President Obama has named Senator Judd Gregg to be the next Commerce Secretary (thereby bring to three the number of Republicans in his cabinet). The story is here.. This is a true bipartisan administration. I believe that this is unprecedented but I might be wrong.
The catch to this is that many believe that the point of his nomination is to get a liberal to replace Gregg in the senate, thus giving democrats a fillibuster-proof 60-40 edge in the senate. Gregg has said that he will not accept if the senate becomes fillibuster-proof...
Well Lincoln (one of Obama's heroes), had many of his arch rivals on his cabinet. " Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. " Team of Rivals-Doris Kearns Godwin http://www.amazon.com/Team-Rivals-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/0684824906
Also, keep in mind that this "bipartisan" choice for Commerce Secretary comes after Obama's initial pick for the position, democrat Bill Richardson from New Mexico, was asked to pull out because of an investigation into state contracts...
I agree with you on this. Nominating Gregg has nothing to do with creating a bi-partisan administration so much as it is a political maneuver to ensure legislation will easily passed without opposition.
President Obama should understand that having a veto-proof majority in the Senate is like a two-edged sword. On one hand, it will be easy to pass legislations that he supports. On the other hand, he won’t have to blame Republicans if his programs and his presidency fail.
Obama Nation I have to agree. He is very good and thinking things through and positioning. That is exactly what he has been doing and so far he has done it well. He is looking at legislation that will be very difficult to pass and he needs to eliminate as much opposition as possible.
