Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary?

***Update 12/1, 11 AM***

At a news conference today, Obama introduced his picks of retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security, Susan Rice as UN Ambassador, Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense

Read more here.

***

CNN is reporting Wednesday night that Obama has chosen Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to become secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

President-elect Barack Obama's top choice for secretary of homeland security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, multiple Democratic sources close to the transition told CNN on condition of anonymity.

One source said he believed the final decision depends on the vetting of the Democratic governor, much like the selection of Eric Holder for attorney general.

Politico has more details on the Napolitano pick:

Napolitano (na-pawl-i-TAW-noh) brings law-and-order experience from her stint as the Grand Canyon State's first female attorney general. One of the nation's most prominent female elected officials, she made frequent appearances on behalf of Barack Obama during the campaign. She was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006.

Transition insiders have long expected she would be offered a Cabinet slot, although she had also been mentioned for other posts, including attorney general.

Read more about the speculation that Janet Napolitano would be Attorney General.
Read the Obama's Cabinet BigNews Page.

Comments

[Okieborn]

THIS LADY IS ALL ABOUT DOING IT RIGHT !!!
GREAT CHOICE !!!!

[Coinyer101]

finally. some picks that are 'new'! hillary, holder, and gates need to go ,tho. i'm glad axelrod, and the rest of barack's campaign team are staying with him.

[jcorrington]

BUT what credentials does she have?? As an arizonan I cant imagine this woman getting much done.

[Coinyer101]

i guess her governorship in a 'BORDER' state would be a credential. have you not dealt with floods and wildfires during her term?

[lola85]

I honestly don't know a lot about her. Interestingly she was in an interview on the Charlie Rose show in November of last year with Sarah Palin. Palin spends the interview talking about, you guessed it, energy. Napolitano seemed quite smart and seemed to speak knowledgeably about many issues though.

[CheshireCat2]

Eoin45 See Profile I'm a Fan of Eoin45 I'm a fan of this user permalink

"We are getting tired of trying to 'education' children....? They sure failed with you.
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 11:43 AM on 11/20/2008
- + New CheshireCat2 See Profile I'm a Fan of CheshireCat2 I'm a fan of this user permalink

Apparently you missed my correction below, written within one minute of the original post.

Good job! Dunce!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
heshireCat2 See Profile I'm a Fan of CheshireCat2 I'm a fan of this user permalink

"educate"
Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 10:45 AM on 11/20/2008

[4everdem]

Wait.

He picks a govenor with a huge illegal population for homeland security? If she had secured her state then ok but she didn't. Rep or Dem you can't argue that the plight of illegals has just got worse, not better.

They are still streaming in to our country (and her state) with no health or criminal checks. Employers are still abusing and exploiting them.

What has SHE done to fix this problem. Nothing that I can find.

[CheshireCat2]

Right, on all accounts.

[wewillseeaz]

The only relief was thanks to the citizens who passed the ballot prop for tough sanctions on employer who hire them. Since it took effect they have been leaving in droves. Funny coincedence major crime has dropped as well hmmmm?

[wewillseeaz]

He doesnt want a secure border. More people more to tax. They dont care where they come from. When they use other people SS # it stil puts taxes in the govt. If they really wanted to do anything they would build a real wall.Then sort out whats already here. It would probably help with the drug problem too. I mean really I would like to see one negative to closing it for real not the pretend fence or the ridiculous radar that didnt work at all. (Thanks Janet)

[goodmarina]

Yes ... we should big huge, big walls to keep those pesky Canadians AND Mexicans away. Isn't that what they do in boarering nations in Europe?

; )

[idest]

Hey, at least you can admit that illegal immigrants are paying their taxes.

[Intelligentia]

Did you know the federal government has plenary power over immigration? Unless there is a devolution of that power to the state authorities (with thier consent) under the new section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the state governor has no power over illegal aliens' violation of our immigration laws. Blame the feds, not the states.

[MNCurler]

So you're saying the states have no rights to protect their borders?

[Coinyer101]

she was one of the first to recognize and say," you can build a 50' high fence, but, someone else will build a 51' ladder". noone has done anything to 'fix this problem'. that's why we elected barack.

[iknowdou]

What do you suggest AZ do to appease you? May we send you our local police? How about we just all line up at the border and bitch slap everyone who tries to enter? Bush can't even build a wall and you criticize AZ?

[scorpioleidy]

Is she related to Janet Reno ???? Just asking ... :-)

[CheshireCat2]

We'll find out, if she starts giving orders to the National Guard to start mowing down churches.

[TommyObama]

Cute, Scorpio, but exceptionally tacky, nonetheless.

I always give this very flawed state of Arizona some credit for never making an issue of her unmarried status. Now we'll get to see how respectful and tolerant some of the Bluer parts of the country actually are, as they attempt to delve into her private life.

[Intelligentia]

Not my first choice, but as long as Chertoff and his cronies are out, I'm satisfied. I just hope that they clean out all the filth in the management echelon Homeland Security, where lack of integrity and racism is rewarded. Let's see what will happen.

[rcozad]

I didn't realize how difficult it was to get her name right until I saw your phonetic spelling and you have it WRONG! It is napolit AN oh NOT awn oh!

[toochie]

Grazie.

[Bloggerrogr]

sorry, rcozad, but the phonetic spelling is correct. Her name is of italian extraction. That means syllables wih 'a' are sounded with an 'ah' sound ('ah', as in open wide and say...) as opposed to the standard 'a' sound (as in 'back' or 'lack').

[lianna]

That's not how she says it.

[artistgirl]

It's obvious Barack has no problem being around strong women. Wow.
Says a lot about who from and where he seeks advise.

[AZTrueBlue]

AZ deserves to be left high and dry with Gov. Brewer for being "red" for McCain in Presidential.
We should all be working toward a "blue" 2010!

[CheshireCat2]

Move to Tucson. It is plenty blue.

[wewillseeaz]

This is great news for Arizona Bad news for Homeland Security and the country. 2 Billion dollar deficit and she gets to skate out and leave the mess for us in Arizona to clean up. Shes done nothing we have a train to nowhere, no serious border control, photo radar ( just a new tax) wake up this used to be a good place to live now its just depressed thanks to her.

[CheshireCat2]

That was 6 Billion the last I saw.

The shame of it is, we can't even blame education spending for it.

[IamPhenom]

Almost every single state in the union is facing major budget deficits. That's what happens when the property values drop and no new homes are being sold.

Also, Border Control is a responsibility of the federal government, not the individual states. The border states have even sued the federal government to do more to either prevent illegals from coming over or to give them more funds to pay for the illegal immigrants.

Napolitano has actually implemented the strongest anti-immigration policy of any state. Arizona requires EVERY employer (other states with this law only force state contractors to verify citizenship) to verify workers in the federal database to prove they are legal citizens. If they are caught just twice hiring illegals, their business license is revoked, essentially putting them out of business.

[lis60]

It is obvious you are making multiple negative comments under different names. I don't think you have any idea what you are talking about when it comes to Arizona and what Janet has done.

[teacheng]

Great choice.

[knowwhatimsayin]

Although I'm not surprised, I was hoping Napolitano would complete her term as governor. If she resigns we get Republican Jan Brewer and an Arizona legislature full of neanderthal know-nothing Republicans. Talk about having no checks and balances--her veto pen is the only one holding back the right wing tide.

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

I think I wanna move to AZ, maybe we could crack down more on Illegal Immigration

-The GOP

[CheshireCat2]

With Sheriff Arpaio and Brewer, we just might have a chance at progress.

[Republicrats]

good to see you are so open-minded and without prejudice? If its a "tide", they must be on to something no?

[knowwhatimsayin]

No.

[azcamp]

Governor Napolitano is a great choice even though Arizona will have to live with a Republican in her place for at least two years. This may force the AZ Democratic Party to transform itself into a big tent party with some new faces and new energy.

[Figerre]

Napolitano will be great as Homeland Security - she is practical, she puts children and people first and she knows law and order as well as the border problems. However, it leaves us with a Republican in her place, who is not well liked by the public, along with a GOP state legislature. Oh My! All 3 houses in the same party???? Nonetheless, if she takes it, and Jan Brewer would take over for 2 years, and it will guarantee a full slate of Demsin 2010. [she is a bit like Bush in heels]

Nonetheless, it would be good for the country. She is a terrific addition to any team and it will bring the Western viewpoint into the east coast - which can't help but be a good thing, since the only state recognized there is CA - with vast amounts of land between the Mississippi and CA, but there you go! She will at least look at the levy issues in CA along with western fires, border issues, and water -- all problems looming in the future.

[CheshireCat2]

Can yo please tell me how she puts children first. I am really interested.

[lianna]

By supporting issues such as domestic violence prevention, trying to sort out the mess of the Child Protective Services that she inherited (they aren't in the news every other day like they used to be), the free book program for all school children (every first and fourth grader gets a book about the state of AZ. to call their own), working with ASU President Michael Crowe and other local leaders on education issues, building a new medical school in Phx. and building up the biotech industry so these kids can have a future, making parents aware of SCHIP dollars that are available for kids' healthcare, fighting for every red cent from the Republican state congress to improve education and particularly fighting to save education dollars now that we have a deficit.... were you aware of any of these things or do you just like to spout conservative philosophy? Don't you think all kids should be home-schooled anyway?

[JDJase]

The only bad thing about this is that the AZ Sec of State (a republican) will become governor, and will be the incumbant in the 2010 election. Since AZ stands to gain the most EC's, redistricting there is going to be a big deal.

But, nonetheless, Since JN wouldnt be able to run again in 2010 anyway and there really is no viable Dem in the state, I guess it doesn't make much difference

[CheshireCat2]

That is a good thing. The sooner JN leaves the better. I wonder if she needs help packing?

[inluvwkeitholbermann]

*giggle*

(i still don't like you!)

[CheshireCat2]

The fact that this state lags in funding for education is a dis-grace. With all the tourist money we take in every year. PHX has all major sports, we have spring training baseball out here with as many or more teams than any other state ( soon to bear FLA) and this is a vacation paradise. The mismanagement is a dis-aster.

You offered nothing in your response besides your uncle, which who even knows it that is true of not.

[CheshireCat2]

AZ has two less teams than FLA for 2009 Spring Training.

[JDJase]

Okay well since you are't smart enought o even reply to the correct post....

...but I'll respond to you anyway.

You're point that I challenged was that she is unpopular. I don't care if the state is blowing up and everyone is dying from malaria, the POINT that I was making is that you are WRONG when you say nobody likes her because she has high approval ratings.

Just because you know you're wrong doesnt mean you can just change what the debate is about. How Sarah Palin-ish of you

[TheJibreelaMonsters]

Gerymandering is so needed in AZ and here in New York

[AZTrueBlue]

It's kind of what we deserve for going for McCain!

[NeoStar9]

This state doesn't have a LT Governor?