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 Health and Human Services.
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.
Secretary of Labor: David Bonior wins with 66% (96 of 144 votes) against Dick Gephardt.
-------
Here's the list of current cabinet positions and cabinet level administration offices that will be polled in the coming weeks:
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 Secretary of Health and Human Services are (in alphabetical order, links lead to bio):
Gov. John Baldacci (ME) - established health care program Dirigo Health in Maine
Kumar Barve (MD) - Majority Leade in the Maryland House of Delegates, introduced and helped enact the Patient Access Act
Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) - fmr. Chair of the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, member of the Senate HELP committee
fmr. Gov. Richard Codey (NJ) - advocate of mental health awareness
fmr. Gov. Howard Dean, MD (VT) - current DNC chair
Marian Wright Edelman - president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund
Ezekiel Emanuel, MD - Director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health
Anthony Fauci - Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Kim Holland (OK) - Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner
fmr. Gov. John Kitzhaber, MD (OR) - expanded the Oregon Health Plan, Dir. for the Center for Evidence Based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University
fmr. Rep Mike Kreidler (WA) - Washington State Insurance Commissioner
Rep. Betty McCollum (MN) - Co-founder of the Congressional Global Health Caucus
Antonia Novello, MD (R-NY) - fmr. Surgeon General, fmr. New York State Health Commissioner
David Satcher, MD - fmr. Surgeon General, fmr. Assistant Sec. for Health
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (KS) - fmr. Kansas Insurance Commissioner
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!