Janet Napolitano: Attorney General?

UPDATE 11/13: The Washington Independent reports that Napolitano hasn't ruled out the AG spot:

After Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, widely rumored to be the front-runner for the Attorney General post in President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet, spoke at a Subcommittee on Health hearing this morning, I asked her if she was committed to serving out her term as governor, which ends in 2010, or if she would consider a cabinet appointment.

She responded haltingly:

You know, right now, I have a great job, and that's -- I'm not looking for a new job, and that's as far as I go.

Not exactly a decisive response, but also not a denial.

The Arizona Republic speculates:

Barack Obama's victory Tuesday will have immediate and far-reaching effects on Arizona if he taps Gov. Janet Napolitano for his Cabinet.

Napolitano, a two-term Democrat, is an oft-mentioned contender to join the Obama administration. If it happened, she would surrender her last two years in office to Secretary of State Jan Brewer, a Republican next in line for the governorship.

So, is Napolitano bound for Washington, D.C.?

That's hard to say, in large measure because she has been mum on the topic. Napolitano has been a loyal Obama supporter, endorsing him before he was the Democratic front-runner and later becoming one of his busiest surrogates on the campaign trail.

Her credentials as a border-state governor, former Arizona attorney general and U.S. attorney appear well-suited for the role of U.S. attorney general or secretary of Homeland Security, two positions with which Napolitano's name is most frequently linked in published reports. In January, Obama called her "enormously talented," and added, "I think anyone would be happy to have her working for them."

Reports say Napolitano is the favorite for the post. She is already a member of Obama's transition team.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[peterjsprague]

George Bush traveled 2-3 weeks outside the US. Janet claims to have climbed in Tanzania and the Himalayas. The world is a a complex and curious place. The badly named Homeland Security Administration is an over whelming badly concieved bureaucracy dealing with a complex world.

She supported Obama. What other qualifications does she have?

Peter J Sprague

[SFfromSF]

I do not think that Obama could find a better person to be Attorney General that Gov. Janet Napolitano of AZ. I went to Santa Clara University with Janet Napolitano. We weren't close friends, but it was a small school, so everyone pretty much knew each other. Janet was incredibly smart, had a great sense of humor, had no affectations, worked hard, had a great sense of values and concern about others. I have watched her poilitcal career over the years, and a little earlier this year, I heard her speak to group of maybe 60 people at her alma mater on the subject of immigration reform. This is, to say the least, a very "hot" topic in California and the Bay Area. You'd never have know it: she was thoughtful, intelligent, and her approach was simply to talk about the legal implications of the policies for her, as the governor, the fiscal impact on her state and to state that the problem is a failure of our elected leaders to deal with the issue because it's too much of a political hot potato. I left thinking that while she has had enormous experience, has learned so much and matured -- she is really still the Janet I knew. Friendly, open, doesn't dodge the difficult, thorny issues, and seems never to forget that laws ultimately affect the lives of the people who must live under them.

[greyseal in tampa]

Aw krap. I thought it said Janet Reno.

[nuced]

Those of us in Baja Arizona really need her in Phoenix as the Lt. Gov. is a real Repug. As much good as anet could do, these folks in this state cold do worse harm. ... I'd like to see Janet run for McCain's senate seat and really shake things up.

[tea in the harbor]

I suppose ex-Govenor Seigleman from Alabama would be considered a bit divisive, but maybe it's time we had an AG who has experienced our prison system. Those institutions regularly use the tactics that shocked the American concience in Abu Greibe. (Not the dogs, but nudity, isolation, and humiliation.) The treatment of these people, many of whom are there for simple drug posession, qualifies as torture under the Geneva Convention and should be a National embarassment, as should be the American concentration camp run by Sherif Joe in Phoenix, and the fact that the "Home of the free" incarcerates a higher percentage of it's population than any other country on earth!

[NYNY]

Is Napolitano the only female being considered for a cabinet position? I've looked over all the potential picks and she's the only female seemingly under consideration. I thought Obama was talking about "change".....

[tea in the harbor]

I think it's a little early to start questioning his fairness, the picks that are public are little more than speculation by political reporters who spend far too much time speculating and far to little fulfilling their legitimate role of informing the people. Had they chosen to delve into that role we may well not be at war today, and maybe the trillion we have spent in Iraq would have been used to capture, publicly prosecute, and permanently imprison Bin Laden.

[jukesgrrl]

I join the chorus of residents of Arizona who would be thrilled to have our governor in a high-level cabinet position for President Obama, but are terrified about Jan Brewer as governor. Brewer is BAD news. As Sec. of State, she is the head of Arizona elections and has shown ZERO interest in solving voting issues here in the state (if Republicans are winning, she thinks there are no problems). She is extremely partisan and, I fear, would be a puppet in the hands of border "security" freaks like Tancredo.

[sb17]

Although I don't know much about Gov. Napolitano, she does seem intelligent and thoughtful. The first time I saw her speak at length was the interview of her and Palin by Charlie Rose last October. It's interesting to watch Napolitano's reaction as she realizes that Palin is talking nonsense and not addressing Rose's questions (surprise, surprise). Also interesting to watch Palin kind of deferring to Napolitano a couple of times in a seeming effort to get out of answering a question (yeah! what she said!)

Here's the clip: http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2007/10/12/2/a-conversation-with-governors-janet-napolitano-sarah-palin

[LaFlow]

She would be a marvelous pick for AG.

[Figerre]

She has been a great governor for AZ, and we would miss her sorely - as her replacement is a bit of a hack. However, we need someone of strength and intengrity to take on the DOJ and clean it out like the Aegian Stables. Or, to take over Homeland Security and make it work. She could do either, should she sign on to the job.

[Sock]

She's awesome, but I am scared of losing her here in AZ. I am really torn about this. We're hanging on by a thread here in AZ and she is keeping our heads above water. God help our universities in AZ if she goes to DC.

[jukesgrrl]

Yes, Gov. Nepolitano is the only state official here I've ever seen show a sincere interest in improving the appalling education problems that are dragging the whole state down. AZ: #1 nationally in school drop-outs. Missezippy got nuttin on us.