The Secretary of Defense runoff poll between Chuck Hagel and Jim Webb was a real nailbiter. Results below the fold.
With the Obama Veepstakes poll now concluded and Gov. Bill Richardson as your chosen running mate (which was covered by the Santa Fe Reporter) it's time to take this a step further:
Who would you like to see in an Obama cabinet?
Thus far, Joe Biden won the Sec. of State poll and Michael Bloomberg won the Sec. of the Treasury poll (results below the fold). Today you can vote on the next Attorney General:
Here are the winners of previous rounds:
Vice President: Bill Richardson
Secretary of State: Joe Biden wins with 77% (162 of 210 votes) in the runoff against Chuck Hagel.
Secretaty of the Treasury: Michael Bloomberg wins with 55% (95 of 172 votes) in the runoff against Chris Dodd.
Secretary of Defense: Jim Webb wins with 50% (114 of 224 votes) in the runoff against Chuck Hagel.
Here's the list of current cabinet positions and cabinet level administration offices that will be polled in the coming weeks:
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
White House Chief of Staff
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Director of the National Drug Control Policy
United States Trade Representative
Who will be included: a maximum of 15 candidates (max number of positions in Dkos polls), I'll try to make each round as diverse as possible, always keeping in mind competence and knowledge required for the respective position. Therefore, I'll include men and women, minorities, sitting and former elected officials, appointed officials, academics, people from the non-profit and private sectors, Obama as well as Clinton supporters, and, yes, also Republicans and Independents.
Today's candidates for Attorney General are (in alphabetical order, links lead to bio):
Thurbert Baker - Attorney General of Georgia since 1997
Richard Blumenthal - Attorney General of Connecticut since 1990
Drew Days fmr. Assistant Attorney General, fmr. Solicitor General
fmr. Sen. John Edwards (NC) - fmr. trial lawyer, fmr. member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) - member of the Senate Judiciaryy Committee
Kamala Harris (CA) - District Attorney of San Francisco
Eric Holder - fmr. Deputy Attorney General
Carol Lam (CA) - fmr. United States Attorney
Sen. Patrick Leahy (VT) - Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Gabrielle Kirk McDonald (TX) - fmr. president of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague
Gov. Janet Napolitano (AZ) - fmr. Attorney General of Arizona, current Gov. of Arizona
Gov. Deval Patrick (MA) fmr. Assistant Attorney General, current Gov. of Massachusetts
Sen. Ken Salazar (CO) - fmr. Attorney General of Colorado
Laurence Tribe - constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School, has argued dozens of cases before the US Supreme Court
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) - fmr. United States Attorney, fmr. Attorney General of Rhode Island, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Note:A candidate needs 50% or more to win, otherwise a run-off between the top two will be held the following day. Also: each candidate can only win one poll. Whoever wins today's poll will not be a candidate for any other position!
I would also like to ask you to nominate candidates for all cabinet positions not yet polled, for several of them I'm still well short of 15 candidates.
Enjoy voting!