Nov 23 2008
Obama’s First Acts as President-elect Display a Touch of Bipartisanship
Barack Obama may have endured all manner of attacks from Republicans during his successful run for the presidency, but he wants to show the opposition that he is putting the past behind him in order to foster a spirit of bipartisanship.
Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times writes that, “In the third week of his transition to power, President-elect Barack Obama is working to build a cordial relationship with Republicans by seeking guidance on policy proposals, asking for advice on appointments and hoping to avoid perceptions of political arrogance given the wide margins of his victory.”
According to Zeleny, the steps that Obama has taken by way of reaching out to Republicans include seeking their backing for his proposed economic recovery plan, making personal calls to Republican leaders, and sending his new chief of staff, Illinois congressman Rahm Emmanuel to Capitol Hill for meetings with members of the opposition. The president-elect is also planning on naming Tim Geithner, who heads the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has worked with the Bush Administration, as his pick for Treasury secretary.
And although Obama has not selected any Republicans for cabinet-level positions, which he promised to do, he is said to be “strongly considering” asking retired general and former Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones to be his national security advisor. Jones supported Sen. John McCain in the presidential election and even appeared at a campaign event with him.
This initial display of bipartisanship has even impressed a few GOP stalwarts in Congress.
“I’d say, so far so good,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, a leading Republican in the upper house. “If he follows through on that, he’ll find plenty of Republicans willing to help him. It’s almost completely up to him.”
Source: The New York Times
I have to say, i really hope BO picks Gen. Jones fro the NSA post!
I have not seen as much bipartisanship as I’d hoped to see. But, given that the remaining Republicans are about as far right as you can get, there may not be reason for it. I would hope that whoever he picks as National Security Advisor will have some respect for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It’s hard to find any Republicans that fit that requirement. Maybe Colin Powell, maybe not considering what his son did as FCC chairman.
He has yet to keep his promise to pick a cabinet level science advisor.
We shall see.
Powell would be a good pick but i don’t see that one happening.
Well, geez, it’s only been less than a month! Give the guy a bit of time to see how things work out, he doesn’t even have his Cabinet posts decided yet, and many past Administrations didn’t even START on that until after inauguration!
I think he is being held to a high standard much too early. Let him get into office before criticizing too much.