How many women will Obama choose for his cabinet & important staff?

[Cherchez la Femme]

Poll question: How many women will Obama choose for his cabinet & important staff?

Also, do you think he will choose Hillary as either the one woman or among the women chosen, or absolutely no Hillary?
Will they advise or be relatively non-important?

Given his first pick was Rahm Emmanuel for Chief of Staff, who do you think he will choose?

Who are your suggestions or predictions?

[Chovexani]

1. I'm guessing there will be one or two tokens.

Possibly a moderate Republican woman.

I am not expecting anything substantial from him though, on any social issue.

[Captain Hilts]

2. They played no key role in his campaign. I guess Susan Rice is the best bet and CarolynK...

is being rumored for the UN.

[BlueIris]

3. I like Barack and I voted for him, but I sincerely doubt

there will be even one female cabinet member. Here's hoping he proves me totally wrong.

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. He's got a few charter members of the He-Man Teeny-Peeny Woman-Hater's club on tap

Lawrence Summers, the former president of Harvard who thinks women are innately less talented at science and technology, is being considered for Treasury, and Rahm Emmanuel of the "stick to their knitting" remark is Chief of Staff.

[femrap]

5. OMG....THAT

larry summers...fuck. I want HRC on the Supreme Court. There is Stephanie...is it Powers? (No that 's the tv star..shit, I can't remember). She is on 'Now' and Bill Moyers show every now and then...red head. has done lots of work on Darfur. She called HRC a 'monster' and then resigned from BO's campaign staff.

I truly think BO wants women to do what he feels is 'appropriate' work for women. I resented having to vote for him...he knew we had no other choice. But I did not raise a finger to help him...he had a bunch of young, new-to-politics to knock on doors and make calls.

Emmanuel is DLC...repug lite, right? I'm not hopeful...he owes Wall St. and the Hedge Funds lots and lots of favors.

Goddess, I miss the days of Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and Pat Shroeder (sp?). And I really miss Stephanie Tubbs Jones. I'm trying to think of woman today...I love Barbara Boxer. She is a fighter. Other fighters....Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee from TX.

Our system is so broke, I'm in the mood to just find a place in the woods to live with solar panels, a well and geothermal heat....try to avoid the raging storm coming. I meet so few younger folks who see the storm coming...they just seem to want their idols to fix things.

Sorry for being a downer. If there is one women who will kick all of their asses, it's Mother Nature! She has the last word.

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. You always have a choice

You can stop by the New Agenda (http://www.thenewagenda.net) for some fresh energy and ideas.

[femrap]

10. Thx for the link...nt

[wildflower]

6. I hope so

But I won't be surprised if it doesn't happen. I'm pretty sure I heard that Hillary said she doesn't want a Supreme Court or other position besides being in the Senate. I'm sorry I don't have a link but I'm certain I heard this...I think it was on the radio.

He seems open to any person, whether they share his beliefs or not, which is actually something I admire about him - this is what makes his foreign policy so different from the Republicans' - but I can see it is going to cause problems as he chooses his staff (e.g. the possible pick of Larry Summers).

If he does choose a woman for a Cabinet position, I feel it will be primarily because she is the one that he feels has the quality required for that particular job, and so I think the woman will have an important advisory role.

One possibility I have heard is Caroline Kennedy, I think for U.N. ambassador?

[femrap]

9. How about a woman

who came up the ranks like he did and wasn't born into an appointment?

[wildflower]

11. How do you feel about Valerie Jarrett?

She's been one of his top few advisors...here is an article on her from the Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06jarrett.html

[femrap]

16. Thanks for the link..

I did see that she has powerful kin as well.

I'm going to my state's annual NOW conference today...we'll discuss. Maybe BO should have a look at some of the women affiliated w/ Emily's List? Or Catalyst. Can't we find a woman who has worked hard to get where she is w/o being born into it?

Or is that idea now called 'naive' or 'utopian?'

[Cherchez la Femme]

12. What woman

was "born" into any appointment?

[femrap]

15. Caroline Kennedy...

I don't mean any offense. She, by grace of Goddess, was born into a family of political fame and wealth. I would think that BO who came from nowhere would be willing to look at others who worked their way up the ladder from nowhere.

[Cherchez la Femme]

26. NP,

just asking... didn't know who you were speaking of :)

[ismnotwasm]

8. I voted, optimistically two

But I've changed my mind. I think one. And not for lack of qualified woman candidates. It's still the "good 'ol boys" out there. Palin wouldn't have changed it either of course, just served the coffee.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. I think the good old boys network has been reinforced

A shiny new reinforced glass ceiling has been installed to replace the cracked one. Should last at least a generation.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

[ismnotwasm]

14. God I hope not

I listened to a lot of Obama speeches on-line. He sounds very pro-woman, with the exception being the unfortunate wording on so called "late term abortions". He brings up his daughters frequently as examples.

The problem, I suppose, is political expediency. However, when other developed and not so developed nations lead the US with woman in top positions, it falls in the category of things that make you go hmmm.

I'd like to see an equal share of gender in his cabinet, his political appointments. I'd love to see him tap the wondrous female talent that's out there, that has always been out "there". I think he means well but I think he's a savvy political player as well.

Generally male politicians and the media seem to think Women Do So Much Better hanging out being "hawt"-- You know, so we can see what kind of shoes they wear, how short their skirts are, and what color their pantsuits are. They want to see hawtness points. Or have female polititians spouting off tired old talking points, that are completely meaningless. Important shit like that. Or they find crazy, mean-spirited women whom sold their souls to political patriarchy without hesitation. They hold them up and say see? A REAL woman.

Don't trouble our pretty little heads with the kick ass and/or cut throat legislation, or tireless advocacy that certain female politians are really up to. Nope. What color lipstick does she wear? And why doesn't she get her hair done, or why does she get her hair done so much?

My state, Washington, has a powerful female Governor--just re-elected thank god-- and two powerful female senators. Anyone of these women could fill positions in the executive branch. Off the top of my head, one local rep. Eileen Cody, has been in politics for years and knows her way around legislation and local government. This is just one state. There are women everywhere who could get the job done, but probably won't get the chance. Like that catch 22 "you can't get that job unless you have experience, but to get experience you have to get the job"

[Ellen Forradalom]

18. I have been leery of him

since January, when I saw Michelle Obama wax nostalgic over the days of "one-income families" (code for 'Back to the kitchen, ladies') in New Hampshire. I found it a real head-scratcher that a Princeton- and Harvard-educated attorney would talk like this. Yes, she has to win votes, but still, disturbing. I also find Obama's commitment to choice wishy-washy.

More debatable is the point that he did nothing to rein in rampant sexism amongst his supporters during the campaign. I feel there is a significant political message for women in there. If it is unacceptable to call Obama the n-word, it should be equally unacceptable to call Hillary or Palin the c-word, period, end of story--but a LOT of people never got that memo, because O never issued it. The zeitgeist is totally anti-woman and he benefitted from it.

Therefore I feel women are under the bus in an Obama administration, and that we have a tough row to hoe.

[bliss_eternal]

23. I'm not sure how what his wife's comments...

...have to do with your being leery of him. I seem to recall people in this forum becoming rather upset when a wife is called into the judgement of the man. Is that not what you are doing here?

Is his wife not entitled to her own opinion, as an educated, intelligent woman?

What political candidates in the history of elections have ever "reigned in" any issue that got out of control?

[wildflower]

17. Here are 3 names I just saw (Lisa Renstrom, Mary Nichols, Kathleen McGinty)

From http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3590296 , which quotes an article from Consumer Affairs about Robert Kennedy, Jr. possibly heading the EPA:

"If it turns out not to be Kennedy, the sources tell the Post that former Sierra Club president and environmental activist
Lisa Renstrom is under consideration, as is California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty and Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles also reportedly have a shot at landing the post."

[iverglas]

19. the foreigner asks

(even though I could probably google): how many people are in a standard cabinet?


I just looked at PM Stephen Harper's new Cabinet (we had a federal election up here in October). Rather an amazing number of women, for that party. Mostly morons in unimportant posts, but still.

http://pm.gc.ca/eng/cabinet.asp

I quick-counted 10 out of 38. We probably have considerably larger cabinets than you do. "Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency)", for example, would be an extra.

Gordon Brown's, as of 2007, came to 22 total, 5 women (several more among the "also attending", who are disproportionately female).

And you all think Obama might come up with one woman??

Our Supreme Court Chief Justice is a woman these days, with 3 of the other 8 judges women. Our first female Supreme Court judge was appointed in 1872, and there have been 2 others since then as well.

Just thought you might want to drool.

[iverglas]

20. also meant to ask

Would it not make most sense for Hilary Clinton to be give a strong role to play in the Senate?

[lukasahero]

21. Currently under shrub women = 5

The "traditional" cabinet consists of 15 plus the VP. Under shrub, the "cabinet-level rank" has been expanded to include more dept. heads (epa, omb...) So currently there are 21 members of the cabinet and/or of cabinet-level rank. 5 of those are women.

[iverglas]

22. thanks!

I hope nobody is seriously thinking Obama may appoint 1. Or 2. ;)

I also just realized I said Canada's first female Supreme Court justice was appointed in 1872. Duh. I've been doing too much genealogy, and we aren't quite that historically progressive (although we have had black elected representatives going back nearly that far). *1972*. Oops. Madam Justice Bertha Wilson, who wrote the rather excellent set of reasons in the Morgentaler case striking down Canada's abortion laws.

[Cherchez la Femme]

27. Early on

it looked devoid of women, in fact it was Right-leaning/Conservative/DLC old men as far as the eye could see. Then articles popped up noticing the Boys Club atmosphere and Hey Presto! we have some women considered!

I'm not complaining, much :)
but jeez, couldn't he have been proactive on this? Did he think nobody would notice?

I mean, it's a very, VERY sad thing when Dubya appears more progressive than... well anybody on anything!

[bliss_eternal]

28. With all due respect....

...I disagree, on a few counts.

Quote:
it looked devoid of women, in fact it was Right-leaning/Conservative/DLC old men as far as the eye could see. Then articles popped up noticing the Boys Club atmosphere and Hey Presto! we have some women considered!

I don't get the sense that women being considered had anything to do with "articles popping up." How do you know that women weren't being considered all along? Personally, I don't trust that this media force is anymore trustworthy than it was during 'w's term...He hasn't left office, yet--and nothing changes overnight, including mainstream media.

Quote:
I mean, it's a very, VERY sad thing when Dubya appears more progressive than... well anybody on anything!

Really?
What aspect of 'w' is so progressive, especially in regard to women? The presence of (token) women in his cabinet? What kind of women, btw? Uber-conservative women that supported rolling things back for women 30 years or so?

Perhaps a review of his policies regarding women is in order.

I for one, did not feel "represented" by the women used by his administration.

[bliss_eternal]

24. updates:

Barack Obama appears all set to name Hillary Clinton Secretary of State
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/11/21/barack-obama-appears-all-set-to-name-hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state.html


Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison
from:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3603244


Former Zulu queen Desiree Rogers named White House social secretary
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/former_zulu_queen_picked_for_w.html


Obama to Announce Susan Rice as U.N. Ambassador
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7938722


(Transition team, includes women):

Obama Names 7 Gays to Transition Team
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3623164

[JTFrog]

25. Thank you.

:thumbsup: