I can tell you this. My goal is to have the best possible government. And that means me winning. So, I'm very practical in my thinking. I'm a practical guy. One of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln. Awhile back, there was a wonderful book written by Doris Kearns Goodwin called "Team of Rivals," in which she talked about how Lincoln basically pulled all the people he'd been running against into his Cabinet. Because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was, "How can we get the country through this time of crisis?" I think that has to be the approach one takes to the vice president and the Cabinet.-Sen. Barack Obama, in Boca Raton, Florida, yesterday.
"Team of Rivals" is a superb book, an absolutely fascinating account of the Republican convention in 1860 and the resulting Lincoln presidency. Goodwin argues that the success of that presidency - and of the Civil War that started shortly after the 1860 election - can be traced back to the appointment of his three rivals for the Republican nomination to Lincoln's White House cabinet: William Seward became Secretary of State, Salmon Chase became Secretary of the Treasury, Edward Bates became Attorney General, and Edwin Stanton (who once called Lincoln a "long armed ape") became Secretary of War (the designation at the time for Secretary of Defense).
Talk about a powerhouse cabinet: Joe Biden at State, Bill Richardson at the U.N., Chris Dodd at Commerce, John Edwards as Attorney General, and, yes, even Hillary Clinton...well...somewhere. Then go to the other side of the aisle and throw Colin Powell in as Secretary of Education (sorry Colin, your foreign policy credentials became null and void after you went to the U.N. and did Mr. Bush's bidding on the situtation - or lack thereof - in Iraq) and Chuck Hagel at the Defense Department. Finally, add some non-government types as political advisers - say Steve Clemons, Thomas Friedman, and Andrew Sullivan.
Well...I'm getting way ahead of myself. But as he moves into general election mode, Barack Obama will surely be planning out his government so that it can be in place "on day one" should he win the November election. By putting his Democratic rivals - and a few Republicans - in key posts, a "President Obama" would be taking the first important steps in unraveling the mess left behind by Little Boy George.
