Napolitano is Homeland Security Secretary

[Boris]

Terrible choice.

Do you dislike her or do you want her to challenge McCain in 2010?

[Rob]

The latter. That the GOP would also gain the governorship is just salt in the wound.

[CARLHAYDEN]

Janet has been eager to get out of Arizona for several of months.

The budget she got through the legislature last year is a house of cards that is collapsing.

In the state legislature, Republicans net picked up seats in both the house and senate despite massive expenditures by committees controlled by Napolitano.

She completely struck out on the ballot measures.

Her preferred candidates got slaughtered in the primaries in September.

If she messes up on border security she has no political future in Arizona.

[MK]

Another great choice I agree with by president elect.

[Sam Spade]

Guess I'm the only one who doesn't think Napolitano would be a shoo-in for AZ Senate in 2010... 

[Lunar]

Guess I'm the only one who doesn't think Napolitano would be a shoo-in for AZ Senate in 2010... 

Oh she'd lose, but she could make it a very high-profile race. 

I think Arnold will lose too if he decided to run against Boxer, and if I hear of him taking a position up in the Obama administration, I'd react very similarly.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Guess I'm the only one who doesn't think Napolitano would be a shoo-in for AZ Senate in 2010... 

I didn't think so either. If the race was held in 2007, sure she'd win, but McCain has clawed back too much.

Guess I'm the only one who doesn't think Napolitano would be a shoo-in for AZ Senate in 2010... 

Oh she'd lose, but she could make it a very high-profile race. 

I think Arnold will lose too if he decided to run against Boxer, and if I hear of him taking a position up in the Obama administration, I'd react very similarly.

Arnold wouldn't just lose, he'd lose badly. He's not at all popular and just lucked out with the worst opponent ever basically in 2006.

[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.

[Alcon]

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?

[jamestroll]

I have the audacity of hope that Obama picks even more conservative democrats to his cabinet.     

[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. 

[Torie]

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 are not. In fact, I suspect the  prospect depresses him. Something more balanced gives Obama a lot more running room. Obama needs to leash the left of his party, and keeping things more balanced facilitates that. As a wild guess, I suspect Obama is fundamentally centrist in his instincts. That at least is the leitmotif of the cautious lawyer. Trust me.

[Alcon]

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. 

I'm sorry, have we met?  

I started typing that post before yours was posted.  I chose to ignore the little notification thing.  all mine!

[opebo]

Obama needs to leash the left of his party, and keeping things more balanced facilitates that. As a wild guess, I suspect Obama is fundamentally centrist in his instincts.

Actually, and excuse me for saying so, nothing could be more obvious.  Obama's every word and deed have, throughout his career, been that of a typical center-right Democrat. 

Alas, this bodes terribly badly for the Depression economy...

[Meeker]

I don't expect Obama to care about that. That's entirely different from the fact that I wish he did care about it, and that I'm upset we're possibly losing a Governors office.

[jamestroll]

Obama wants to end partisian bickering. He he has the guts to appoint the best person for the job regardless of the fact that we will lose a governorship.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

An interesting development indeed, one which has caught me off guard entirely.

I think, like for the position of Secretary of State, there are far better choices Obama can select for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security, such as former Democratic Representative from Indiana and incumbent President of the Centre for National Policy Tim Roemer, former Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Clinton Administration James Lee Witt, even former Colorado Senator and two time Presidential candidate Gary Hart. If Obama does select Governor Napolitano as the next Secretary of Homeland Security I shall be very, very angry with him.

[Nixon in '80]

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. 

If it matters, I predicted a Napolitano loss in another thread before this thread emerged. So, I agree with you. Also, apparently, I WIN!

[Reaganfan]

Hmmm...

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Smells like a goodwill move towards his former opponent.

[opebo]

Obama wants to end partisian bickering. He he has the guts to appoint the best person for the job regardless of the fact that we will lose a governorship.

'Best person for the job'?  What are you talking about?  In the first place Homeland Security is a nonsense ministry and anyone could 'do the job' of sitting atop the mess.

[Raoul]

What exactly qualifies Napolitano for this office?

[Torie]

Obama needs to leash the left of his party, and keeping things more balanced facilitates that. As a wild guess, I suspect Obama is fundamentally centrist in his instincts.

Actually, and excuse me for saying so, nothing could be more obvious.  Obama's every word and deed have, throughout his career, been that of a typical center-right Democrat. 

Alas, this bodes terribly badly for the Depression economy...

Well I never claimed to be a seer who sees that which eludes lesser beings.

[perdedor]

In a perfect world, Obama would work to abolish this Bush-era waste of tax dollars. That said, when looking for good, intelligent people to run worthless departments...Napolitano is as good a choice as anybody else.

In regards to the Arizona senate race in 2010, I think a lot of Democrats around here are bitching a bitch much to soon. It's not as though Napolitano's popularity was the only factor in the results of that match up. McCain is not the untouchable incumbent he was in 2004.

[The Mikado]

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. 

Thanks to Wikipedia, the organizations in the DHS.  See if you can find any common theme here.

U.S. Customs Service (Treasury)
U.S. Coast Guard (Transportation)
U.S. Secret Service (Treasury)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (formerly known as Immigration and Naturalization Service) (Justice)
United States Federal Protective Service (ICE)
Transportation Security Administration (Transportation)
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Treasury)
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Agriculture)
Office for Domestic Preparedness (Justice)
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Strategic National Stockpile and the National Disaster Medical System (HHS)
Nuclear Incident Response Team (Energy)
Domestic Emergency Support Teams (Justice)
National Domestic Preparedness Office (FBI)
CBRN Countermeasures Programs (Energy)
Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Energy)
National BW Defense Analysis Center (Defense)
Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Agriculture)
Federal Computer Incident Response Center (GSA)
National Communications System (Defense)
National Infrastructure Protection Center (FBI)
Energy Security and Assurance Program (Energy)