Thursday, November 13, 2003
Stocking the Cabinet
If this fine, high-quality news and commentary feature has inspirations, Best of the Blogs is one of them--smart, well-read, passionate, and occasionally miles ahead of the political curve. This morning, Josh Hammond posted advice to Howard Dean that he announce his cabinet choices before the election. I read it and instantly thought "Yes! And why the hell hasn't anybody thought of that before?" As Hammond observes, the whole damn Bush cabinet is going to be campaigning for him next year--why shouldn't Dean (or some other Democratic nominee) have the same advantage?
The lemming-like media horde would have a field day with it, of course. Not much has changed since 1976, when Ronald Reagan picked Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate before he'd even secured the nomination he eventually didn't get. Back then, Reagan's choice was considered premature, presumptuous, and/or ridiculous. And Dean would be asking for it 20 times over by naming a cabinet. But wouldn't it be wise for voters to know the whole enchilada they're buying before they write the check? How many Bush voters would have had second thoughts if they'd known John Ashcroft was going to be AG?
It's like Isaac Newton getting bonked on the head with the apple and discovering gravity--so simple, so powerful, and right in front of our faces the whole time until somebody figured it out.
If this fine, high-quality news and commentary feature has inspirations, Best of the Blogs is one of them--smart, well-read, passionate, and occasionally miles ahead of the political curve. This morning, Josh Hammond posted advice to Howard Dean that he announce his cabinet choices before the election. I read it and instantly thought "Yes! And why the hell hasn't anybody thought of that before?" As Hammond observes, the whole damn Bush cabinet is going to be campaigning for him next year--why shouldn't Dean (or some other Democratic nominee) have the same advantage?
The lemming-like media horde would have a field day with it, of course. Not much has changed since 1976, when Ronald Reagan picked Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate before he'd even secured the nomination he eventually didn't get. Back then, Reagan's choice was considered premature, presumptuous, and/or ridiculous. And Dean would be asking for it 20 times over by naming a cabinet. But wouldn't it be wise for voters to know the whole enchilada they're buying before they write the check? How many Bush voters would have had second thoughts if they'd known John Ashcroft was going to be AG?
It's like Isaac Newton getting bonked on the head with the apple and discovering gravity--so simple, so powerful, and right in front of our faces the whole time until somebody figured it out.
