No Southerners yet in Obama Cabinet (Where's the diversity?)

Politico.com ^ | 12/14/08 | Amie Parnes

[jalisco555]

Barack Obama is 15 picks into his Cabinet — he announced New Yorker Shaun Donovan as his Housing and Urban Development head on Saturday—but has yet to name one who hails from the South. "Not a one," grumbles a one senior Democratic aide who hails from the South. "Not even half of one, unless you count Hillary Clinton, and she doesn't count because she's not even an Arkansan anymore. She's a Yankee."

To be fair, the official voice of the White House will come with a Southern drawl: Robert Gibbs, Obama’s soon-to-be press secretary, is an Alabama native.

But going back to at least John F. Kennedy, every other new president has populated his initial Cabinet with one or more Southerners. Former Texas Gov. George W. Bush included at least three Southerners in his first Cabinet: Donald Evans at Commerce and Rod Paige at Education and Florida’s Mel Martinez at Housing and Urban Development.

So why hasn’t Obama – who picked up 55 Electoral College votes in North Carolina, Virginia nad Florida – rewarded the region with a Cabinet secretary of its own?

[subterfuge]

Try to stay on topic.

[bpjam]

1. To The Messiah, ‘southern’ is South Chicago.

2. I haven’t found anybody in his cabinet who appears to have ever built or run a business either. There is hardly anybody who has ever even had a private sector job (Hillary comes closest by having a private law firm job which was built on her husbands Gov status. Maybe Gates has done something but I’m not aware of it.)

[stainlessbanner]

“A Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow.” Sing it!

[TexasNative2000]

Ron Kirk is waiting in the wings to be named this week..

Ron Kirk qualifies as a conservative compared to this crowd. I doubt he's on the team.

[ncpatriot]

No Southerners? He and his buddies are bigoted.

I was watching a TCM movie the other night. Terrible the way they portrayed blacks and Southerners back then.

[exhaustedmomma]

"The risk to the president-elect is that if he doesn't appoint anyone from the South to top level policy positions, he is going to look like he is buying into the stereotype that there isn't anyone from the South smart enough to work for him."

I guess the Clinton's are no longer the smartest male and female on the planet.

Personally, I think it's the Guns & God thing. Too much competition with the elect-Messiah's message & agenda.

[bert]

Damn, Damn , Damn.

I cmpletely disrembered Condi!!..

[mac_truck]

Here's the only Southerner you're gonna see at the Obama Whitehouse