Obama Forming Progressive Team -- In White House Staff

While liberal critics sound increasingly uneasy with President-elect Barack Obama's nominations of centrist, Clinton-era Democrats to Cabinet positions, some are overlooking how Obama has also been assembling a tight progressive cadre to serve with him in the White House.

Progressive blogs are buzzing about Obama's Cabinet picks, including big-name hires -- and likely hires -- such as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Defense Sec. Robert Gates and New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, a protege of former Secretary Treasury Lawrence Summers under President Clinton, also an Obama economic adviser. To some irritated observers, these faces aren't just a return to a previous time but an unwelcome move to the right of Obama's campaign positions. ...

But Obama's recent White House appointments include progressive voices in key positions. Their views strongly coincide with those progressives who are expressing concern about the president-elect's Cabinet choices.

Read more on Washington Independent