Napolitano is Homeland Security Secretary

[Mr. Morden]

During all that veepstakes speculation over the spring/summer, there were numerous people here who argued that Obama would never pick a Democratic senator from a state with a GOP governor, and that McCain would never pick a Republican senator from a state with a Democratic governor, because doing so would mean sacrificing a senate seat.  I argued that it was unlikely that this would deter either of them from picking such a person if they really wanted him/her for the job....that the grassroots vastly overestimates the extent to which a president/presidential candidate cares about a single senate seat.  Here's an example of such a debate that I found using the google:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=79742.15

Also, here:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=79062.15

Anyway, this isn't exactly the same situation....Obama is picking someone to fill a Cabinet spot, not VP, and he's sacrificing a governorship for it.....plus *maybe* a Senate seat down the road.  But I do feel slightly vindicated.  I think this is further evidence that presidents just don't care as much as you perhaps think they should about which party controls a single governorship or a single senate seat, or what have you.

[Mr. Morden]

Am I the only one who thinks that Obama may not necessarily have huge personal interest in massive Dem margins (or the Democratic Party might not, for that matter) -- especially in gubernatorial seats?

No, you're not the only one.  I agree with you......as explained in the post I wrote just a few minutes before yours. 

[Mr. Morden]

What exactly qualifies Napolitano for this office?

Well, as I said before, two of the divisions of the Department of Homeland Security are the INS and Customs, and as a border state governor, she's probably forgotten more about illegal immigration than most people know.  Also, the DOHS is responsible for the National Parks, and there are several in Arizona.

If it looks like I'm grasping at straws, I'm not.  It's just that the Department of Homeland Security has nothing to do with Homeland Security, and everything to do with miscellanea.

Yeah, a lot of people seem to think that "homeland security" sounds rather orwellian, and consequently think that it's all about wiretapping and such, which is way way off the mark.