Sorry about the long delay. In my last diary I made the argument that rather than just announcing his choice Vice Presidential candidate, Obama should also announce the three most influential cabinet members: the Secretaries of State and Defense and the Attorney General. I then went on to explain why former Senator Bill Bradley would be the best choice for Vice President.
In this post I will expand on the benefits of announcing the cabinet members and present my choice for Attorney General...
There were a few questions in my previous post about the idea of announcing a purposed canvass. Firstly, I would say that immediately after announcing his Vice Presidential nominee, the people he has vetting would secretly move to the cabinet. This way, by mid to late September, Obama would be able to announce his cabinet with the reasoning that his campaign wants to be more open with the American people. McCain would then be challenged to find, vet, and announce his cabinet in a very short period of time. If he doesn't announce, it can be played as him not being open about his administration. If he does announce, the vetting and announcement will be rushed and thus the comparison between his cabinet and Obama's will end in our favor.
Additional benefits of announcing a purposed cabinet is that the historic breaking of precedent will give the campaign a lot of free media. Additionally, this can further draw contrast to the Bush Administration by drawing contrasts between Obama's purposed cabinet and the terrible cabinet the Bush Administration had. It will show the knowledge that will come with the Obama Administration. And finally, instead of having just two people campaigning full time, drawing up support, and pulling in donations, we suddenly would have five.
Now on to Attorney General. While there are many fine candidates for Attorney General (Patricia Madrid, Jerry Brown, Eric Holder, Robert Wexler, etc.) My choice came quite easily, and yes Red Star, his name does rhyme with Bohn Schmedwards.
There is no Democrat who would fare better for both the ticket and the country as Attorney General than former Senator John Edwards.
None of you probably need me to go over Edwards's biography. He has extensive experience in the legal system with nearly two years as a lawyer and six years on the U.S. Senate Committee on Judiciary and his important role defending President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trials, taking the deposition of both Monica Lewinsky and Vernon Jordan Jr.
The elimination of poverty has been a focus of his life, taking an active role in raising the minimum wage, holding corporations accountable, and getting universal health care.
Needless to say he'd be a great Attorney General and he would also work very well as a part of Obama's administration.
As I talked about in my last post, one of the most important things in determining who should be in one's administration is how well they work together. As much as I respect John Edwards, he was a poor choice as Kerry's Vice Presidential Candidate because the two do not work well together. Obama and Edwards, however, get along very well and would be able to work together without the conflicts that plagued the 2004 presidential ticket.
On the campaigning side, Edwards would be even more perfect. Unlike Obama and Bradley who should be traveling all over the country, I would limit Edwards's activities to only half the country. He would spend his time campaigning in Appalachia, the Mid-West and possibly the south. Essentially, the states where supposedly Obama has a working class problem and Edwards appeal and son of a mill worker story will be most useful.
Next time I post (which will hopefully not be a month and a half away this time) I will talk about my choice for Secretary of State.