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Few
surprises in Obama cabinet
[What
is the cabinet and what does it do?]
We
tip James Jones for National Security Advisor
Obama has
enough support to name anyone he wants to his cabinet. He
could appoint a strongly liberal cabinet, telling the
Republicans they are going to have to stomach a shift to
the left in the next four years.
That's
what Rush Limbaugh, Bill Kristol, Michelle Malkin and
their ilk want him to do, i.e. self-destruct by
over-reaching -- and it would be pointless.
Unlike
Limbaugh and the extremists, Obama is not interested in
class warfare. He is going to govern from the middle, with
a tiny dash of liberalism.
Whatever
he does, whichever names make it to the final round,
ultra-conservatives and evangelicals are going to be
unhappy. So what? We can ignore the hard right. They have
had their eight years under George Bush -- time enough to
prove that evangelical conservatism is superior to
liberalism -- and they blew it. Evangelical conservatism
is a shadow of its former self, not yet irrelevant but
almost.
The best
way for Obama to drive a wedge inside the Republican
Party is to work with its moderate wing, throwing them a
tasty bone once in a while, letting them lead on a few
substantive issues, thereby isolating the right. Palin's
red army faction will grumble in the wings, even grow a
little, but they needn't concern us.
For every
Limbaugh-like conservative who screams foul and reaches
for his assault rifle, Obama will win over more
Republicans like Charles Fried and Colin Powell.
Obama's
cabinet choices are going to be wise, possibly a little
cautious, with a few daring choices in positions that
can't cause too much damage if they go wrong. Over the
next year or so there are going to be a few
disappointments, cabinet members who today seem full of
promise but who turn out to be duds. That always happens.
Who would have thought that experienced Donald Ronald
would be the disaster he became, or that Condi Rice would
be such a bland presence at president Bush's side?
GO
TO CABINET PICKS > 2
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