Change?
 

Here we go! Change and more change, NOT! Same old song, new verse! SAME OLD CHOIR.
I was honestly looking forward to something new and different, possibly even "change we need"!

WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama promised the voters change but has started his Cabinet selection process by naming several Washington insiders to top posts.

Obama is enlisting former Senate leader Tom Daschle as his health secretary. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a well-known Washington personality, seemed more likely than ever to be his secretary of state. Clinton is deciding whether to take that post as America's top diplomat, her associates said Wednesday

Obama is ready to announce that his attorney general will be Eric Holder, the Justice Department's No. 2 when Clinton's husband was president. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, is another veteran of the Clinton White House.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is Obama's primary choice to be secretary of the Homeland Security Department, several news organizations reported Thursday. The New York Times, citing Democrats with knowledge of the process, said Napolitano was about to be offered the job. The Washington Post also reported that she was Obama's choice.

Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, who was national finance chairman for Obama's presidential campaign, is his leading choice for commerce secretary, the Times reported. The newspaper said Pritzker was in the final stages of vetting by Obama's transition team.

Daschle's selection to head the Health and Human Services Department — confirmed Wednesday but not yet announced — isn't at the same level of Cabinet prestige as the top spots at the State and Justice departments. But the health post could be more important in an Obama administration than in some others, making Daschle a key player in helping steer the president-elect's promised health care reforms.

Daschle could push Obama for quick action on health care reform next year, if he follows his own advice.

Daschle said efforts during the Clinton administration, led by Hillary Clinton, took too long and went into too much detail, giving every interest group an opportunity to find something they didn't like about the plan.

"The next president should act immediately to capitalize on the goodwill that greets any incoming administration. If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it," Daschle wrote in a book he released this year, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." "This issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol."

The former South Dakota senator's return to the government will be a vindication of sorts. He was the Senate Democratic leader when he was defeated in 2004 by Republican John Thune, who convinced voters back home that Daschle was more concerned with Washington than with them.

In fact, Daschle stayed in the capital city after his defeat, becoming a public policy adviser and member of the legislative and public policy group at the law and lobbying firm Alston & Bird. Daschle isn't registered as a lobbyist. He advises clients on issues including health care, financial services, taxes and trade, according to the firm's Web site.

Daschle's appointment was not formally announced, but Democratic officials said the job was his barring an unforeseen problem as Obama's team reviews his background. One area of review will include the lobbying connections of his wife, Linda Hall Daschle, who has worked mostly on behalf of airline-related companies over the years. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Republicans sniped at what they saw as an unwelcome trend. Alex Conant, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said, "Barack Obama is filling his administration with longtime Washington insiders."

Re: Change?
 

So who would you put that would be different?

Re: Change?
 

Sarah Palin right.

Re: Change?
 

Joe Lieberman and/or any of these:
* Mike Arcuri (New York)
* Joe Baca (California)
* John Barrow (Georgia)
* Melissa Bean (Illinois)
* Marion Berry (Arkansas)
* Sanford Bishop (Georgia)
* Dan Boren (Oklahoma)
* Leonard Boswell (Iowa)
* Allen Boyd (Florida),
* Dennis Cardoza (California)
* Christopher Carney (Pennsylvania)
* Ben Chandler (Kentucky)
* Jim Cooper (Tennessee)
* Jim Costa (California)
* Lincoln Davis (Tennessee)
* Joe Donnelly (Indiana)
* Brad Ellsworth (Indiana)
* Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona)
* Kirsten Gillibrand (New York)
* Bart Gordon (Tennessee)
* Jane Harman (California)
* Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (South Dakota),
* Baron Hill (Indiana)
* Tim Holden (Pennsylvania)
* Jim Marshall (Georgia)
* Jim Matheson (Utah)
* Mike McIntyre (North Carolina)
* Charlie Melancon (Louisiana)
* Mike Michaud (Maine)
* Dennis Moore (Kansas),
* Patrick Murphy (Pennsylvania)
* Collin Peterson (Minnesota)
* Earl Pomeroy (North Dakota)
* Mike Ross (Arkansas),
* John Salazar (Colorado)
* Loretta Sanchez (California)
* Adam Schiff (California)
* David Scott (Georgia)
* Heath Shuler (North Carolina)
* Zack Space (Ohio)
* John Tanner (Tennessee)
* Gene Taylor (Mississippi)
* Mike Thompson (California)
* Charlie Wilson (Ohio)

Re: Change?
 

YOU? Of all people? Would select that governor to be a part of the cabinet?

I understand to cross party lines and make a bipartisan team you should select at least a couple from the other side, but I think you could do much better than that.

Re: Change?
 

But she can see Russia from her porch. She'd have the foreign policy shit down.

Re: Change?
 

IIRC, her state borders Canada, and she does not even know the Prime Minister! Strike for you!

Re: Change?
 

She does know the Prime Minister, she told us in a conversation with Nicolas Sarkozy.

Re: Change?
 

Yes, yes, IIRC, she thinks Stef Carse is Canada's prime minister? That's a double strike, yes?

Re: Change?
 

So maybe they should develop some form of SAT's for national leadership?