future connected to a man who this nation has put an abundance of support and trust in to lead us. His first appointment, Rahm Emmanuel, for Chief of Staff was widely considered a smart choice if anything. Emmanuel is roundly known as someone who's not afraid to roll up his sleeves and working to get things done. Then there were others who have been associated with the Campaign for Change such as Susan Rice, David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, that have been appointed to key positions in the adminstration. Beyond that, there are those who have supported and have had ties to the campaign such as Tom Daschle as well as James Jones and Eric Holder, each also associated with President-Elect Obama's campaign have also been named to key positions. But the most talked about appointments have been of those rivals and also supporters who currently in power in the U.S. Senate, a head of a state as the executive or previous established emissaries. Among these selections are Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico as the Secretary of Commerce, Janet Napolitano, the governor of Arizona as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, Robert Gates, the current Secretary of Defense to continue in his position and of course the most notable of appointments, the current junior senator from New York and former Democratic frontrunner and nominee for president, Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

Now, it is clear that the group he has selected isn't a group of yes-men(or women). It is clear that this group isn't a monolith of thought and action to drive the nation on a narrow-minded endearvor, whatever it might be. This group is a group of people who have the ability to take a agenda and run with it as their own. Each of these selected have been independently successful and make no mistake, they are subject to their own ideology and philosophy, which might not be the same of the man who has selected them. This is clearly a group that is focused on getting the job done and they will.

As strong as the group assembled is, there is still more work to be done and more appointments to be named. There has been rumors of several key names being fitted for various cabinet positions. Among them, Robert Kennedy Jr. for Evironmental Protection Agency Administrator, Governor Jennifer Granholm for Secretary of Labor, Representative Chet Edwards and former Senator Max Cleland as Secretary of Veteran Affairs, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Vice-President Al Gore for Secretary of Energy. The Secretary of Education position has seen a hodge-podge of high profile names beginning with former governors Ray Mabus and Ronnie Musgrove, current governors Kathleen Sebelius and Tim Kaine and former Secretary of State Colin Powell and also former South Carolina Education Superintendent and U.S. Senate candidate(and personally one of my favorite persons) Inez Tenenbaum.

The nation's elected is his oyester. And that's a problem. Yes, it is good for him and great for the nation that these people are being tapped to serve our nation at a higher calling. But what consideration is being given to those who vacate positions they were elected to? When talks were swirling over Senator Clinton being selected as Secretary of State, I thought to myself whether she would be better served continuing in her senate position or become our secretary of state? Could more be done as senator than secretary of state? Could she serve as secretary of state, despite her obvious conflictions with the President-Elect internationally that were the news items of the day during the election? Can she leave her wide-ranging work as senator to narrow her focus to foreign affairs? Will she be able to co-exist with the Vice President-Elect, Joe Biden?

But that's not my only question. Particularly for me, a Virginia, I'm worried about what will happen in our state. What if Barack Obama selects Governor Tim Kaine to be his next Educational Secretary? Our Lieutenant Governor, Republican Bill Bolling will be our governor. Much of the gain and support the Democratic Party has received in the last four years can be undone. Can we afford this? Should we have to afford this?

The bottom line is that Barack Obama has thus far proven that his rhetoric during the campaign is more than just that. He has a willingness, almost to a potential detriment, work with this group is a bold new step and shows he not playing around. As much as I want to hope this will not backfire on him, I can't help but to believe that he's set himself up for success. Those he selected know what they're doing and are accomplished and able and can do the job, which will only make him look all the more better. Perhaps the change we needed is actually a reversion to a time of better ideas.

Perhaps.

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