The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Sen. DeMint Calls on Obama to Withdraw Daschle Nomination – First 100 Days of Presidency – Politics FOXNews.com

This would, of course, have much more power if DeMint hadn’t voted against  every other Obama nominee. On the other hand, I don’t disagree with him.

Right now I place the odds of Daschle’s withdrawl at 50/50. The Times’s editorial suggesting Daschle take his name out of consideration is what swayed me. While nobody is surprised to see the Republican media and the Democratic activist base kicking up a fuss, the Times is as mainstream as it gets.

Unfortunately, I see the odds of Obama swallowing his pride and picking Howard Dean to be much, much lower. Besides the Rahm factor, Howard Dean is to the left of the president on health care – and as of yet, Obama hasn’t picked one nominee who is significantly to the left of him on any issue the way that everyone from Shinseki to Clinton to (of course) Gates is to the right of him.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

New York Times – Really Soft Power

Is the State Department really so weak? Well, Obama has said he wants to restore the power of the UN Ambassador, theoretically weakining it further. More importantly, who have we heard more despicable pro-war rhetoric from, David Petraeus or Hillary Clinton? I seem to recall one of them calling for open dialogue with Iran and other states frequently last year, and it isn’t the one who was running for President.

Yes, I know, Hillary will (as someone told me the other day) “do as she’s told”. But why did Obama pick someone who will need to be told what to do instead of someone who has a progressive instinct?

The outlining of the Defense Department’s need to restructure is also interesting. If Obama plans to hold over Gates only for a year or so, how easy will it be to induct his new SoD in the middle of a major transition?

*sniff*

Daily Kos: A toast to those who should have lived to have seen Tuesday

Alright, I admit it: for the first time since Obama won, something’s finally got me teary. There’s so many leaders who paved the way for us. Just today I was writing a LiveJournal comment to someone about Paul Wellstone and my own political awakening, and the force of it came back to me, the impossibility of this moment as seen from a little over five years ago. I can’t imagine what people older than me are thinking. And I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.

Don’t tease me, Barry

Obama: ‘If Paul Krugman has a good idea…then we’re going to do it.’

Is that a promise?

The Bad Doctor

Conyers: Obama Should Not Nominate Sanjay Gupta.

First of all, there is the embarassing error that starts the letter — Krugman won the Nobel Prize in Economics, not Peace. As for the issue itself, Gupta is just about the last concern on my list. As Howard Dean pointed out on Hardball, the Surgeon General’s main role is to educate the country on health issues and answer questions that arise in public discourse.

While I have the utmost respect for Krugman’s positions, I think he’s way off on this. The issue I have the biggest problem with his Obama’s nomination of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. While I remember quite well how Krugman supported her, I think she’s too hawkish and susceptible to public opinion. The current situation in Gaza has only reinforced my wish that Obama had picked soon to be former Senator Chuck Hagel, whose evenhanded views on Israel/Palestine stand in stark contrast to his peers.

But I disgress. (Isn’t that the point of blogging?) Progressives who want to influence Obama’s cabinet have a far better chance of actually changing policy if we push where it matters. Let’s make sure he follows the economic plan he set up in the campaign instead of being swayed by his advisors. And let’s make sure he enacts the smart foreign policy he’s promised. Let’s not spend our time wringing our hands over a glorified spokesman.

It was the lack of beard that really killed his bid, I think

Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee

I personally have a lot of respect for Richardson. He was my #2 Secretary of State pick after Chuck Hagel. But I find it unlikely that he’s withdrawing solely because of the “distraction”. Surely there is something more to the story?

It will be interesting to see who Obama picks now. Penny Pritzker was a rumored pick, but she is not exactly clean either. Olympia Snowe would give him a chance to take away a Republican senator, albiet a very moderate one, and give the Dems a full 60 seats. Mark Warner would be perfect, but he was just nominated.

I trust Obama’s team will make a good choice. But I also wonder how many news cycles this story will take up. Unlike the Blago dramarama, the shenanigans can’t be plausibly tied back to the administration in any way, but it still doesn’t look good for the president-elect’s much ballyhooed judgement. (Not that it’s a worse judgement call than, say, voting for the Iraq war — but still.)