Would President Obama have run into this much trouble appointing an entirely left-leaning cabinet?
No doubt, the president would have come under mild criticism from Republicans if, rather than picking New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg as commerce secretary, he'd picked, say, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat.
Oh, wait. Obama did try for Richardson, only to have the nation's best-known Latino politician bow out none too gracefully in light of a pending federal investigation into possible corruption in his administration. Instead of next looking for a Democrat without baggage, let alone a true liberal, Obama jumped at Gregg, whose politics run almost exactly opposite the president's.
Liberals already were trying to be patient, giving Obama some breathing room. For those who supported Obama through the primaries, Hillary Clinton wasn't the obvious choice for Secretary of State, but at least she's a Democrat. Tim Geithner, who's spent decades serving under Democrats and Republicans alike, is neither a liberal nor a Democrat. He started his career working for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and was enrolled as a Republican until he joined the Clinton administration, when he became an independent. But apparently Obama tapped him to be treasury secretary because Geithner was a known quantity on Wall Street, a former president of the New York Federal Reserve and a prot?g? of Larry Summers, treasury secretary for Bill Clinton.
Summers, whom Obama named to head the White House's National Economic Council, has long drawn criticism from liberal economists like Paul Krugman, particularly for championing cuts to corporate and capital gains taxes. As president of Harvard University a few years back, Summers resigned in the wake of controversy he sparked by saying that women lacked an aptitude for math and science. Still, he had been good enough for Bill Clinton.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, seemed like a good choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, but he withdrew his name amid controversy over his failure to report and pay taxes—a sin that Geithner, also a tax scofflaw, survived. Obama, with what many saw as refreshing candor, publicly acknowledged he "screwed up" the Daschle appointment, but the gaffe has been compounded by reports that the White House was so sure Daschle would be confirmed, it didn't bother with a Plan B.
Now comes the Gregg embarrassment. Gregg reportedly lobbied the White House for the appointment, securing not only an offer, but a promise that the senate seat he'd have to vacate would be filled only by another Republican. Withdrawing his name, Gregg cited "irresolvable conflicts" with the White House over the recently passed stimulus package and a plan to pull the census away from Commerce. The White House issued a statement saying that Gregg had promised to "support, embrace and move forward with the President's agenda," but "had a change of heart."
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Was it really so hard for Obama to play it straight and appoint liberals—or at least solid Democrats—just as everyone would have expected? I know, there's too much partisan bickering—but do we have to deal with that right now? Can't we let the pendulum swing a little closer to the middle before we make nice?
This appears to be a chronic problem with Democrats. Since Ronald Reagan, they've acted like wimps, appeasing corporations, capitulating to Republicans, trying to make Wall Street happy. Even when they push a partisan agenda, it is usually symbolic stuff, not core economic issues.
Clinton led off his presidency pursuing Gays in the Military as a legislative initiative rather than integrating the military by executive order, and walked away with the disappointing Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy for his trouble. (I'd give Clinton more credit for gumption if he hadn't left it at the Democratic Leadership Council, where he and others cooked up the "triangulation" strategies—let's do welfare reform to keep the GOP from using welfare against us—for which Clinton strategist Dick Morris liked to take credit.) Chastened, Clinton spent much of the rest of his presidency pushing deregulation, welfare reform and free trade.
Since Reagan left office, there has been no meaningful leftward correction in American politics. Despite the Democrats' strong showing in the mid-term elections of 2006, and Obama's landslide, the left has made little progress. In the face of a looming economic crisis, Obama came to office with both support and the expectation for dramatic change. Rather than seize the opportunity to rescue the nation from Republicanism, he's attempted to mollify the losing and much-reviled party.
And he still doesn't have a commerce secretary.
