Written by Patrick McAlister on May 17th, 2009
Ok. It’s re-he-he-eally early to discuss the presidential election of 2012. I’ve been one to bemoan those who rush into an election season too early, but I cannot help but applaud the politically shrewd move in Obama eliminating the only Republican that would have a shot at beating him. Moderate, youthful, Mandarin fluent Utah Governor John Huntsman will forego his foray onto the national political stage for at least another presidential election cycle. While this is at first glance a victory for Obama, this may actually help moderate Republicans in the long run. When Obama is no longer president, the still young Huntsman may be in the best position …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 24th, 2008
Treasury
Timothy Geithner – Geithner appears to be President-elect Obama’s first choice for Secretary of Treasury. The current President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank has been in the thick of orchestrating the bailout and currently serves as chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies and then received his masters in International Economics and East Asian Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Education
Tim Kaine – Kaine will be reaching the end of his time as Governor in 2010, as he is term-limited. Therefore, he could be an interesting snag for the Obama campaign despite the fact that he was passed over for the …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 21st, 2008
Defense
Defense Secretary Robert Gates – It is extremely likely that current secretary will stay on to see the downsizing of operations in Iraq. It appears that the major holdup in this scenario is that gates wants some of his people to stay on.
Senator Chuck Hagel – Hagel appears to be the leading candidate to replace Robert gates should he choose not to return to serve in the Obama administration. You can hardly argue with Hagel’s experience and readiness for the job which includes work in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hagel could also be a Republican in Obama’s cabinet, which experts say he should have at least one in order to hold his promise of change by not picking all …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 19th, 2008
This is the first in a series of posts I will make on the Obama cabinet in the next few days.
State
Hillary Clinton – Senator Clinton appears to have a lock on the job if she’d like it; however, I’m not convinced she will accept the position. The Secretary of State position would give her enormous experience points in foreign policy, but I think the Senate is still the place for her if she is even thinking about running in 2016. But the other question is will the offer still stand after the Obama team finishing digging up dirt on Bill Clinton’s dealings – he’s quite a lot of baggage.
Senator John Kerry – The runner up for the job and possible …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 12th, 2008
On Tuesday, November 11-just a week after the election-myself and a crowd of just over 1,000 people joined Former Senator John Edwards at the IU Auditorium for a lecture running for public office and the future of America. While I enjoyed the lecture and the event showed the speaking power of the man, I felt it was missing an intellectual ingredient. Senator Edwards seemed to gloss over many of the issues we’re seeing America battle and I can’t honestly say I was inspired much by his rhetoric. He didn’t offer up any important changes we need to make, instead I heard a candidate making his case for issues.
I was expecting …
