I was just looking for some more outside the beltway types instead we see President-Elect Obama bringing back the Clinton era gang along with his own from Chicago, does this sound familiar anyone?
Perhaps I dare say like the appointments the exiting President made?
No, really, I don't see it. In Bush's first term, he brought in people from his father's administration and earlier, like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Powell. Tommy Thompson came in with an independent reputation, and so did John Ashcroft, who had the trust of the socons. He also brought in some relatively obscure people from around the country like Gale Norton and Spencer Abraham, not leading lights, but not exactly cronies either. It wasn't a bad cabinet and it represented Bush's campaign well.
Over time, it got worse. Paul O'Neill couldn't play nice and left, to be replaced with a non-entity whose main job was selling the President's tax policies. Christie Whitman saw the writing on the wall and left. Bush promoted people who weren't just his own gang, but mediocrities who had been raised from obscurity to big power in Texas based only on their loyalty to him, and who then jumped another level past their competence. Miers, Gonzales. Is Karen Hughes still traveling the world as the face of America, telling Arabs that they're just like Americans because "we both love children"?
Obama is bringing in people who are competent and tested in their field. That, IMO, is wonderful. We need basic competence. After Clinton and Carter, I'm a big skeptic of the "I'm a total outsider and I'm going to bring in clueless people from random states to sweep the place clean." It doesn't work. We need people who will be good at their jobs and take direction from someone who has clear ideas of what he wants done, minus the drama.
