What is Obama's next move: feet don't fail me now

It has been quite some time since the elections, and the results have shown a clear, if not dominating win by Barrack Obama.

But where does he go now (at least in a general ideological sense)? Does he take the total victories of the entire Democratic Party as a sign that America wants its government to be progressive and/or liberal? Does he view the election results as more an incumbent Republican defeat, and try to move more towards the center, bridging the partisanship which has plagued the country recently? Does he take the “pragmatic” approach, whatever that may be? Does he try to work with whatever state the nation is in, or does he try and reverse everything under Bush, trying to start from square one, circa 2000?

The answer is simple. We don’t know yet. There’s speculation from both sides, trying to figure out what he plans on doing, but the fact is there aren’t any hints thus far, and any speculation thus far seems more like something from the respective personal political fantasy lands. The choice of Biden as running mate doesn’t necessarily say much about where he intends to go politically, because VP’s typically haven’t had that role. Usually they’ve been relegated to appeasing certain party factions, whether they be geographic or ideological. His selection of Rahm Emmanuel for Chief of Staff also says nothing. The Chief of Staff should actually probably be renamed Chief of being an asshole, as that is essentially the role they have – doing the dirty work to make sure congress and the rest of the cabinet is on the same page.

Personally, I think he should try and go for a more moderate route. This goes along with my idea of radical moderation, where moderation must be sought for radically, as radical aims must be brought about moderately. As long as he doesn’t take his cues from Nancy Pelosi, and other far-leftists, it should be fine.

His choice of Secretary of State, which will likely be his next cabinet choice, should paint a more vivid impression of what the office will be like. Any Republican name (he did mention he wants a bi-partisan cabinet) will point to a more moderate office. The three leading names I’ve heard thrown around this position are Bill Richardson (Gov – NM), John Kerry (Sen – Mass), and Hil-dawg Clinton (Sen – NY).

Bill Richardson may have the most foreign policy experience of all current Governors. He was Ambassador to the UN for some time under the Clinton Administration, which would make this selection somewhat of a Clinton reprisal, though not so strongly. He, as a lot of the Democratic Party, has moved on since 2000. While his work in the Clinton Administration is strong, he has made his work of the past 8 years exemplar as well.

The Selection of John Kerry would signal a stronger break from the Clintons than most other selections. He does have the experience, being a high ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations committee for a long time, alongside VP-elect Joe Biden. This role may suit him, as John Kerry is not so much a leader, but a policy nerd. I just hope, if he does get the post, that he chooses not to surrender to countries before wars even start. It would be a real enough fear.

Hil-dawg has officially been confirmed as interviewed for the position. However, sources also say he is/has interviewed many many people for this, extensively. It’s something called vetting. Anyways, I really don’t see this as a good move. She touts her experience as from when her husband was President. And, yes, she was a very active First Lady, perhaps only preceded by Eleanor Roosevelt and Edith Wilson (who effectively ran the country in 1920). But the foreign policy duties as First Lady are usually limited to meeting foreign dignitaries under controlled circumstances, not negotiating treaties and imposing embargos, etc. In addition, her personality is too domineering. If she is assigned this post, foreign policy is hers. Plus, putting her in this post would be potentially putting the office back into the 90s. The Clinton administration is over, let her be a Senator and move on.

Another possible selection would be to put a virtual unknown in this post. Biden has enough foreign policy experience to spare, and they may actually use this post to groom the Presidential Candidate for 2012 (Biden may be too old by then). If anyone remembers their history lesson, something like the first 4 Presidents after Adams were all former Secretaries of State – Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams. The only thing I can think of that would keep this from happening is this whole lack of experience BS surrounding the whole campaign (even though Biden has enough to spare).

--Knuttel