Since it looks like my cabinet predictions for the incoming Obama administration came pretty close to the mark, this week I want to discuss their implications for the Obama presidency as well as my dear ‘old’ Republican Party.
Since it looks like my cabinet predictions for the incoming Obama administration came pretty close to the mark, this week I want to discuss their implications for the Obama presidency as well as my dear ‘old’ Republican Party.
Some of my Republican cohorts believe I was just another one of those poor souls who fell under Obama’s spell. But when it comes to my country and domestic politics, I have always been a cold-eyed realist. The fact of the matter is, I spend very little time celebrating the triumphs of those I have supported politically because I have this annoying habit of immediately beginning to worry about what mistakes they are going to make and how soon they will make them.
In what I hope is a good sign for the future of the United States, I must confess that I have thus far been unable to find any fault with Obama’s decisions. In a notable departure from past Republican and Democratic administrations, Obama isn’t just giving jobs to his friends and political hacks from his party or the special interest groups that supported him. Not since the pre-Civil War day’s selection of William Seward by Abraham Lincoln, has a US president been so bold as to offer an important and highly visible cabinet position like secretary of state to his most bitter political rival.
Given the myriad of complex foreign and domestic crises the US is currently facing, the incoming President will need the best and brightest of its politicians and policy wonks to effectively deal with America’s problems. Some of my Republican colleagues cynically note that has been picking the same old Washington DC “insiders” to help him govern instead of the outsiders one would expect from a president who promised change. Maybe I’m wrong and they will prove to be correct in this assessment. But I would counter with the argument that these experienced Washington hands are also much more likely to get the new legislation the US needs to address its problems passed in congress than outsiders unfamiliar with the way business gets done in our nation’s capital.
For instance, Obama has decided that the experienced Tom Daschle will be both his secretary of health as well as his White House health ‘czar’, a strategy that will avoid potential conflicts and ensure something gets done in this policy arena. Obama is also bringing the brightest of both his personal friends and Washington insiders into his administration instead of a bunch of old buddies whose most outstanding qualities were their years of loyalty to him or partisan Republican ideology.
Thus far, none of Obama’s choices have been individuals considered overly partisan by most knowledgeable Republicans. People like Rahm Emanuel and Phil Schiliro have demonstrated expertise developing pragmatic solutions to address problems, as well as the steps necessary to win support for them from opponents across the aisle. They and the other open-minded Washington insiders Obama has picked are respected by Republicans and Democrats alike for their practicality, professionalism and honesty.
The dilemma for the Republican Party is going to be coming up with viable alternatives to the legislative solutions Obama’s experienced Washington insiders will be proposing in the very near future. But the Republicans currently lack leaders who can articulate a vision that is also significantly different from the failed policies of president Bush, not to mention different to those being proposed by Obama.
While I am encouraged by what I have seen from President-elect Obama so far, I am under no illusions that he and his team have all the answers. In the long run I believe the interests of the American people are best served if Obama and the Democratic Party have a strong Republican opposition in Congress to prevent them from over-reaching in their attempts to fix the problems the US is facing.
Charles Laffiteau is a lifelong US Republican from Dallas, Texas who is currently pursuing a PhD research programme in Environmental Studies at Dublin City University
