For the Love Of God, Mr. President. Tap Gary Locke for Commerce and get this done already.

[Perky]

From the WIKI
Background
Locke was born on January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington. A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong Province, China, Locke is the second of five children of James (a native of the United States, and Julie Locke (from Hong Kong). His parents gave him the Chinese name of Lok Ga-fai, similar phonologically to his English name of Gary Faye Locke.

He graduated with honors from Seattle’s Franklin High School in 1968. Locke achieved Eagle Scout and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.<1><2>

Through a combination of part-time jobs, financial aid and scholarships, Locke attended Yale University, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1972.<3> He then earned a law degree from the Boston University School of Law in 1975.

In 1994, Locke married Mona Lee, a Seattle television reporter. Her father was from Shanghai and her mother from Hubei. They have three children: Emily Nicole, Dylan James, and Madeline Lee.


Career
In 1982, Locke's South Seattle district elected him to the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Eleven years later, in 1993, Locke made history by becoming the first Chinese American to be elected King County's County Executive, defeating incumbent Tim Hill. In 1996, he won the primary and general elections for governor, becoming the first Chinese-American state governor in North America. He easily won reelection in the 2000 governor's race.

Democrats criticized Locke for embracing the Republican Party's no-new-taxes approach to dealing with Washington's budget woes during and after the 2001 economic turmoil. Among his spending-reduction proposals were laying off thousands of state employees; reducing health coverage; freezing most state employees' pay; and cutting funding for nursing homes and programs for the developmentally disabled. In his final budget, Locke suspended two voter-passed, pro-school initiatives while cutting state education funding. That same state budget, though, had record-high allocations for construction projects.

On the national stage, Democrats saw Gary Locke as a rising star and a possible vice-presidential pick. He was chosen to give the Democrat's response to George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address. Former Washington Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge announced his plans to challenge Locke (supported by the state's political left) in the 2004 Democratic primary. Talmadge ended his campaign early for health reasons.



In a surprise move, Locke announced in July 2003 that he would not seek a third term, saying, "Despite my deep love of our state, I want to devote more time to my family."

Susan Paynter, a columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, suggested that slurs, insults, and threats that Locke and his family received, especially the large number which came after his rebuttal to George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, played a role in Locke's decision to leave office after two terms.<4> The governor's office received hundreds of threatening letters and e-mails; others threatened to kill his children.<4>

Locke left office on January 12, 2005. If the disputed 2004 election between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi had not been resolved by then, the state constitution mandated that Locke would have remained in office.

Next, Locke joined the Seattle office of international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, in their China and governmental-relations practice groups. During the leadup to the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Governor Locke signed on as Washington co-chairman of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's bid for president.<5>

On December 4, 2008, the Associated Press reported that Locke was a potential candidate for Secretary of the Interior in then-President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet<6>

[elleng]

1. Thanks!

Been waiting for someone to name a good one! YOU'VE DONE IT!

[elleng]

2. delete

.

[camera obscura]

3. Sounds good to me

[Zomby Woof]

4. I had the pleasure of meeting Locke once

It was at Seattle Democratic HQ, in 2000, to watch the first debate between Gore and Bush. He had lackeys trying to fend off the low-ranking party riff-raff like me, but to no avail. I was wearing a Mariners T-shirt, and they had just wrapped up game one of their playoff series against the White Sox. He had missed the ending of the game and wanted to know the outcome. I was happy to oblige with a recap. We had a pleasant chat about the Mariners, until one of his lackeys used the pretext of needing his attention to ward him off. He was very nice, and I admit I resented the ass-kissing staff who think they are so important, that they must save a representative of the state's people from... one of the same. Mona Lee was very pleasant too - both genuine people.

Obama could do worse than to pick Locke, which could be key to getting the Commerce seat filled.

[Better Believe It]

5. You can't be serious He's anti-labor and works for a union busting law firm!

"Among his spending-reduction proposals were laying off thousands of state employees; reducing health coverage; freezing most state employees' pay; and cutting funding for nursing homes and programs for the developmentally disabled. In his final budget, Locke suspended two voter-passed, pro-school initiatives while cutting state education funding."

Oh hell, and he presently works for a corporate union busting law firm, Davis, Wright, Tremaine LLP!

From their website:

DWT's Labor Practice
"Our Labor attorneys have significant experience assisting management with traditional labor law matters. We advise clients on a wide range of issues including strikes, litigation, decertification, union avoidance and collective bargaining to name a few. We successfully guide clients through all facets of pre-emptive labor relations and are committed to supporting management every step along the way."

http://www.dwt.com/practc/empservices/legalservices-labor.cfm

A real man of the people!

NOT!

Surely there must be someone for this position who doesn't hate the elderly and disabled people and doesn't think state workers have too much health care.

Yikes. May as well pick Senator Shelby for the post.

[smalll]

6. Can we stop using "tap?" Not so long ago, that would automatically make me think of ...

some Yalie getting called up by Skull and Bones (or the Whiffenpoofs.)
Now, thanks to the younger generation, it makes me think of fucking. :shrug: