Obama Plans To Pick Republicans For Cabinet

Times Online:

AS Barack Obama enters the final stages of the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, he is preparing to detach the core voters of John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, with the same ruthless determination with which he has peeled off Hillary Clinton's supporters.

The scene is set for a tussle between the two candidates for the support of some of the sharpest and most independent minds in politics. Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war, and Richard Lugar, leader of the Republicans on the Senate foreign relations committee.

Read the whole story: Times Online

Comments

[johnnycanuck]

Great move for Obama , every one calm down , take one breath ...and realize the man is one with us. A real human . Over-coming enormous odds. THINK.

[UtahLiberal435]

Oh yeah, he's 'one with us,' a 'real human being.'

People are naive sheep sometimes.

The netroots just coronated Saint Obama, the most conservative and korporatt (TM) of the Dem front-runners.

[tbone99]

Chuck Hagel , hardly a moderate Repug, voted with Bush's agenda most of the time. And Lugar is worse!

Hagels' record:

Rated 60% by the ACLU, indicating a mixed civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)

Rated 0% by the HRC, indicating an anti-gay-rights stance. (Dec 2006)

Rated 11% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affir­mative-act­ion stance. (Dec 2006

Rated 17% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)

Rated 0% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)

Rated 92% by CATO, indicating a pro-free trade voting record. (Dec 2002)

Rated 12% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)

Rated 0% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record. (Dec 2003)

Rated 8% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)

Rated 0% by the AU, indicating opposition to church-state separation. (Dec 2006)

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)

Rated 100% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-life stance (190 members). (Dec 2006)

Voted NO on investigating contract awards in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Nov 2005)

[KQuark]

Obviously people like you see partisan politics is not destroying the country. These ratings are useles.

[Sisyphuss]

Cabinet members do not create policy -- they serve at the pleasure of the president. Their job is to advise the president and implement administration policy. In other words, they do as they're told to do or they're out of a job.

[IMustKnow]

Tony Rezko....t­he new Secretary of HUD

[accountability]

nicely done.

[Jazz42]

I think picking someone is a good jesture. In trying to bring the country together. It will show that he is willing to recah across the isle, after all it is what has said he would do, include all americans black, white, latino, asians, native americam as well.

[Jazz42]

(Correction)
I think picking a republican is a good jesture.


(Correction)
It will shw that he is willing to reach across the isle.

[guajiro]

(Correction)
I think picking a republican is a good gesture.



(Correction)
it will show that he is willing to reach across the aisle.

[AmericanNation]

It will be of little comfort to the tens of millions of Americans left homeless, without healthcare, prescription medication, or any form of substantive financial support, that the electorate of the greatest democracy in the world was too busy calling eachother names and building member only governments to see that the only way to rebuild the damage done by the four previous presidents was to utilize the examples of private industry. Senator Obama, Senator Clinton, and even Senator McCain all have to realize that the staggering figure of a $3 trillion dollar defecit and the impending "tipping point" of the baby-boomers retirement demographic out stripping the generation-x tax base will put this nation on the brink of financial insolvency. It is incumbent upon all Americans to put aside petty partisan quarrels and work together, there is not much time left, at present we are barely able to meet the interest payments on our debt, our military needs additional funding, our educational system is sorely lacking, the health care and social safety network has collapsed, and the US is becoming a land with only the wealthy and the poor - there will no longer be a middle class if these trends continue without intervention. The cabinet needs to include people from industry who are successful, not artifical success, but people like Warren Buffett, Jim Cramer, Bill Gates, Al Gore, the list is endless and regardless of their party affiliation, these people will proudly and loyally serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

[NC4Obama]

72 more hours until Hillary concedes

[OkieMon]

putting repugs in his cabinet...­.a real recipie for change...w­hat a con man....

[primordialsoup]

Was that pun intentional?

[OkieMon]

why not? he loves the biggest repug of all.....66­6ronnie...­..

[RogerHWerner]

I nearly choked when I read Larry Kolb brought up Robert McNamara as JFks choice as Defense Secretary. I suspect LBJ regretted not canning McNamara as soon as he took over the Oval Office. I suspect had JFK lived, MacNamara would not have survived for long since I just do not see Kennedy falling into the Vietnam debacle as did LBJ. In any event, mentioning MacNamara in the context of cross party appointments is probably sound justification why the should occur only very infrequently.

[HumeSkeptic]

Wierd as it might seem to some, Obama is a politician, and a damn good one. Also, strange as it might be, one doesn't have to agree with every single thing he does or says in order to support him.

At least that's what I think.

Oh! And I suspect that Obama is human.

[nellie]

One of the reasons Obama gets support from Republican voters is that he doesn't insult Republicans. Apparently when he says unify, he means it. Not sure what his supporters thought he meant.

[HumeSkeptic]

Yeah! But this is nothing new. Bill Clinton also had a Republican in an important Cabinet post. Did he unify America? Maybe he did.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

I discredited this story a couple of hours ago, and I come back and everybody here is still yapping like it's true.

If the Times of London prints truth, then Hillary is a lesbian who's girlfriend is Huma Muslim Abedin.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2917646.ece

And Rice is gay too...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2983771.ece

[nellie]

What is this for?

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

This story about Obama picking Republicans came from the times of London. If you go to the story, click the link that says read, and it will take you straight to the Times of London. An English rag owned by Murdoch, has printed something that was lifted from someone's blog two months ago, and framed so it seems like it's a current and real story. It's BS.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Here's the story that Huffington reprinted

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3466823.ece

And it originally came from a blog two months ago. They throw in some current innuendo and hey presto, a BS story on a slow news day in a London tabloid rag.

Here's the original blog post from Dec 2007. The Times has reworked the story to make it seem current.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/12/obama-says-hed.html

And now every outlet in the online stratosphere has picked it up and reprinted it not understanding it's not a real story at all, it's innuendo from an old blog on abc.

[Stretchumall]

Knowing how bad the republicans have trashed this country, and He(Obama) would still allow these fascists to be a part of his adminitration? This and ignorance are how we arrived at where we are today. Todays politicians don't have a clue as to what their job is, or are just too lazy to do it, or both.

"The scene is set for a tussle between the two candidates for the support of some of the sharpest and most independent minds in politics."
B.S., It's a fight for the ignorant voters, those who don't research a candidates true mindset but instead listen to thirty second sound bites and propaganda spewed forth by their corporate handlers and masters.
Perhaps it is time for a revolution, for the population to see blood spilled on American soil for the good of the country. Perhaps this nation does need a war fought on it's own soil to bring the people together for a common cause, that being the soverignty of the U.S.A. and it's people to self govern as set forth by the Declaration of Independence.
This is why I Must vote third party. Come hell or high water I will NEVER vote Democrat again, and I have been a democrat my entire life.
Stretchumall

Got Rope?

[KQuark]

Partisans like you don't get the point. Bush only put loyal Bushies in every job. There are allot of competent Republicans that Bush over looked because they were not part of his inner circle. Hillary is just like Bush in this regard. She has hired her top campaign people based on loyalty to her rather than their competence.

Anyone who does not see that hiring the best person for the job is living in Bush World or Hillaryland.

[nellie]

Bush fired a lot of people, too, for not going along with his madness. There are a lot of angry Republicans out there who really do care about the country.

[KQuark]

Great blog on DailyKos for number crunchers like me.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/2/16596/61053/380/467458

"State Clinton Clinton Obama Obama
(# polls) Avg Actual Avg Actual
SC(20) 27% 0 41% +14
AL (7) 45% -3 44% +12
CA (8) 46% +6 40% + 3
GA(10) 34% -3 50% +16
MO (6) 45% +3 44% + 5
NJ(12) 47% +7 40% + 4
NY (6) 53% +4 36% + 4
TN (6) 52% +2 33% + 8
MD (6) 34% +3 53% + 7
VA (7) 37% -2 55% + 9
WI (8) 43% -2 47% +11

Clinton performance vs average of polls= +1.36
Obama performance vs average of polls= +8.45"

[JackSlappyNotYourPappy]

I saw that!

I think the Cook report is going release something similar this week.

,

[BUSHsurvivor]

Hagel is McCain's long time friend...O­bama think again!

Wow! Elect a democrat and get a republican cabinet...­sounds like more of the same! Thanks for pulling the wool over the eyes of your fellow dems BO!

[Sisyphuss]

I hope that we elect a president to be president of all the people -- not just Democrats. Have you been paying attention the last 7 years?

[SupremeIdiot]

Yep, all the people. Problem is Reps are only a very small portion. Is he going to have Independents on his cabinet? How about illegals? Atheists? Gays?

Let's take this to a stupid conclusion and just say, "keep it to Dems".

[IMustKnow]

Everytime Hagel looked like he was going to do something that might benefit the dems, he reneged. I think dems should cross over the aisle to work with them in a bi-partisan manner, but I wouldn't be giving away the house to them.

[starboymikey]

Reading these posts I can't help wondering this: Let's say that Hillary Clinton pulls this one out of the fire. She wins the primary and then the general election.

Now she's president and ... oh, my god ... picks a Republican for her cabinet, just like Bill did. Okay, got that? Now, what do all you guys who've been calling Obama a traitor say then?

Can we get your justifications now please? If we have them on paper, that will save a lot of energy later on.

[SupremeIdiot]

I say the same thing.....­.I just hange the names from Barack to Hillary...­...'kay?