Make Palin a Verb!

Anyone following mainstream media outlets over the past week has seen a lot of articles on Obama’s picks to fill key administration positions. Many of these articles focus on the fact that a number of these picks worked for the Clinton Administration, and question whether these selections undermine Obama’s call for change. (CQ has a nice article on it here). At first I was confused, but have reached the point of being downright ticked off about this cockeyed narrative — which appears to have been manufactured for the sole purpose of creating conflict where there is none (conflict makes for good storytelling).

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So, it appears that Edolphus Towns (D-NY) is the runaway favorite to take the chairmanship of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, with potential contenders Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) saying they won’t force the issue. But no one appears to have any idea what would be on his agenda for the committee, despite the fact that he has served in the House for over a quarter of a century (and I’ve asked a lot of Hill beat reporters about this). And there are very good reasons to be interested in what this committee will be up to.

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Now that Ted Stevens has officially lost the Alaska Senate race to Mark Begich, the eyes of political junkies everywhere turn to Minnesota and Georgia. If Dems win the Senate seats up for grabs in those two states, they will have a 60-member caucus that can override stalling tactics in that chamber. Minnesota is engaged in a closely watched recount between former-comedian Al Franken and incumbent GOP Senator Norm Coleman. But Georgia, quite frankly, is where all the action is.

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This week has seen a flurry of speculation and confirmation on a ton of key Cabinet posts for the incoming Obama administration. Each of these picks could be a political minefield, so let’s take them one by one (and, no, I won’t even get to Clinton here).

Let’s start with the rumors that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano will be tasked with leading the Department of Homeland Security, which are everywhere. One byproduct of that pick would be that the governorship of Arizona would go to a Republican, Secretary of State Jan Brewer (Arizona has no lieutenant governor).  This could give Brewer a good head start on a run for the Governor’s office in 2010. That’s especially significant because whoever has the governor’s office following the 2010 election will oversee the redrawing of political districts after the 2010 census results are issued. Five of Arizona’s eight House seats are currently Democratic. That number could shift dramatically if the GOP is in charge of redistricting in 2010. BUT WAIT, there’s more. Napolitano had been expected to challenge McCain for his Senate seat in 2010. Polls are split on who would win that race, but it would have been competitive. If Napolitano takes the DHS job, she’s out of the running to oppose McCain — likely giving him a relatively unobstructed path to re-election. Now, on to the next Cabinet pick …

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Wow. That’s all I can say as the House Democrats have dethroned one of their most feared power players. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), longtime chair of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, has been ousted by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) in a close vote by the Democratic Caucus (137 to 122). This puts a long-time environmentalist (Waxman) in the slot that oversees fuel efficiency standards, instead of a long-time auto industry booster (Dingell). Waxman will also be overseeing healthcare issues — a key issue for the incoming Obama administration. So many questions. Will this create any sort of lasting schism within the Dem caucus? And who will take the seat Waxman is vacating? He was chair of the Oversight & Government Reform Committee — a panel that serves as a congressional watchdog that can investigate just about anything it wants to.

I think the new chair of the Oversight Committee is likely to be Edolphus Towns (D-NY), but I know little or nothing about him. What do you think? Will this create a schism? Will Towns run the Oversight Committee? What will the new agenda for both committees look like?

-Ship

UPDATE: Word on the street is that Elijah Cummings (D-MD) is angling for the Oversight chair, but Towns outranks him. Stay tuned!

Kathleen Parker has an excellent piece in the Washington Post.

In it she states that the problem with the Republican party is that they have tried too hard to cling to the religious (white, Christian) conservatives that brought Reagan to power and in the process have alienated other religious and ethnic groups.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth — as long as we’re setting ourselves free — is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

…

Religious conservatives become defensive at any suggestion that they’ve had something to do with the GOP’s erosion. And, though the recent Democratic sweep can be attributed in large part to a referendum on Bush and the failing economy, three long-term trends identified by Emory University’s Alan Abramowitz have been devastating to the Republican Party: increasing racial diversity, declining marriage rates and changes in religious beliefs.

Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can’t have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

I don’t know if I would have said “Depends sales meeting” but if you look through photos or videos of the conventions, rallies and the acceptance/concession speeches it is painfully clear that the crowds at the Democratic functions were much more diverse ethnically, economically and socially.

Every media outlet you can imagine has announced that Eric Holder will be Attorney General under the Barack Obama administration. This is another historic first for the federal government, as Holder will become the first African-American AG. However, it also sets up a number of interesting scenarios for his confirmation hearings. Given the overwhelming Democratic majority in the Senate, and the fact that Obama has almost certainly already tested the waters, I’m sure Holder will be confirmed fairly quickly. That being said, his confirmation hearings should give us a good idea as to how well Republicans and Democrats will work together in the new Congress. Here’s how …

While Holder has an exemplary record of public service (as a federal prosecutor, judge and DOJ official), he made one much-publicized mistake: he gave then-President Bill Clinton his de facto blessing to pardon Marc Rich. He has since stated publicly that it was an error. In other words, he has done something that Senate Republicans can bludgeon him with. If the GOP chooses to do so, it can pillory Holder for a day or two and try to present him as a partisan political hack — undermining his authority and dirtying his image before he has even taken office. This would signal another season of partisan strife in the Senate (the more even-keeled of the two houses of legislature), and would not bode well for behavior in the House. But Holder’s history gives the GOP another option …

In 1994, as the U.S. District Attorney for Washington, D.C., Holder prosecuted then-Democratic House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (a powerful man at the time). Rostenkowski ultimately pled guilty. This action gives Republicans an out. They can choose to remember Holder as an arbiter of justice, regardless of political affiliation, and use the Rostenkowski prosecution to counterbalance the Rich pardon. Sure, Holden still gets a slap on the wrist, but it would signal that the GOP (at least in the Senate) is not out for blood. If this happens, the signs would certainly be a little better for bipartisan legislative dealmaking.

In other words, pay close attention to these confirmation hearings — they could tell us a lot about how this Congress will comport itself.

-Ship

PS: It appears that Mark Begich has unseated Ted Stevens for the Alaska Senate seat. This keeps the Democratic dream of 60 seats in the Senate alive.

Obama is still weeks away from becoming the 44th president, and he may already be facing political hot water. I’m not talking about the economy, relations with Pakistan or global warming. I’m talking about cabinet positions. According to Politico, Hispanic leaders are already putting pressure on Obama to include at least two (and preferably three) Latinos in his Cabinet — to say nothing of lower level political appointments.
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The Associate Press is reporting that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) has agreed to take on the role of White House chief of staff for the Obama administration. This is an interesting pick to fill the chief of staff post, which is part gatekeeper, part arbiter and part counsel on issues large and small in the White House. Emanuel is the consummate Chicago politico: intelligent, manipulative, mercurial and possessed of excellent political instincts. In other words, he should make an excellent “bad cop” to Obama’s even-handed “good cop.” However, it’s likely to ruffle feathers in some circles. During the Clinton administration Emanuel rubbed many Democrats the wrong way by pushing centrist policies such as free trade. He also has a track record of irking Republicans with his “take no prisoners” approach.

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