After the MySpace Election, the MySpace Cabinet Selection Process

Think about this a second.

In 1992, President-Elect Bill Clinton, our party's last President-Elect, set about the process of picking a cabinet and, to be honest, he made some great choices. However, it's hard to imagine, but in 1992, no one was blogging about their favorites, no one was watching the prediction markets, no one was emailing their friends, hell, cell phones were new and faxes came out of the machines on long rolls.

The campaign we just survived was indeed the first national election in the internet age, there is no argument about that, but just as the netroots had injected itself squarely in the middle of the political conversation in this country, so now too, will the most DC of processes be broken wide open.

We saw a hint of this with the VP selection process where, when it appeared the choice was coming down to Biden and Bayh, there was an outpouring of negative sentiment towards Bayh, enough so that when that notion made it to the mainstream press, it had to have an effect.

Now, with key positions from Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and many many more all up for grabs, the opinions will come fast and furious from all sides.

Like many things online, the task of keeping track of all that information can be a little bit difficult so today, we are launching the Cabinet NewsLadder. On this special-edition NewsLadder, you will find all of the stories, articles, posts and rumors (and, of course, we'd appreciate your linking up any we have missed.)

You can also comment on stories and candidates, vote articles and the candidates they espouse up and down and, in general, make your voice known. There is a special Twitter feed from the Cabinet NewsLadder and a daily email will go out.

If you wish to see the latest on John Kerry's chances, just click on his name in the tag cloud.

If you want to see all of the people being considered for Secretary of Defense, click on the job, any job, in the tag cloud.

16 years ago, Bill Clinton picked his cabinet in relative quiet. Right or wrong, I don't think President-Elect Obama is going to have to worry about receiving a shortage of opinions.

The netroots was heard loud and clear this past cycle, I have a feeling we're going to be hearing a lot more from them in the coming days.

Comments

[leepdx]

Would enjoy seeing some new faces in the cabinet since we didn't vote for another Clinton term.

[karronna]

don't kill me...but what about Schwarzenegger for Secretary of the Interior?

[weatherwaxx]

I don't see any mention of Al Gore, and if there is any better candidate for Secretary of the Interior, I don't know who it might be.