Wow. Thus far, the cabinet poll series has yielded a little unexpected and in a way unprogressive results, in that the majority of you voted solely for white men for the posts of Sec. of State, Defense, Treasury, Interior, Agriculture, and Attorney General. And yesterday, with the first runoff involving a woman, the white man prevailed again.
Now, I'm not saying that taken cabinet post for cabinet post these choices are all wrong, some are pretty good actually. But I have to wonder: where is the diversity?
So, I guess we'll see how this round goes. Who do you want to be Barack Obama's Sec. of Labor? Follow me below the fold for previous results and today's candidates.
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?
Today you can vote on the next Secretary of Labor.
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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.
Attorney General: John Edwards wins with 52% (158 of 301 votes) in the first round.
Secretary of the Interior: Robert Kennedy, Jr. wins with 51% (63 of 123 votes) in the first round.
Secretary of Agriculture: Jim Hightower wins with 66% (87 of 131 votes) in the runoff against Tom Vilsack.
Secretary of Commerce: Robert Reich wins with 54% (57 of 105 votes) against Laura Tyson.
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Here's the list of current cabinet positions and cabinet level administration offices that will be polled in the coming weeks:
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.
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Today's candidates for Secretary of Labor are (in alphabetical order, links lead to bio):
fmr. Rep. David Bonior (MI) - fmr. House Democratic Whip, fmr. Edwards for President campaign chair, current Chair of American Rights at Work
Linda Chavez-Thompson - fmr. VP of the AFL-CIO, current DNC vice-chair
fmr. Gov. Howard Dean (VT) - fmr. Gov. of Vermont, current DNC Chair
Chris Dodd
Maria Echaveste - fmr. administrator at the Dept. of Labor, fmr. White House Dep. Chief of Staff
Barbara Ehrenreich - columnist, author, co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America
fmr. Rep. Dick Gephardt (MO) - fmr. House Democratic Leader
James P. Hoffa - President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Arlene Holt Baker (CA) - VP of the AFL-CIO
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD) - member of the Senate HELP Committee
Rep. George Miller (CA) - Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee
Sen. Patty Murray (WA) - member of the Senate HELP committee, chair of Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee
Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA) - member of the House Education and Labor Committee, co-founder of the Labor and Working Families Caucus
Andy Stern - President of the SEIU
Baldemar Velasquez - founder and President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (CA) - member of the House Education and Labor Committee, chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, co-chair of the Progressive Caucus
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!