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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

On staffing the new administration

The spin/vibe that the Obama folks were putting out last night was that the new administration would likely have few Clinton "old hands" in key spots.

We'll certainly have to wait and see, but that wouldn't at all surprise me. All of Obama's moves since Biden appear to be "governing" moves, and, although alot of the Clinton folks were pretty good, all indications are that he doesn't want a White House of many power bases.

My guess is that he wants a White House that looks like his campaign, closed, tight, and brilliant.

We'll see if he can pull that off.

(PS. If it matters, I'm pro-Rahm.)

6 Comments:

  • Two Clinton admin names pop into my mind: Richard Holbrooke and Robert Reich. I liked them both and wouldn't be disappointed if they had some role in an Obama administration.

    Whatever recycling of Clinton-era people we see, I think it will be in the nuts-and-bolts rolls much more than in the policy-making arena. I expect the cabinet will be original players... While Obama claims to want to work across party lines, I don't think we'll see a Republican in the cabinet... at least not a recently serving Republican. The institutional inter-party distrust is too strong. Maybe in a second Obama term (god willing).

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:42 AM  

  • I agree. I also always liked Madeline Albright, but yeah.

    I don't think he wants any competing power centers or fiefdoms.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:29 AM  

  • "I don't think he wants any competing power centers or fiefdoms."

    Agreed. I may be off the mark, but I see Holbrooke and Reich as being outside the Clinton circle of influence, in a political power alliance sense. Albright somewhat less so.

    By Blogger -epm, at 10:55 AM  

  • I know what you're saying, but they'd take the phone calls and the consultation, you know?

    Plus, I don't think they want the image of Clinton people.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:01 AM  

  • Yeah, I get what you're saying... I think the pool of qualified people is deep enough for Obama to go 100% original. Find the new Holbrookes and Reichs, as it were.

    By Blogger -epm, at 11:47 AM  

  • In theory.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:37 PM  

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