The Insider Administration
November 21, 2008 10 Comments
As I sit here contemplating the coming Barack Obama administration I have come to the realization that the President-elect may be sewing the seeds of his own defeat. With each new announcement that comes out of his transition team we find another Washington insider. All through his campaign we heard the rhetoric of change and hope. However his current actions contradict this.
As I look at the names that have come out so far I see people of politics. I see people that have been in Washington for so long that I find it hard to believe that they even know what the average citizen goes through on a daily basis. His future Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has been in Washington for close to twenty years. The future Director of Health and Human Services has been there for close to thirty years with a few years as a board member at the Mayo Clinic. Or how about his future chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, he has been in Washington for close to twenty years as well.
Don’t get me wrong; I know that any new administrations are going to need a few Washington insiders, but the overload that I see happening makes me question how well Obama’s team is going to relate to the average American. Utilizing insiders can be a good thing for new administration as long as they are used in moderation. This would allow the administration the ability to promote fresh new ideas coming from the outsiders while being able to work the system and get things done with the knowledge of how Washington works. The danger of overloading with too many insiders is that the administration will lose touch with the people that put it there in the first place.
For some reason though, I can’t help but feel that he is orchestrating his own defeat. I can’t help but feel that Obama’s choice of these Washington insiders is going to backfire on him as his administration fails to keep in touch with the voters that put him there.
Whoa, I think we need to slow down a bit here…
1. Obama has yet to take office.
2. Representative Emmanuel is popular in BOTH parties, according to Republican Lindsey Graham (a huge McCain backer).
3. Hillary Clinton is so widely popular that when she conceded the nomination she was leading Senator John McCain in the polls by a larger margin than President-Elect Obama. And a MAJOR facet of the McCain campaign was wooing the Clinton supporters.
4. As a firm believer in the values of history I encourage all to look back to 1976, when Jimmy Carter went out of his way to get non-insiders even to the point of sacrificing talent. Not something America needs to repeat.
Obviously you are not “one of the voters that put him there” as you put it, and you are probably a little angry that your candidate did not win.
But this IS going to be OUR commander and Chief and during this time of war the last thing America needs is division and undermining.
Divison and undermining…
THAT is EXACTLY what the voters have voted against.
Adam,
I understand that Obama has yet to take office. But it is Obama and his transition team that are releasing this information. And from this information I have come to the obvious conclusion that his administration is going to be filled with Washington insiders. I am sorry if that offends you.
I have not stated whether Emanuel was a good or a bad pick, I simply stated that he was a Washington insider.
As for Hillary. As I stated I did not claim that Obama’s pick of Hillary was good or bad, simply that she was a Washington insider.
As I stated in another paragraph, I know that a President-elect has to pick some Washington insiders. From what I have seen however, Obama seems to be going out of his way to avoid bringing any fresh ideas to his administration.
No I am not one of the voters that put him in the White House. And no I am not angry that my guy didn’t win. What bothers me is that Obama sold his supporters on the message of change. And now here he is reneging on that promise of hope and change before he is even sworn in. So what I am angry about is not the fact that he won the race, what I am angry about is the fact that he has sold his supporters a bill of goods that he has no intention of making good on.
No offense taken.
And you’re right, they are Washington insiders.
You are also right that he did sell his supporters on change and has moved more to the right and away from what got him there.
To the best of my knowledge it would have happened either way. Obama is not going to stay on the left and there is no way in hell that if McCain was elected he would have continued to stay on the right, as he had just arrived there in October
.
I’m sure Obama has good intentions as he is a good American and will do his best to make America a better place, but the fate of America cannot rest souly on this one man.
I did vote for Obama.
I knocked on doors, I called people, raised funds, etc. etc. etc. and I am not all too happy over Obama’s picks either, but oh well…I’m going to keep trying to make America a better place, regardless of who is at the helm.
As for 2012? The only one who can beat Obama is Obama.
Adam,
To tell you the truth I am not sure that McCain knew where he stood.
I agree with you, right now the only one that can beat Obama is Obama. At this time, with the picks that he has made he may be doing just that. I may be wrong, but with the advice and leadership from the beltway insiders I don’t hold out much hope. What Obama needs to do is to nominate people from outside the beltway.
For starters, his pick of Hillary for SoS. Where the heck did that come from. Bill Richardson is better suited for that position.
I will agree that his Chief of Staff needed to be someone with knowledge of the beltway. So I think that the Emanuel pick was a solid one.
But did he need an insider for the HHS position. I don’t think so. In that position he needs someone that can think outside the box. New ideas to attack an old problem. I don’t think that Daschle can provide that leadership.
Thanks
Very much
http://www.mzuonqtr.com
Agreed.
Sometimes you do have to pay the piper and that is probably why Daschle got his post.
The HRC pick did upset me,like you I would have rather seen Bill Richardson, or even Wesley Clark or Colin Powell, as I am a military man myself.
The Hillary Clinton pick may be more for his Re-election in 2012.
We will see how the rest of Obama’s picks end up.
I must say that I am of the opinion that Obama needs to pick some people from outside the beltway in order to give his administration some perspective.
HRC pick? Definitely a re-election move. No doubt.
Isn’t that the nature of the beast though?
If there was any way we could move away from the constant campaign mode, I think it would do everyone well.
Seems like the first thing anyone does when elected is plan for re-election.
Washington – Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, become secretary of state, people familiar with the presidential transition process said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a