Since the 2008 presidential election started in earnest last year it seems appropriate to ask the candidates what kind of administration they hope to bring to Washington?
They should be asked to give at least general answers to the following questions:
· What qualities will you be for looking for in a running mate? Could you provide examples?
· (To Mrs. Clinton) Will you rely on appointments from your husband’s administration? Will Richard Holbrooke, for example, be Secretary of State?
· (To Senator Obama) Will you rely on old Clinton hands to run your administration or will you be looking for new blood?
· Will, for example, Senator Dodd and Biden play key roles as Secretary of State and or Defense?
· What qualities will you look for in an Attorney General? Will he or she be a polarizing figure like Janet Reno, John Ashcroft, or Alberto Gonzales? Would you provide certain examples?
· Will you appoint a Republican to at least one high ranking position, as President Clinton did when he appointed Senator William Cohen as Secretary of Defense?
These questions are as important as the candidates’ positions on the issues. We are not asking for specifics here but we have the right to know for their answers illustrate their philosophical perspective and leadership style.
We have a sense of Senator Clinton’s acumen as a politician and a leader. While she needs to address these questions, Senator Obama’s leadership skills are very much unknown. He needs to give us a sense of the kind of administration he will put in place and the type of individuals who will hold important White House staff and cabinet positions.
Another area in which the candidates need to be questioned is whether there are under consideration any changes in the structure of the federal government. Should, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency be merged with the Department of Interior? Should Homeland Security be absorbed by the Justice Department? Should we merge the Departments of Education, Labor and Housing giving this department the mandate of developing and implementing policies designed to eliminate structural poverty? Should this department or a separate agency be given the mandate to carry out at least one-year of community service for our nation’s young people?
Each candidate should hold a news conference on these issues to help us gain an understanding of the role the federal government would play in our society if they are elected our nation’s chief executive.
The Washington political crowd will undoubtedly react to this proposal as not being good politics, but this isn’t the year of the hackneyed consultant it is the year of the people.
Other readers would, I am sure, be interested in your suggestions and reactions to these proposals.