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Obama’s Yankee Cabinet

December 23, 2008 — The dearth of Southerners in President-elect Obama’s cabinet choices is a legitimate source of comment, but probably not a matter of concern for folks below the Mason-Dixon Line. As the South has become more integrated with the rest of the nation, politically and economically as well as in the key area of race relations, the need to be seen as a separate entity which must be given a place at the table has lessened. Most Southerners, SPR included, always like to see more Southerners in high office, but that’s more akin to regional pride than it is to serious policy questions.

One could argue, of course, that the geographical distribution of Obama’s cabinet picks may be politically dangerous for the Democrats, who broke into the GOP’s Southern base in a big way on November 4, winning Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, the first time since the Reagan era that the Democrats managed to carry states in Dixie without a Southerner at the top of the ticket. If Obama and his party want to capitalize on that breakthrough, they will certainly have to do better at rewarding the South’s Democratic politicians than they’ve done so far. After all, if up-and-coming politicos don’t see the possibility of advancement attached to joining the South’s Democratic resurgence, they are less likely to join up. Dixie GOPers, starting early for 2010, are already taking note of the absence of Southerners in Obama’s cabinet.

But the Democrats’ interests in the South aside, the near-absence of a Southerner in Obama’s cabinet may not matter a great deal, even to residents of the 13-state South. That’s because Obama achieved what is arguably a much more important diversity in his cabinet picks, a diversity and a balance of points of view.

Consider:

In keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon, Obama has signaled that he intends to withdraw from Iraq in a manner that preserves US interests as much as possible. But in choosing retired Generals Erik Shinseki and James Jones as secretary of veterans’ affairs and national security advisor, respectively, he rewarded respected and experienced military figures who showed a willingness to question Bush Administration policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In picking Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA) as secretary of labor, Obama is rewarding the labor unions. That is appropriate for a Democratic president. Organized labor worked over-time on Obama’s behalf and their efforts should be recognized. (John McCain wouldn’t have, and shouldn’t have, made a similar appointment). But in choosing former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a pro-business African American, as US Trade Representative (the only Southern appointee with cabinet statues), Obama is sending a message to business -- here and abroad -- that he does not intend to adopt a protectionist stance that could ultimately worsen the national and world economy.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan may be from Chicago, but his support for genuine reform in public schools, including backing for charter schools, shows Obama’s education policies are not likely to be mired in more of the same old, same old. Indeed, don’t be surprised if President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” doesn’t become one of Obama’s education building blocks.

In environmental policy, Obama is moving clearly toward a greener administration. But his key choices are not “watermelons” -- green on the outside, red on the inside. Rather, they too present a balance that suggests a move toward stricter environmental regulation, with due respect for the effect on the economy. Lisa Jackson, slated to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), spent 16 years as an EPA regulator before becoming head of the New Jersey environmental agency, where her record drew praise and criticism from both sides of key issues. US Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO), the new Interior Secretary, has both a pro-environmental and a decent rating (68%) from the US Chamber of Commerce. Balance those two with Steven Chu, a strong advocate of alternative fuels, as head of the Energy Department and you have a more environmentally friendly administration, but not a radical one.

Eric Holder, the attorney general-to-be, is known more for being a skilled prosecutor and legal advisor to officialdom than he is for being a shock-and-awe innovator in the manner of Robert Kennedy in the John F. Kennedy administration or Ramsey Clark under Lyndon Johnson.

Finally, Hillary Clinton as secretary of state was a key appointment for Obama in uniting his party. While no longer a Southerner, Clinton and her husband retain considerable support among Democrats in Dixie. Moreover, Clinton’s role as a policy-oriented First Lady, in Arkansas and in Washington, shows she knows how to play a supportive but substantive role.

Obama’s other choices break some ground and also help unite the nation. Desiree Rogers, a Chicagoan from a prominent New Orleans family, is the first African-American White House social secretary, a role in which she could help change the perception many white people have of black people. Robert Gibbs, the new communications director, is an Alabamian educated in North Carolina who will assure that the nation gets its White House news in a Southern accent.

Finally, Obama’s decision to have Rick Warren deliver the invocation at his inauguration made clear that the president-elect understands just how diverse the population of this vast nation is. By including a fundamentalist evangelist, though not an extremist, in his inaugural ceremony, Obama is saying that he is president of everybody, even those with whom he has little agreement. Obama chose Warren as a bridge to that large portion -- perhaps 40% of more -- of the American people who identify as evangelical Christians. You don’t build a bridge with someone who already shares all of your views.