Although President-elect Barack Obama has had that title affixed to his name for only a few weeks, I am one Obama volunteer, supporter, and voter who is ready to complain vehemently about some of his first actions as the elected chief executive of this country. I cant wait to complain, both personally and in a more global context—the country is in an economic downturn of monumental proportions and, lest we forget, we are still mired in two wars that have proved, well, tricky, to say the least. The choices he has made thus far for cabinet positions have disappointed me immensely, and the only word I can really put on it is frustration. Deep, deep frustration.
I do want to make clear at the outset that I'm by no means regretting my vote or volunteer work on behalf of the president-elect. I still think he will make a great president, and the two-party system in the United States sort of limits the choices of any rational voter--the choice was Obama or McCain, and that's a choice I could make a million times over and not even have to think about it. I still support Obama and will back him with as much gusto as I can muster, but there is always need for sensible and well-informed criticism, perhaps even constructive criticism, and I need to give voice to that here.
Eric Holder. Timothy Geithner. Hillary Clinton. Rumors of Robert Gates and Gen. James Jones on the national security team as well as John Brennan at CIA. What's going on here? Looking at the national security team, you might not know if we had elected a Democrat or a Republican--in fact, Jones campaigned for McCain. At least, this cabinet is miles away from what progressives dreamed about when they thought about Obama's advisers and associates. I really, REALLY never thought I'd see someone like James Jones as a possible National Security Adviser.
I don't want to get into specific appointments, though. This is more about the big picture we're seeing with initial Obama appointments. We see a lot of "pragmatists" like Holder, some centrist Democrats, with Clinton and Holder, and partisan Republicans, like Gates and Jones. Other (unconfirmed) possible appointees include Raul Grivalja from Arizona, Bill Richardson, Janet Napolitano, and some others who are popular in the progressive community, but so far we have yet to see a legitimate progressive in the cabinet. In the months leading up to the election then-Senator Obama said a few things that, as a progressive, I wasn't particularly excited about, and many times I have disagreed with him on substantial policy matters. I want to echo Chris Bowers:
I know everyone is obsessed with the "team of rivals" idea right now, but I feel incredibly frustrated. Even after two landslide elections in a row, are our only governing options as a nation either all right-wing Republicans, or a centrist mixture of Democrats and Republicans? Isn't there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration? Also, why isn't there a single member of Obama's cabinet who will be advising him from the left? It seems to me as though there is a team of rivals, except for the left, which is left off the team entirely.
A team of rivals implies rivalry, yet I don't even see that. As far as foreign policy, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Napolitano, Jones, Gates, they all are more or less the same, especially on Iraq: withdrawal, maybe, at some point. I fail to understand why the "rivals" being assembled in the Obama administration's foreign policy team all disagreed with him on the seminal question of the decade (with the possible exception of Jones). Why cant someone with strong progressive, liberal views come onto the team? Where are the Wesley Clarks and the Gary Harts? Or even a fresh thinker like Samantha Power? Why isn't she being talked about more? I realize she's made some comments that got her into hot water, but she's easily one of the most brilliant foreign policy thinkers of her generation, and she's being ignored in favor of has-beens and also-rans from the Clinton administration.
It's just frustrating: Obama may have been given a mandate, but a mandate for what? So far, it seems to be a mandate for slight change and moderate progress. The "change" I voted for and donated to and volunteered for was much more dramatic than what we're seeing. At best, the Obama cabinet thus far can be characterized as center-right...maybe he has been convinced of the Republican rhetoric about this being a center-right country.
I want to see a Democratic administration, not this moderate, "pragmatist" bullshit. I feel betrayed and like my voice is being ignored because I'm a confirmed liberal and would vote for Obama almost regardless of who opposed him in 2012.