Obama is right to rely on Clinton-era staff

[liberalpragmatist]

One of the big mistakes BOTH Clinton and Carter made when they entered office was that they staffed their administrations chiefly with people from their home states and novices. The result were staffs that were completely clueless as to the ways of Washington. There were bruised egos all around, misunderstandings, and just all-around blundering. Their lack of experience or knowledge of Washington and their lack of ties with key members of Congress contributed to the major disappointments of both administrations.

Clinton's team wised up after two years, but by then they'd lost Congress and though I believe Bill Clinton was ultimately a good president, he ended up in a fairly defensive posture and was relegated to making the best out of a bad situation (a right-wing Republican Congress). Carter, despite the best intentions, wound up getting caught up in a perfect storm which wasn't entirely his making, but his inability to work with Congress surely didn't help.

Obama is clear about what change means. Change means major shifts in foreign policy towards diplomacy and active engagement, not warfare. Change means health care reform. Change means energy reform. Change means greater financial regulation and economic stimulus.

How is he supposed to get these policy changes without relying on people who know how to work in Washington? As far as I can tell, Obama ISN'T relying purely on Clinton loyalists -- most of the people he's appointing have close ties to both the Clinton camp and the Obama camp, and many other people in the Obama orbit are experienced Washington hands that were never Clintonites (i.e. Tom Daschle). The point is, there's no way he can put together an experienced Washington administration without relying on people who had experience in the Clinton Administration.

My guess is that in the final evaluation, the cabinet will be a mix of people with a range of backgrounds. Some will be novices and Obama loyalists from Chicago, some will be people from other parts of the country that were recommended to him, some will be former Clinton-era staff. If he wants to avoid the mistakes of Clinton and Carter he will need to include some people who actually worked in the Clinton Administration.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Dems had been out of power 12 years when Bubba got in. Not much to choose from. nt

[AtomicKitten]

2. I'm thinking it's an open pool unless Clinton folks are branded.

As Mavericks, we only take the ones that aren't and then call them our own.