Should Barack Obama keep grabbing current officeholders for the Cabinet?

BE-ELECTED
by Chad Rubel

So far we have had two sitting governors and one current senator grabbed to be a part of Barack Obama's cabinet. Well, add another senator with the pick of Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) to be Secretary of the Interior.

On the surface, it's good to get more Hispanics (up to two) in the Cabinet, and Salazar is well qualified. But a Senate seat in the West that the Democrats barely won in 2004 will now be a brighter target in 2010.

There is current speculation that Ken's brother John, a three-term Congressman, might be the replacement selected by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. And that would bring the total of Hispanics in the Senate back to three. Of course, that leaves the 3rd Congressional District as a more prominent target for the GOP.

Republicans don't pick sitting officeholders for Cabinet positions. But Democrats seem to like picking current officeholders.

Let's look at Bill Clinton's cabinet:

Of the politicians he selected, three of them lost their seat, and two of those seats are still in Republican hands.

-- Lloyd Bentsen: Treasury; Sitting U.S. Senator from Texas, seat lost in special election to Kay Bailey Hutchison, who still holds the seat.
-- Les Aspin: Defense; Sitting U.S. Rep. from Wisconsin, seat lost in 1994 to the GOP and still in Republican hands.
-- Bill Richardson, UN Ambassador (1997); Sitting U.S. Rep. from New Mexico, seat lost in special election in 1997 to the GOP, returned to the Democratic fold in 1999.

Two more seats are still in Democratic hands.

-- Mike Espy: Agriculture; Sitting U.S. Rep. from Mississippi, succeeded by Bennie Thompson (D-MS) who still has the seat.
-- Leon Panetta, Budget Director; Sitting U.S. Rep. from California, succeeded by Sam Farr (D-CA) who still has the seat.

Then there were four former politicians.

Bruce Babbitt: Interior; former Governor of Arizona.
Richard Riley, Education; former Governor of South Carolina.
Norman Mineta, Commerce (2000); former U.S. Rep. from California.
William Cohen, Defense (1997); Was retiring from U.S. Senate, seat has stayed in GOP hands ever since.

By contrast, George W. Bush picked two defeated Senators (John Ashcroft, Spencer Abraham) for Cabinet posts, and did select three sitting governors (Tommy Thompson, Tom Ridge, Christine Todd Whitman). Governors' dynamic is a bit different from Senate seats.

If Democrats hang on to these seats long-term, such as situations from Espy and Panetta, then giving them Cabinet spots keeps the vine of candidates healthy. But the House seat from Wisconsin and the Senate seat from Texas are still in Republican hands.

Colorado is purplish, and seems a riskier environment to upset a seat than say California or New York. Hillary Clinton's Senate seat has a reasonably good chance to stay in the Democratic column. Not so Ken Salazar's seat.

Yes, someone from the West is going to be the Interior Secretary. And Ken Salazar is a good pick. But Democrats need to be careful not to destroy the fruit from branches that are very young and susceptible to inclement GOP storms.