Not so Much with the Cabinet Surprises

I’ve been watching television with a certain amount of amusement as various reporters try to create news and then discuss the news they’ve created with reference to President-Elect Obama’s cabinet and other appointments.

But what interests me is the great surprise that the president-elect may appoint former rival Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. Besides the fact that their foreign policy views are really quite close despite efforts to distinguish them during the primaries, she clearly has strong leadership skills. At first I wondered why she would want the position, but then I considered that, should she run for president again, it would be nice resume padding. That is besides the basic notion of public service.

But what most of the commentators, even those who strongly supported Obama during the campaign seem to be doing is assuming that he can’t lead a strong cabinet. They’re concerned about how she’s going to take foreign policy leadership away from him.

Now I have no way of being sure that he can manage the nation effectively. There is a certain amount of risk in voting for anyone for president, because there really isn’t anywhere to get experience of the same type. But I wouldn’t vote for someone if I didn’t at least have strong hope that they’d be able to do the job.

I’m sure the the president-elect wants Hillary Clinton in his cabinet because he believes she can provide strong leadership in foreign policy. I think he is not afraid to appoint her because, unlike some of his supporters, he actually believes he has the leadership skill not just to run for president, but to be president. I think he believes that he can shape the group of strong personalities he is gathering into fulfilling his vision.

I could be wrong, obviously, but I also think he can do it. If I hadn’t have thought he could do it, I wouldn’t have marked a ballot for him on November 4, apparently unlike some vocal supporters today.

We all need to chill out and actually let this new leader take some actions as president before we start to panic because he’s not going to fulfill his promises, or because strong subordinates in government are going to run away with policy.