Obama Appointments

Barack's image as a reformer is being called into question this week following a number of major administration appointments. Hillary Clinton will be our Secretary of State. Timothy Geithner (Treasury Secretary), Lawrence Summers (White House Economic Adviser), and Peter Orszag (Budget Director), who are the most prominent proteges of Robert Rubin, will lead us through the economic hardships that await Barack in January. Eric Holder Jr. will be charged with the task of restoring honor to the DOJ as our next Attorney General. And today the NYTimes reports that Defense Secretary Gates will retain his position for at least one year following inauguration.

The decision to keep Gates on-board shows Barack's commitment to bipartisanship but also his political bravery. Gates is regarded as a pragmatist who has cleaned up the Pentagon since Rumsfeld's resignation, and although he has overseen the last two years of the war in Iraq, he has also been sharply critical of the Bush Administration's handling of military operations there. He is favor of drawing down troops when possible. He also does not need to be reconfirmed by the Senate.

The obvious downside of retaining Gates is that it tarnishes Barack's image as a force for sweeping change to our foreign and military policies. But perhaps just as importantly it will give Barack's critics and skeptics reason to sound the "he's a great speaker but is he really a man of action" alarm. There are certainly other individuals that Barack could have appointed to that critical national security post who would represent the type of dramatic policy shift he advocated during the primary and general elections.

And what is to be said of the appointment of Hillary to be our nation's leading diplomat? Is Barack bringing her in to eliminate her as a political opponent in 2012? Or does he believe that she is the best negotiator that we have to offer? The cliche is true in this case that only time will tell, but it does bother me that while the two former rivals' domestic platforms were similar, Hillary scolded Barack whenever she could for his willingness to engage our supposed "enemies" in political dialogue. We should all hope that they settled those differences during their meeting last week and are ready to work as a unit, with Hillary's words carrying the authority of the Presidency in diplomatic settings.

Whether we are evaluating Hillary or Gates or some of the leaders of former President Clinton's administration that Barack is getting ready to appoint, the same question must be asked: Are they willing to carry out Barack's vision? If they are, we can rest assured that we will see the type of drastic change that we voted for. If they are not ready to be agents of reform, we may all have reason to worry.

Please let me know what you think. Post your comments below.