Earlier this year I polled several cabinet positions and put together my personal dream Obama cabinet. Now that Obama has won, I took another look and revised my choices. I tried to balance my personal wishes with reality and put together a cabinet that best represents America in gender, race, and age. And there's even a bit of bipartisanship in there, though the moderate, Obama endorsing kind.
President of the United States:
Barack Obama (IL)
Vice President of the United States:
Joe Biden (DE)
Sec. of State:
Bill Richardson (NM)
My pick would have been Joe Biden. With him out of the running Bill Richardson is simply the best Democrat for the job. John Kerry should stay in the Senate and head the Foreign Relations committee.
Alternative: I don't really want a Republican in this post but if I had to choose one I'd pick former Senator and Sec. of Defense Bill Cohen.
Sec. of the Treasury:
Janet Yellen (CA)
She's the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, former Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and a former economics professor at Berkley. In these times I don't trust any Wall Street type (who usually get this job) and would rather have an economist.
Alternative: Tim Geithner, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York would also be a good pick. Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd would be replaced by a Republican governor, otherwise I wouldn't mind him either.
Sec. of Defense:
Colin Powell (VA)
I know you guys are gonna tear my head of for this one but hear me out. If any Republican has to get a national security job in this administration I'd rather have a moderate who endorsed Obama than a conservative who didn't (like Hagel). Also, Powell could right his wrong by getting the troops out of the war he helped get them into. And I don't doubt that he could do so.
Alternatives: My Democratic favorites for Defense are fmr. Sec. of the Navy Richard Danzig and the Director of National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Lawrence Korb. Sen. Jack Reed would also be great but Rhode Island has a Republican governor.
Attorney General:
Kamala Harris (CA)
The San Francisco District Attorney and death penalty opponent would be an unlikely but awesome pick.
Alternatives: Russ Feingold would be pretty good but he'll probably stay in the Senate. I wouldn't mind Eric Holder either though there are rumors he doesn't want to go through the confirmation process. Janet Napolitano would be my top pick if it weren't for the fact that the Republican Sec. of State would replace her as Governor of Arizona.
Sec. of the Interior:
Bob Miller (NV)
The former governor of Nevada is ideally suited for the job as a former western state office holder, especially so since large parts of the state are administered by the Interior Dept.'s Bureau of Land Management.
Alternatives: Stephanie Herseth Sandlin would be a good pick but we could lose her House seat in SD. The co-chair of the progressive caucus and member of the House Natural Resources Committee Raul Grijalva would be an interesting choice.
Sec. of Agriculture:
Ron Sparks (AL)
The Alabama Agriculture Commissioner is a bright Democratic light in the south and would be an excellent addition to Obama's cabinet.
Alternatives: Almost every other pick would come from Iowa like fmr. Agriculture Commissioner and current Lt. Gov. Patty Judge and fmr. Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Sec. of Commerce:
Laura Tyson (CA)
The economist and former Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers is my top choice for Commerce. Again, don't really care for the corporate types for economic posts in the cabinet.
Alternatives: If Obama would tend toward a corporate pick, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi would be an interesting pick. If he'd want another Republican one of the better choices would be Sen. Olympia Snowe, it would have the sweet side effect of opening up her Senate seat.
Sec. of Labor:
David Bonior (MI)
The former Democratic Whip in the House and Edwards for President campaign chair and opponent of NAFTA would be one of the top people for working people in America.
Alternatives: The Co-Chair of the Congressional Labor and Working Families Caucus and fmr. labor law attorney Linda Sanchez and the DNC vice chair and fmr. AFL-CIO VP Linda Chavez-Thompson would be excellent choices and the first Latinas in a cabinet.
Sec. of Health and Human Services:
Kathleen Sebelius (KS)
A steady but forceful hand is needed to achieve universal health care. As a former state Insurance Commissioner and current Governor Kathleen Sebelius is the right person for this job.
Alternative: Should Sebelius be offered a different cabinet post, my choice would be fmr. Orgenon Governor John Kitzhaber, MD.
Sec. of Housing and Urban Development:
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
Eleanor Holmes Norton has been a tireless advocate for her constituents in Congress and would make a great HUD Secretary.
Alternatives: Mayor David Bieter of Boise and fmr. Denver Mayor and Transportation and Energy Sec. Federico Pena would be good alternatives. Obama's top advisor Valerie Jarrett is also a possible pick but more likely to take a senior role in the White House.
Sec. of Transportation:
Janette Sadik Khan (NY)
The former Transportation Dept official and CFO of the Federal Transit Administration is the current Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.
Alternatives: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (OR) would be awesome. A more unconventional choice would be fmr. Salt Lake City mayor Deedee Corradini pushed through the light rail TRAX system during her term.
Sec. of Energy:
Susan Eisenhower
Having the granddaughter of a former Republican president (and until recently a Republican herself) in the cabinet would be unprecedented by itself. Of course, she's also an energy and national security expert and endorsed Barack Obama for President.
Alternatives would be the physicist and president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Shirley Jackson, Rep. Hilda Solis and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Sec. of Education:
Inez Tenenbaum (SC)
The former South Carolina Superintendent of Education and early Obama endorser is one of the more interesting picks.
Alternatives: The House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller, the fmr. CEO of Chicago Public Schools Paul Vallas, fmr. WV Gov and current President of the Alliance for Exellent Education Bob Wise would all make very good Education secretaries as well.
Sec. of Veterans Affairs:
Rick Noriega (TX)
It's too bad Noriega lost his Senate race in Texas, but maybe Texas' loss is the veterans' gain. As Lt. Col. in the Texas Army National Guard he served in the war in Afghanistan.
Alternatives: I think Tammy Duckworth will either get this job or be appointed to the US Senate, I'm betting on the latter. If Obama wants Chuck Hagel in his cabinet I'd find this post more acceptable than State or Defense.
Sec. of Homeland Security:
James Lee Witt (AR)
Back when FEMA still had a good name it was largely due to its boss James Lee Witt. Since a large part of running Homeland Security deals with natural and other disasters, Witt is more than qualified for this job.
Alternatives: Chuck Hagel could also be a pick here, again, I'm hoping he won't get State or Defense. Obama supporter, fmr. Congressman and fmr. member of the 9/11 commission Tim Roemer is another possibility.
Chief of Staff:
Rahm Emanuel (IL)
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency:
Kathleen McGinty (PA)
The fmr Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, fmr. councellor to Al Gore and fmr. PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Sec. is one of the best picks to head EPA.
Alternatives: Environmental activists Andre Heinz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would also be interesting picks. Should Lincoln Chafee get a cabinet post this would be one of the possible positions for him.
Dir. of the Office of Management and Budget:
Xavier Becerra (CA)
The member of the House Budget and Ways and Means Committees is a rising star in the House and would be a great choice for OMB.
Alternatives: CA State Controller John Chiang would be an interesting pick as would be House Budget and Appropriations Committees member Rosa DeLauro.
Trade Representative:
Joseph Stiglitz (NY)
It's unlikely that a globalization and free trade critic would become Trade Rep but he's got the experience (fmr. Chief Economist of the World Bank) and the brains (Nobel laureate in ecomonics).
Alternative: Laura Tyson if she doesn't get Commerce.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:
Caroline Kennedy (NY)
There are a lot of rumors out there that JFK's daughter could be headed to the UN. I wouldn't mind.
Alternative: I think Obama advisor and fmr. Assistant Sec. of State Susan Rice is more likely to become National Security Advisor but UN is possible too.
PS: Unfortunately, some of our best candidates this year didn't win their campaigns. I hope Obama will offer two of the youngest a sub cabinet level job in the administration. Scott Kleeb would be good at State or Agriculture and Andrew Rice would be a great addition at HHS.
These are my choices for an Obama cabinet. What do you think and who are you hoping for or expecting?
Cross posted at My Silver State.