NYT - If You Were President (an interactive feature)

[TheDoorbellRang]

November 11, 2008
If You Were President ...

Readers made their picks for President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet. The top choices are listed below. For more information on some of the potential members of the administration, select names from the pulldowns...

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/11/11/us/politics/20081111_CABINET_PICKER.html

Leading so far in readers' picks:

Defense Secretary: Robert Gates
Secretary of State: Bill Richardson
Homeland Security: Richard Clarke
Attorney General: Janet Napolitano
Treasury Secretary: Paul Volcker

The NYT offers ten choices under each cabinet post. You can read up a bit on each candidate, and vote for the ones you would choose.

[DJ13]

1. Defense Secretary: Robert Gates

:puke:

What is wrong with people?!

[TheDoorbellRang]

2. It's going to be fun seeing who Obama actually ends up picking

Everyone and his brother and sister have an opinion, it seems. :-)

[Occam Bandage]

3. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Obama leaves Gates on for at least the first year. nt

[gcomeau]

6. Nothing's wrong with them.

Keeping Gates on would be a good move. Obama is still setting the agenda, if he tells Gates to get us out of Iraq we're getting out of Iraq, but by letting Gates continue administering things for a while and have a say in how things are implemented it reinforces that Obama isn't being a partisan ideologue like Bush and he's willing to listen to all sides. That is not a small thing, it's not just PR... it's important. People need to see it.

It's not like anyone is suggesting he ask Rumsfeld to do it for cripes sake, we can easily live with Gates as long as we have Obama at the wheel.

[FLAprogressive]

10. Keeping Gates for one year would allow Wesley Clark to become eligible.....n/t

[Diane R]

4. Attorney General John Kerry

[Alexander]

8. Kerry hasn't prosecuted a case since the mid 1980s.

Kerry's great and I'd love him in Obama's Cabinet, but I think someone more qualified should be AG.

[ProSense]

5. Interesting,

a NYT post from Nov. 11, before Hillary was even on the radar for SoS, never mentioned as a contender for the position, includes Hillary on the list.

[TheDoorbellRang]

9. I seem to recall a lot of buzz even here about the possibility

so her inclusion doesn't seem unusual. I don't know if SOS is his choice for her, but I'd guess he'd want her in his administration in some capacity. Whatever he decides, I'll support until circumstances show otherwise.

[Alexander]

7. I agree with the NYT readers on everyone except Gates...

Although I think choosing Napolitano would deprive us of a great governor, she is absolutely qualified to be Attorney General.

[FLAprogressive]

11. Good lord look at all the Ron Paul crap on there....n/t

[TheDoorbellRang]

12. Yeah. They've put him up as a possibility for almost every post

:crazy: