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HOW DEEP IS OBAMA ROLLING?
Pretty deep, in fact. While researching this piece on how to get an executive branch appointment, Carrie and I came up with A LOT of names for various cabinet positions in an Obama administration. Being the useful reporter I am, I'm dumping my notebook after the jump -- see what you think, keeping in mind the value of speculation (little) and the lack of information upon which we're basing the speculation (large). The names come from talking to people who might know, other news organizations (including CQ's great breakdown -- from whence this game -- but the details are not available online) and the power of intuition. I'll also include the somewhat more sparse McCain list -- sparse because the odds of McCain having a cabinet are lower than Obama's and so there has been less campaigning and speculation, and, I'd argue, because the Bush administration chewed up and spit out a lot of people who might have been credible executive officials, and two-years of down ballot problems on the GOP side have stripped away some of the back-bench. In a similar effort, Mike Allen at Politico has an extensive Cabinet/Senior staff list for Obama. Whatever happens tomorrow, these lists should give us some idea of where government is going.
--Tim Fernholz
Obama's (Potential) Cabinet
Chief of Staff:
- John Podesta
- Rahm Emmanuel
- Tom Daschle
Secretary of State:
- John Kerry
- Strobe Talbott
- Dick Lugar
- Bill Bradley
- Dick Holbrooke
- Greg Craig
- Susan Rice
- Bill Richardson
Secretary of Defense:
- Chuck Hagel
- Lawrence Korb
- Bob Gates
- Jack Reed
- John Hamre
- Dick Holbrooke
- Richard Danzig
- Dick Lugar
Secretary of Labor:
- Dick Gephardt
- Sarah Fox
- Wilma Liebman
- Linda Chavez-Thompson
- Jennifer M. Granholm
- Jeanne Shaheen
Secretary of Agriculture:
- Collin Peterson
- Bob Bergland
- Tom Buis
- Marshall Matz
- Charles Stenholm
Secretary of the Treasury:
- Larry Summers
- Timothy Geithner
- Warren Buffett
- James Galbraith
- Roger Altman
- Sheila Blair
- Michael Bloomberg
- Robert Rubin
- Gene Sperling
- Paul Volcker
- Michael Froman
- Jeffrey Liebman
- David Cutler
- Gary Gensler
- Stuart Eizenstat
- James Dimon
Secretary of Commerce
- Jason Furman
- Austan Goolsbee
- Penny Pritzker
Secretary of Education
-
Linda Darling-Hammond
- Joel Klein
- Arne Duncan
- Paul Vallas
- Kathleen Sebelius
- Tim Kaine
- Tom Vilsack
- Jeanne Shaheen
- Gary Locke
- Jim Hunt
- Roy Romer
Secretary of Energy
- Al Gore
- Bill Richardson
- Phil Sharp
- Kathleen Sebelius
- Bill Ritter
- Ernest J. Moniz
- Edward G. Rendell
Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Hillary Clinton
- Howard Dean
- Tom Daschle
- Kathleen Sebelius
- Phil Bredesen
- Rosa DeLauro
Secretary of Homeland Security
- Lee Hamilton
- Janet Napolitano
- Raymond W. Kelley
- James Lee Witt
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Valerie Jarrett
- Shaun Donovan
- Lillian Murphy
- David Gottfried
- Dennis Archer
- Shirley Franklin
- Nicholas Retsinsas
Secretary of the Interior
- Janet Napolitano
- Dave Freudenthal
- Norm Dicks
- George Miller
- Tom Udall
- Mark Udall
- Jay Inslee
- Brian Schweitzer
Secretary of Transportation
- Jerry Costello
-
Earl Blumenauer
- Tim Kaine
- Jane F. Garvey
- Steve Heminger
- Edward G. Rendell
Secretary of Veteran's Affairs
- Max Cleland
- Phillip Carter
- Tammy Duckworth
- Paul Rieckhoff
Ambassador to the United Nations
- Susan Rice
National Security Advisor
- Jessica Mathews
- Jim Steinberg
- Fareed Zakaria
- Anthony Lake
- Susan Rice
- Richard Danzig
- Anthony Zinni
- Samantha Power
- Sarah Sewall
- Greg Craig
U.S. Trade Representative
- Gary Locke
- Daniel Tarrullo
- Lael Brainard
- Cal Dooley
- Janet Napolitano
- Patrick Fitzgerald
- Eric Holder
- Russ Feingold
- Artur Davis
- Jamie Gorelick
- Elena Kagan
- Drew Days
- Walter Dellinger III
- Seth Waxman
- Christine Gregoire
- Sheldon Whitehouse
- Hillary Clinton
Director of National Intelligence
- Richard Holbrooke
- Jane Harman
- Jamie Gorelick
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Jason Furman
- Peter Orszag
- John M. Spratt Jr.
Director of Environmental Protection Agency
- Ed Markey
- Kathleen McGinty
- Roderick Bremby
- Kathleen Sebelius
- Deval Patrick
- Tim Wirth
- Phil Sharp
- Christine Gregoire
- Peter Lehner
McCain's Cabinet
Chief of Staff
- John Lehman
- Mark Salter
- Rick Davis
Secretary of State
- Dick Lugar
- Joe Lieberman
- Condoleeza Rice
- Robert Zoellick
- John D. Negroponte
- R. James Woolsey
- James Baker III
Secretary of Defense
- Robert Gates
- Chuck Hagel
- Robert Zoellick
- Sam Nunn
- Dick Armitage
- Richard Lugar
Secretary of Labor
- Phil Gramm
- Randel K. Johnson
- John Engler
- Jim Talent
-
Secretary of Agriculture
- Mark Sanford
- Keith J. Collins
- Randy Russell
Secretary of the Treasury
- Steve Forbes
- Phil Gramm
- Warren Buffett
- Meg Whitman
- Warren Rudman
- Steve Ballmer
- Michael Bloomberg
- John Thain
- Henry M. Paulson
- Robert B. Zoellick
Secretary of Commerce
- Meg Whitman
- Douglas Holtz-Eakin
- Rob Portman
- Lewis Eisenberg
-
Secretary of Education
- Tim Pawlenty
- Paul Vallas
- Lisa Graham Keegan
Secretary of Energy
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- T. Boone Pickens
- Heather A. Wilson
- R. James Woolsey
- Frederick W. Smith
Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Mike Huckabee
- Mark McClellan
- Bobby Jindal
Secretary of Homeland Security
- Mitt Romney
- Rude Giuliani
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- J. Kenneth Blackwell
- Stephen Goldsmith
- Michael Steele
Secretary of the Interior
- Wayne Allard
- Steve Pearce
- Dirk Kempthorne
Secretary of Transportation
- Mary E. Peters
- Bill Graves
- Pete K. Rahn
Secretary of Veteran's Affairs
- James B. Peake
- James Terry Scott
- Lang C. Sias
- John Bolton
- Gary Hart
- Sam Nunn
- Bill Cohen
U.S. Trade Representative
- Susan C. Schwab
- Grant D. Aldonas
- Jim Kolbe
Attorney General
- Fred Thompson
- Paul Clement
- Ted Olson
- Russ Feingold
- Mike DeWine
- Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr.
- Lindsey Graham
Director of National Intelligence
- James Bamford
- Brent Scowcroft
- David Norquist
- James Woolsely
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- Doug Holtz-Eakin
- Paul D. Ryan
- Jeb Hensarling
Director of Environmental Protection Agency
- Chris Shays
- Charlie Crist
- Sherwood Boehlert
COMMENTS (10)
I don't know the first thing about Richard Danzig, but I want him as Secretary of Defense.
Posted by: Aaron S. Veenstra | November 3, 2008 5:41 PM
I'm inclined to agree with Politico that Maine's Republican senators, Susan Collins (overwhelmingly favored to win re-election) and Olympia Snowe, are both very plausible candidates for senior positions in an Obama administration. They're both moderate enough to work within a Democratic administration, but the chance to have Maine's Democratic governor appoint an acting replacement for one of them in the Senate would be extremely valuable.
Posted by: Raphael S. | November 3, 2008 6:02 PM
How about Kerry as AG or SecInterior?
Posted by: cazart | November 3, 2008 8:15 PM
Uhhh, Tim? While this is certainly an interesting exercise, and does show off the greater depth of Obama's "bench" vs. McCain's: is it really likely that sitting Governors or Senators are going to give up those positions just to be Cabinet Secretaries? Or wouldn't many/most of them (Kathleen Sebelius, say, or Russ Feingold) prefer to stay where they are?
Posted by: Jay C | November 3, 2008 8:19 PM
I do like your new name for Giuliani -- "Rude"
Posted by: halle | November 3, 2008 11:15 PM
It's funny. I was calling voters for Obama during the run up of the CA primary and one man said that he might vote for Obama but he worried that few experienced people would agree to serve in his administration if he was elected. I said not to worry about it and that Obama will have his pick of the crop, but this man was convinced otherwise. We've come along way.
Posted by: Mark Hammer | November 4, 2008 12:07 AM
Love that James Galbraith pick for Treasury. Talk about CHANGE!
Posted by: Gerard Sorme | November 4, 2008 2:54 AM
Vallas for Ed. Sec.? Not gonna happen. He's got an electoral future in Illinois, I think.
Posted by: Joe | November 4, 2008 2:58 AM
Fred freaking Thompson for AG? Only if it's a TV show. Charlie Crist for EPA? Mike "Federal Marriage Amendment" Dewine for attorney general? GObama!
Posted by: Joe | November 4, 2008 3:04 AM
Sarah Fox and Wilma Liebman both have progressive "external" labor politics. But their staff relations are another matter.
Fox was much beloved at the Board. Liebman reportedly had problems with her staff at FMCS, switched staffs at the Board, and, according to Liebman herself, is the object of hostility from her owm staff. The problem isn't so much Liebman as her Chief Counsel, who is bad with people, and her Deputy Chief who is a slimeball who has made a career hatcheting employees. Liebman hasn't made matter better by supporting a new Board appraisal system that targets older, disabled, non-white employees for "easing out."
That unfair discriminatory system has generated grievances or EEO actions by 1/3 of the Board's staff attorneys, and 7 or 11 Liebman attorneys.
There is considerable irony in Liebman's disdain for older employees, particularly females. After all, she has fed at the federal trough for more than a dozen years, she is over 40 and female.
If she gets Labor, then if you work there, run for the hills.
Posted by: Pug | November 6, 2008 3:56 AM