Obama’s Cabinet

I’m going to go ahead and make a few predictions on who will end up in president-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet. I won’t be predicting who’ll end up in some of the more obscure Cabinet positions like Interior, Commerce, and HUD (to name a few), simply because I’m not terribly interested in who might end up in those positions.

Having said that, here are my picks:

Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates. I’m inclined to believe President-elect Obama will choose to keep Gates around, at least for a couple more years. Gates has done a good job and deserves an opportunity to continue in his current role, provided he wants to stay.

Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton. While I’d love to see New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson get the nod here, I think Sen. Clinton is a great choice as well, provided Bill Clinton’s finances aren’t going to be a problem.

Attorney General: Rep. Artur Davis. Davis, a former assistant US Attorney and longtime Obama supporter, seems like a logical choice.

Secretary of Treasury: Timothy Geithner. Geithner is the current president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and he seems to be gaining momentum as the logical choice for Treasury now that Larry Summers’ star has started to fade.

Secretary of Energy: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer’s long been a proponent of clean coal and renewable energy technologies, and I think he’d be a smart choice. However, I’d be curious as to whether Schweitzer, who’s wildly popular in Montana, would want to leave his position to move into an Obama Cabinet.

Secretary of Health & Human Services: Dr. Howard Dean. Given the fact that Dean isn’t seeking another term as DNC Chair, he’s definitely available, and I think he’d be a great choice, given how health care reform was his top issue as a presidential candidate.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Tammy Duckworth. In addition to being an Iraq war veteran and a double amputee, Duckworth has served as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs since 2006. She’d be a logical choice.