Russ Feingold for AG: Who would you like to see in a Dem cabinet?

[BurtWorm]

Feingold or Elliot Spitzer? If Spitzer, do you see another spot for Feingold?

If Wesley Clark decides against running, would you want to see him head the Pentagon? Or State?

What about Dianne Feinstein as Secretary of Defense?

Would you put Rubin back in at the Treasury, or is there someone else better or comparable for that job?

What about Warren Rudman or Gary Hart at "Homeland Security"?

Who would you put in charge of the CIA or FBI?

I'm throwing out plausible choices, which I'm sure some will criticize as too conservative. I don't see Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of Defense, I'm sorry. But I'm really interested in what every one else thinks about the best cabinet, whether plausible or not, to undo the Bushist damage.

[CBHagman]

1. Clark for National Security Adviser

Richard Holbrooke for secretary of State.

I'll have to think about the others.

[goobergunch]

2. Spitzer as AG...

and Feingold as chairman of a major Senate committee.

[NewJerseyDem]

8. Feingold can't be chairman

That is still probably about 10 years away. He might become chairman of judiciary eventually. I would rather keep Feingold in the senate so that he could gain that seniority and influence. Spitzer might be good but he should run for Governor of NY in 2006. I think that Thurbert Baker of Georgia might also be a good Attorney General.

[CMT]

3. No keep Feingold in the Senate

Cuomo would make a fine Atty General.

[QC]

4. I like Feingold a lot,

but lets not forget that it was his vote that made it possible for Ashcroft to be attorney general. Feingold provided the winning vote to get Ashcroft's nomination out of committee, because he wanted to make a conciliatory gesture toward the Republicans in hopes of ending the political nastiness.

I would be hesitant to put Feingold in a position of power until I see some evidence that he has learned that you can't follow the Queensbury Rules when fighting brownshirts.

[BurtWorm]

6. It's the Ashcroft vote that makes me think he's AG material

The Repubs will have a difficult time fighting Feingold if he's nominated. They'd have an easier time if he'd resisted. The upshot is, the US would have a certified progressive where a certified loonie now rules the roost.

[cosmicdot]

5. Bobby Kennedy, Jr., maybe at Interior ...

Jim Hightower ... maybe at Agriculture

Paul Krugman perhaps at Treasury?

[sybylla]

7. Please keep Feingold in Wisconsin

I think he would make a great AG: he has the education, the skill, the intelligence. But I think he can do his best work in the Senate or in the White House.

Replacing Russ in Wisconsin would be difficult. Unlike many other states where the replacement is appointed by the sitting governor, Wisconsin requries a special election. It would essentially be a run-off like we are seeing in California right now and I lack confidence that the best candidate can win in such a circumstance.

Of course, I'm highly biased!

[BurtWorm]

9. That's understandable

What's up with WI, anyway? What happened to the classic WI progressives?

[Cheesehead]

14. We're trying...

For 12 years the Repugnant Tommy Thompson dominated our politics from the Governor's chair. We have a fine tradition in the Senate - Gaylord Nelson, Bill Proxmire, Russ Feingold but are having as much harder time getting progressives into the House and the state govt. Outside of Milwaukee and Madison, the state is pretty conservative and Repugs seem to have the edge. We are working to change that.

http://www.fightingbobfest.org

[bobthedrummer]

16. More like 14 years of Tommy the man who sold the world

Thompson.
Let's keep Russ Feingold unless he would take a position in our elected Dem. presidency in 2004.

[BurtWorm]

18. Wisconsin conservative isn't the same as, say, Utah conservative, is it?

I mean we're talking about a state full of Swedes and Norwegians. Granted, they're the descendants of ones who opted not to stay in what would become socialist paradises, but my impression (from a brief stint there myself) of Wisconsin conservative is that it is really and truly conservative: resistant to change--or movement--of any kind--unless it gets you near ducks or walleyes. I don't think of it the way I think of the belly-aching, tax-hating, mouth-frothing sort of wingerism you see in New Hampshire, for example.

[Jackpine Radical]

29. That sounds about right.

For the most part they aren't Bible-thumpers either. Even Repugs have to run as environmentalists here.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. Beggin yer pardon there,

but Mad & Milw aren't the only liberal areas in WI. Remember Superior & the whole Scandinavian co-op tradition. McGovern carried Superior in '72, ya know. Hell, Gore even carried Eau Claire Co. (but lost Chippewa, an old-time Dem county next door to the north) in 2000.

[Cheesehead]

33. Sorry, forgot about Superior and my old buddy Frank Boyle!

Living here in Appleton is killin' the few brain cells I have left.
:crazy:

[HFishbine]

10. Not a cabinet nominee

But Al Gore for Supreme Court.

[BurtWorm]

11. I was wondering where to put Gore

That's an excellent suggestion!

[sexybomber]

12. Keep Spitzer in NY

If he runs for Governor in 2006, he's got my vote.

[BurtWorm]

13. I'd love to see Eric Schneiderman, my state senator

as NY gov, or US Senator. He's a progressive's progressive.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

15. Dean as Secretary of Health and Human Services

That's a good start.

[snyttri]

17. Feingold is too independent and stubborn to be AG

He would not hesitate to begin independent investigations that might hurt the party if his principles required him to.

[BurtWorm]

19. Where do you get that idea?

Feingold's not an investigator nut like Dan Burton or other wacko Repubs.

[ButterflyBlood]

20. If Arlen Specter wins and the Senate can be changed through one vote

appoint him AG. The Dems will have control of the Senate and someone who's practically a liberal will be AG anyway.

[BurtWorm]

21. That's an interesting idea

Except that I can't stand Arlen Specter. I hope he loses and disappears.

[dansolo]

22. We need people like Feingold in the Senate

n/t

[UrbScotty]

23. I think Clark will head the Office of the Vice President.

Dean/Clark administration:
State: Graham
Defense: Kerry
Attorney General: Kucinich
Agriculture: Sen. Tom Harkin, IA
Labor: Ron Gettelfinger (UAW head)
HHS: Edwards
HUD: Sharpton
Transportation: Sen. John McCain, R-AZ
Energy: Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-VT
Education: Braun
Veterans Affairs: Fmr. Sen. Max Cleland, D-GA

CIA: Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-ME

[Avatar13]

32. Here's my wish list

Energy: Bill Bradley or Jeff Bingaman
AG: Eliot Spitzer, John Conyers, Henry Waxman, Russ Feingold
Labor: Almost any D, Arlen Specter**, George Voinovich**
Commerce: Jeanne Shaheen, Susan Collins**, Harold Ford
HUD: Carol Mosely-Braun*, Maxine Waters
Trans: John Breaux, Peter DeFazio, Norm Mineta
Interior: Ralph Nader, Maria Cantwell, Jennifer Dunn**
Education: James Jeffords (To spite Bush), Jack Reed
State: Al Gore, Richard Lugar**, George Mitchell, Robert Menendez
VA: Max Cleland (To further spite Bush), Zell Miller, Tom Udall
Homeland: Evan Bayh, Charles Rangel
Defence: Wesley Clark*, John Kerry*, Bob Kerrey
Treasury: Lawrence Summers, Jon Corzine, John Doerr (From Kleiner Perkins)
HHS: Barbara Lee, Olympia Snowe**, Howard Dean*
Agri: Dick Gephardt*, Tom Vilsack, Tom Harkin

Fed: Alan Greenspan
EPA: Gary Locke, or maybe even Christie Whitman** (with nowhere the restraint imposed upon her by the Bush admin)
CIA: Bob Graham*, Jay Rockefeller, Porter Goss**
NSA: Zbigniew Brzezinski, John McCain**, Kiron Skinner(?)
UN Amb: Bill Clinton

OMB: John Podesta
Drug Czar: Peter King**
Solic Gen: David Boies or Alan Dershowitz
Press: Al Sharpton, baby!

* - Potential Presidential Candidate
** - Republican

An AG that will go after corporate fraud and the Enrons of the world (like Spitzer and Waxman)would be great addition to a solid economic team, and to have sensible R's in a few key posts (like Collins at Commerce, or Lugar at State) would give Dems a chance to show what real bipartisan cooperation looks like. But posts like Defence, AG, Interior, and Treasury should not be open to anyone who doesn't oppose PNAC, Patriot, Kyoto, and RecklessTaxCutsForTheWealthy, respectively.

[BurtWorm]

34. Appointing Republican Senators also decreases their majority

if they're dumb enough to accept the position.

[Avatar13]

37. Yeah, maybe a majority can be won this way in both houses

I know it won't happen, but I can dream, can't I? So here are some more republican appointments to a Dem cabinet:

Director of White House Beverages: Denny Hastert (R-Puppet)
Deputy Director of White House Beverages: Tom DeLay (R-Puppetmaster)
Undersecretary of State for Fruitcakes: Bill Thomas (R-Arrogance)
Gay-Bashing Apologist General: Rick Santorum (R-Roy Cohn)
Nepotism Czar: Lisa Murkowski (R-Daughter)
National Crybaby Advisor: Darrell Issa (R-Grand Theft Auto)
Ambassador to Hell: James Inhofe (R-Pissquik)

On Edit: Added a new position

[Clete]

24. Haven't thought much about the others but Clark would make a fine

Secretary of Defense. Imagine, actually having a military man in that cabinet post.

[Pepperbelly]

25. Dean for Health/Human Services

:evilgrin:

[Nashyra]

26. If Clark doesn't run

Sec of Defense and call me crazy but Big Dog for Sec. of State, I like Gore for AG, and would like to see Rubin back at Treasury and Bill Richardson back at Enery. Guliani at Homeland Security and definetly a place for Cleland. Unfortunately I think we need to keep our Congressional Reps and Senators in their seats. I would like to see a Clark/Dean or Dean/Clark ticket first and foremost

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Suggestions for lesser known posts

Earl Blumenauer (Oregon Congressman) for Secretary of Transportation. He'd do what we need to do for both the environment and increasing energy independence: emphasizing non-automobile means of transportation

Janeane Garofalo or Alfre Woodard for press secretary, We all know about Janeane, but I once saw a show in which Alfre Woodard had Dennis Miller practically pinned to the floor.

John Kerry for Secretary of Defense (unless he gets the nomination). A combat veteran should run the Pentagon.

On a similar note, give Max Cleland his old job of Director of Veterans' Affairs

John Leonard (critic on CBS Sunday Morning and for The Nation) should be head of the National Endowment for the Humanities

If Lorin Maazel (whose lifetime accomplishments and activities on behalf of the environment suggest that he is NOT a Republican) was willing, I'd put him in charge of the National Endowment for the Arts.

And I want to be the Cultural Affairs Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo :-)

[MiltonLeBerle]

30. Dick Durbin deserves a job-

How about Secretary of Labor?

[David Zephyr]

31. Jerry Brown as Attorney General.

He knows the laws. He would make the Department of Justice...the Department of Justice.

I had wanted Clinton to choose Jerry back in 1992, but he chose Reno.

Jerry has indicated he will run for AG of California in the next election cycle. He will win.

[JasonBerry]

35. Thought on Jerry Brown

I agree!

He has done a helluva job in Oakland with little help. If Jerry runs for AG in California - he'll win in a walk.

[TrueBlueDem]

36. More diversity?

Clinton chose a cabinet that "looks like America." With diversity being a consideration and staying clear of Congress members because we don't have a one to spare, here are my picks for some of the cabinet posts:

Atty General -- Elizabeth Birch (pres., Human Rights Campaign) or Morris Dees (head of Souther Poverty Law Center)

Sec. Of Treasury -- Robert Rubin (again)

Sec. Of Education-- Marva Collins (Founder, Westside Preparatory School, Chicago)

Sec. Of Agriculture -- Gary Grant (pres. Of Black Farmers & Agriculturists)

Sec. of Labor -- Milton Rosado (Pres., Labor Council for Latin American Advancement)

Sec. Of HHS -- Marion Wright Edelman (head of children's defense fund)

Sec. Of Commerce -- Ralph Nader (How innovative is that?)

Sec. of Interior -- Jerry Pardilla (head of National Tribal Environmental Council)

Dir. Of Vet Affairs -- Max Cleland (again) or Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer

Sec. Of State -- George Mitchell