Something else Obama should do
Submitted by Stan4Clark on June 6, 2008 - 1:59am.
Barack Obama | Obama | Democratic politics | International | National Security
The Republicans are already hitting Obama on experience, judgment, and foreign policy/national security/national defense. So this is what he should do, not later than the convention: pre-announce his key cabinet posts, especially in those areas. He needs to fight McCain on those issues not by himself nor even as a duo with his VP. He (and they) should sally forth as the complete team, and the people of the country will want to know what the team looks like before they decide to vote for him or not. My vote for him will be much more comfortable if I know who the key people around him will be.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/139894
You'll see he has many Clinton era advisors
No presidential candidate announces who the VP candidate will be before he/she is the candidate - it's presumptuous. And no presidential nominee announces who the cabinet before he/she is elected president. And Obama is not about to do what no other presidential candidate has or ever will do. If you want to know who the key people around him will be, look at who the key people around him are now. It's no different than looking at the key people are around Hillary Clinton are as a way of knowing who the key people in a Hillary Clinton administration would have been.
And Clinton spent 15 months hitting Obama on experience, judgment, and foreign policy/national security/defense, so it's not like this is anything new or something that Obama hasn't already had to deal with and respond to. Also, something I've always been quite sure of is that Obama has never had the attitude of you're for me or against me, which has been a trademark Clinton attitude, so I wouldn't worry about Obama being closed to the idea of using people who supported Clinton in his own administration - he views them as people who made the choice to be for Clinton rather than against him - unlike Clinton who really did see especially superdelegates who supported Obama as not for him but against her. After all, as one her campaign staff said after Kerry's endorsement of Obama "He's dead to us".
For example, many months ago, when I used to comment here occassionally, there were Clark supporters who were sure that the only way for Clark to be part of the next Democratic administration was if Hillary Clinton was elected president. I disagreed with that assessment then, and I still do. So, I believe Obama will be more than open to talking with and getting advice and counsel from and even offering a position to in his administration to Clark and many other Clinton supporters. Although I don't think that extends to every Clinton supporter - there are some that went over the line in their support of Clinton, Joe Wilson, for example, and I think those will have to find other means of staying relevant.
One last thought. I think you can look at Obama's campaign team and get a pretty good idea of what kind of people he looks for, seeks out, and what he expects of them. The number one rule - no drama - and the idea that they were in this as a team, that they rose and fell together. And as someone on the inside said, when something went wrong there wasn't someone running in screaming and pointing a finger in 12 directions. So, if you're a grown-up, competent, professional who sees the objective as a common goal rather than as a way to get a feather in your own cap and doesn't play the blame game when things go wrong, you probably have a good chance of finding a place in an Obama administration.
More and more presumptive nominees are announcing their VP selections before their conventions. Kerry announced his pick for Edwards in early July.
And the fact that no one has announced the cabinet early doesn't mean that they can't. I just think they should. As I said, I think that the voters have a right to know who the whole team will be.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
"..Obama is not about to do what no other presidential candidate has or ever will do."
It does assume a lot to say that he is, but Obama a change candidate. Announcing his team will give him more effective surrogates, give the American people a glimpse into what an Obama Administraition would look like
Also it would put pressure on McCain to announce his picks, and if McCain's plan is to pack his administraition with neo con hacks we can hit him with that from now till November. As the old saying goes: "fortune favors the bold".
This sounds a lot like the run-up to the
first election of George Bush. People worried
about his lack of experience, especially in
national/security, foreign policy, and defense.
So his veep search committee found somebody
with vast experience in these issues to run
with him. And it was widely rumored that
Colin Powell would be in his cabinet. Enough
people were reassured and W won the Presidency.
The problem, however, did not go away. W still
did not have the experiences listed above.
Therefore, when he made decisions in these
areas, he was still just making wild guesses
as to whose advice to follow. Colin Powell lost.
Maybe W just didn't like him or something.
Anyway, Dick Cheney won. And, of course, a
disaster of monumental proportions resulted.
So while I appreciate what you are saying,
nothing guarantees that Obama would listen to
the advice of, say Wes Clark, rather than that
of someone else who may vehemently disagree
with Wes.
yup, you nailed it.