Richardson withdrawal disappoints Latinos

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: CNN

Bill Richardson's withdrawal from his commerce secretary nomination Sunday didn't just leave a major gap in the new administration, but it also sorely disappointed Latinos who view the New Mexico governor as their most prominent representative. "We are hugely disappointed. It's a stunned community out there," said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. "He is a very well-recognized leader not just in the Latino community but in this country and he has a long record of public service," she said.

Richardson was set to serve as the most high-profile Latino in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, and the announcement of Richardson's nomination in December drew praise from several Hispanic organizations. Yet many Latino bloggers and activists openly grumbled that the president-elect should have given Richardson an even more prominent post in the administration, namely secretary of state. "Secretary of commerce equals 'Where we stick Latinos to say we're diverse,'" one prominent Latino blog declared in December.

But with Richardson stepping aside from consideration for commerce secretary amid an ethics investigation relating to a company that has done business with his state, only two Latinos are now set to serve in the new Cabinet: Labor secretary-designate Hilda Solis and Interior secretary-designate Ken Salazar, neither of which, some critics have argued, will hold a prominent Cabinet post. That's the same number that President Bush and former President Bill Clinton had in their Cabinets at a maximum at any given time.

The prospect of having only two Latinos on Obama's Cabinet riles some members of the Hispanic community who say their support of Obama was crucial to his success on Election Day...

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Community leaders are pressing the Obama transition team to consider a host of other prominent Latinos for the Department of Commerce post, including Miami, Florida, Mayor Manny Diaz and U.S. Rep. Nydia Vilasquez of New York....

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Obama transition officials say the president-elect has already set a record for the number of Hispanics appointed to White House posts and discount criticisms the Latino community is getting slighted....

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/05/richardson.withdrawal.latinos/index.html

[Bombero1956]

1. a bunch of lower level appointees don't count

how can they equate a high profile cabinet level appointment with a bunch of lower level nameless bureaucrats?

[Augdog20]

2. Vote on who Obama should replace Richardson with

I've got a poll of various possibilities to replace Richardson as Secretary of Commerce,
at my blog, Blue Republic of America:
http://bluesunited.blogspot.com/
Would love to hear your input.