The morning line, Dec. 5, 2008
Both the Washington Post's editorial page and the New York Times' columnist David Brooks are focused this morning on Obama picks for Education, pushing Obama to choose a serious reformer even if it will cost him the education establishment's good will. (More after the jump.)
The Post calls for Obama to choose his Education secretary from among the "disrupters," education chairman Rep. George Miller's term for serious reformers. Expressing concern with the possible choice of Linda Darling-Hammond -- head of the education policy transition team and a critic of test-based merit pay for teachers, Teach for America and the No Child Left Behind Law -- the Post drops several names, including Jonathan Schnur, chief executive of New Leaders for New Schools, Kati Haycock, the head of the non-profit Education Trust, and New York City schools chancellor Joel Klein.
Brooks proposes several of the same candidates as the Post and adds a few, mentioning Michelle Rhee, the head of the D.C. school system, and Arne Duncan, the head of the Chicago school system, who was sipping coffee yesterday morning with the current education secretary, Margaret Spellings, according to Politico and ABC News. Brooks defends the oft-derided No Child Left Behind law, calling it "the glaring spotlight that reveals and pierces the complacency at mediocre schools."
The expected departure of current Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach is raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether his replacement should be an FDA insider, such as the current drug-safety head, Janet Woodcock, or if fresh blood is needed at the agency, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The New York Times offers a look behind the scenes at the transition so far, which has appointed officials quicker than any transition in recent memory. Chris Cillizza notes that while all of the picks so far appear to be cinches for confirmation, past administrations have always had at least one problem confirmation. Cillizza handicaps the current picks, giving Eric Holder the best chance to stumble.
Important positions that still remain open include the heads for Energy, Interior and the EPA. Writing that candidates for Energy have "waxed and waned," Al Kamen of the Washington Post drops more than half a dozen names, including industry types (Duke Energy's Jim Rogers), public officials (Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius), a possibility from the pocket-protector set (Lawrence Livermore head Steven Chu), and Dan Reicher, director of climate change and energy initiatives for Google. Newsweek also talked up Reicher's chances yesterday. One of our readers put in a plug for NYT columnist Tom Friedman.
Kamen mentions Lisa Jackson, the head of New Jersey's environmental agency, as a top prospect for EPA (she's also mentioned by Politico) and for Interior drops the names of former Gov. John Kitzhaber (D-Ore.), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Richard Moe, former chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale. While Kamen thinks Rep. Raul Grijalva's star may be fading, he's picked up some top endorsements, writes Politico.
Politico also takes a look at other possible appointments, with what it calls "the 5 best jobs Obama has yet to fill," and mentions the two intelligence heads, the secretary of Labor, the possible new chief technology officer, and Energy. No mention, however, of either EPA or Interior.
Amid more news of Obama's record-fundraising totals ($750 million), Mark Halperin has posted the pool report of Obama's meeting yesterday with top Chicago donors, including John Rogers, James Crown and his finance chair, Penny Pritzker.
In a related note, the Washington Post applauds the promised (and long-delayed) release of Bill Clinton's presidential library donors, but notes that George W. Bush faces similar conflicts, and calls on Obama to forswear secret fundraising for his library, preferably with a law banning the practice.
