While many of us, including me, are freaking out over rumors of choices for Obama’s cabinet and administration appointments, it is important to remember that very few individuals have actually been officially appointed. Obama will be appointing hundreds of individuals to positions before January 20th. Only xx have actually officially been announced. So, before we declare that Obama is turning his White House into the 3rd Bill Clinton administration by appointing Clintonites, not appointing enough women or that selling progressives out, let’s review the individuals actually appointed by Obama:
- Rahm Emanuel – Chief of Staff. He is hated by many progressives due to his trashing of Dean during the 2006 election and his caving on progressive issues. He worked in Clinton’s White House from 1993 - 1998 and is considered a Clintonite.
- Jim Messina – Deputy Chief of Staff. He served as Chief of Staff for Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). According to National Journal’s 2007 Senate Rankings, both Sen. Dorgan and Sen. Baucus are two of the conservative Democratic Senators. However, Dorgan is moderate on economic issues including opposing the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is the 120th most liberal house member according to National Journal’s 2007 House Rankings. There is no specific information about Mr. Messina’s political leanings. I am going to assume that he is not a progressive.
- Mona Sutphen – Deputy Chief of Staff. She is currently managing director at Stonebridge. One of the principles in Stonebridge was Sandy Berger, who Ms. Sutphen worked under from 1998 – 2000 when she served on Clinton’s National Security Council. Ms. Sutphen is a Clintonite. Again, based on her current employer, I am going to assume she is not a progressive.
- David Axelrod – Senior Advisor to the White House. Mr. Axelrod was one of the main architects of Obama’s winning 2004 Senatorial and 2008 Presidential campaigns. He got his start working for Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) and has worked on John Edward’s 204 Presidential campaign; Eliot Spitzer and Deval Patrick’s successful 2006 Gubernatorial campaigns and been a consultant for Chicago Mayor Daley. While he worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000/2006 Senate campaign, I would not consider him a Clinton loyalist. Judging from his previous work and the interviews I have seen with him, I would consider him a progressive.
- Philip Schiliro – Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs. Mr. Schiliro has been Chief of Staff to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Democratic Chief of Staff for the House Government Reform Committee, policy director for Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committees. I would guess he is a progressive based on his 20+ years working for Waxman.
- Robert Gibbs – Press Secretary. Mr. Gibbs has been the Communications Director for Senator Obama and Obama’s presidential campaign. He was briefly the Communications Director for Senator John Kerry’s 2004 campaign as well but resigned in 2003 over the firing of Jim Jordan. He became the spokesperson for Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values, a 527 group aimed at stopping Gov. Dean from winning the Democratic nomination. This organization attacked Gov. Dean from the left. I am guessing he is a progressive.
- Valerie Jarrett - Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. She is a longtime friend of the Obamas. She worked in Mayor Daley’s office and is currently the CEO of The Habitat Company. According to Hawkjt in the comments - Ms. Jarrett is a progressive.
- Greg Craig – White House Counsel. He is the attorney who defended Bill Clinton during the impeachment proceedings and served as Assistant to the President and Special Counsel from 1998 – 2000. Prior to that he worked for Senator Ted Kennedy and Madeline Albright. He has strong support from Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which is a group that monitors human rights and political developments in Latin America. His past clients include Elian Gonzalez’ father, John Hinckley Jr., and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan during the Oil For Food scandal. He has close ties to the Clintons but was one of the first former Clinton supporters to endorse Obama for president.
- Pete Rouse – Senior Advisor. He was Sen. Daschle’s chief of staff until 2004 and then became Sen. Obama’s Chief of Staff.
- Ron Klain - Chief of Staff of the Vice-President. Mr. Klain worked from 1992 – 1994 in the Clinton White House where he worked to get Ruth Bader Ginsburg confirmed. He then worked for Janet Reno and Al Gore. He is definitely a Clintonite. No idea how progressive he is.
In summary, we have had 10 appointments so far.
Clintonites – 4 (Klain, Craig, Sutphen, and Emanuel)
Women – 2 (Jarrett, Sutphen)
Progressives – 5 (Craig, Gibbs, Axelrod, Jarrett, and Schiliro)
Overall, Obama’s appointments so far seem pretty well balanced with the exception of the number of women.