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Could Obama Find Cabinet Members…In Dixie?
By John A. Tures
Associate Professor of Political Science
LaGrange College
November 12, 2008 — Only Nixon could go to China. Only "conservative" George W. Bush could grow the government so large. Might President-Elect Barack Obama pick a cabinet full of…Southerners? Next to the Mountain West and Prairie region, no region gave Barack Obama less love than the Southern states. Sure he took Virginia, Florida and North Carolina by a nose. But Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Missouri (at the time of this article) seemed to have other ideas. Even West Virginia, once fertile Democratic Party territory, picked McCain. So it might be pretty ironic if the new president stacked a cabinet with plenty of Southerners. But it could happen. Recognizing his weakness in the region, the Illinois Senator might go about figuring out how to win over the South to cement his reelection bid four years from now. For Democrats seeking a strong majority in both legislative houses, the goal is not to give up a lot of seats with established candidates, on the off-chance that the special election doesn't go well in a region that is Republican red. President Bill Clinton learned that the hard way when he tapped Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen to be his Treasury Secretary. Replacement candidate Bob Krueger got hammered by Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Texas Democrats haven't won a U.S. Senate race or gubernatorial election since then. Not all see it that way. In the Associated Press article "Names Surface For Top Obama Administration Jobs" on November 7, 2008, they list plenty of non-Southerners and elected officials. A few legislators who happen to be Southern on the list of include Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, South Carolina Congressmen John Spratt Jr. and Jim Clyburn, and U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper of Tennessee. Those with extensive experience but have an open schedule should be more likely to get the nod to fill the current administration. To this list I would add vice presidential finalist Sam Nunn, a former U.S. Senator from Georgia. A pair of ex-North Carolina Governors Jim Hunt and Michael Easley could fit the bill. Southern Congressmen Chris John (Louisiana) and Bud Cramer (Alabama) might be too conservative for Obama's tastes, but former Florida Congressman Jim Davis, former Alabama Congressman Glen Browder, former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm, and ex-Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove could find positions of some sort starting next year. Not all Southern cabinet officers are necessarily elected officials, either. Bush's Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who could be asked to stay on, was President of Texas A&M when the decision was made to find a replacement for Donald Rumsfeld. As Hastings Wyman reports in the Southern Political Report, Democrats made modest gains in the House, Senate and Electoral College this year. But given how the deck was stacked against Republicans, this total should have been much higher. Democrats still generally have an image problem in the South. With such choices, the new administration can demonstrate that it is not "anti-South" will pay dividends during the next several years. |
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